10 years ago today I made the best decision of my life, I said yes to Michael's big question and agreed to marry him! What a 10 years it has been. I spent a ridiculous amount of time looking back through old pictures last night and I couldn't help but notice how young we looked. We were 22 in this picture from the night we got engaged and we couldn't have dreamed of the wild ride we have been on.
We have survived the loss of a parent within 6 months of marriage at 24 years old, multiple job changes, periods of time where we weren't sure if our marriage would make it (we actually had a stint in marriage counseling at the end 2006), two years of infertility, economy collapse while depending on an income from sales, and a house fire. Y'all, this was ALL before 28 years old! If you had told those two skinny young kids that all that was headed their way, they would have ran screaming away from marriage. I am so thankful we didn't know the road God had for us. I am also thankful that divorce was never an option to us, only working it out.
I cried a little looking back at how we were back then, so full of hope and optimism. We were constantly planning how we wanted our life to be. When we would buy a house, have a family, we had huge ambition. I missed those days a little. I laughed when I compared our Christmas pictures from each year. In 2003 and 2004 we were engaged and all but sitting in each other's laps, 2005 we had been married almost a year and we were cuddling or holding hands in every one, 2006 we were in the middle of counseling and I can tell a little strain in our faces, and by 2007 you could tell we were just an old married couple who were enjoying successful careers and trying to have a baby. Times had changed, but I could always see love when you look at our faces.
I look at us in 2013. I honestly believe I'm more in love with Michael today than I was on this day 10 years ago. Our marriage has survived insurmountable odds and lived to tell about...still married. I've cried a little thinking about that and how much we have grown together. We not only grew as a couple but as individuals and didn't let that ruin our marriage. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank God for giving us the will to push through and still be a couple. I'm thankful for the turns and bumps along the road we have traveled. I'm thankful for a love that survived it all. I will always say that God gave me Michael to balance my type A, calculated personality. He knew exactly the person I needed and it is definitely Michael.
