4 Years =)

I know there are still 4 days till Valentine's Day, but I can't help but feel excited & giddy about it! =) I have always been a traditionalist, making the most of every holiday & loving the enjoyment of decorating & preparing for each holiday that comes around each year. For instance, I'm usually the one who is up late at night hanging balloons & decorating for birthdays the next day! For those who don't know, our anniversary is the day after Valentine's, so this specific holiday will always be extra special to us.

Rich & I will have been married FOUR years together this year! I think it is safe to say that as a couple, we have been through a lot, more than what most couples have been through at our age, but through God's grace, we are closer & stronger now than ever before. Sounds sappy, but it's true. The second month after we were married back in 2008, Rich was deployed with his fellow Marines for 7 months to Iraq, and those following two years consisted of two more deployments overseas.. add our beautiful firstborn daughter to the mixture, and I will honestly say that the first couple years of marriage were not the easiest, so to speak (while I was giving birth, he was in Iraq again.) There were days & nights where I felt like I literally couldn't handle another day of Rich being deployed, but over time I realized that the deployments created a special bond between us. Even though we weren't together physically, we grew stronger mentally/emotionally as a married couple & I knew that if we can make it through 8 months a year apart, we can pretty much make it through anything that life throws at us.

I love being married. I feel so blessed to be Rich's wife, his best friend, the woman God created for only him. He's not perfect, but neither am I, and neither is our marriage, yet I cherish it & will always fight for it. We talk, we argue, we kiss & make up, we laugh together, we get annoyed with each other at times, we just love enjoying the ride of life together. But that's one of the most beautiful things about marriage, is completely committing to another person who is not perfect, yet being completely reliant upon God Who is the perfect One to help us do that! So many couples vow to give 110% to each other through the good times, but they forget to take that vow seriously during the bad times. I love that Rich is the only person that will ever know completely everything about me, every quirk, every weakness, every strength, EVERY THING, and vice versa. It is an honor to know that he completely has my back no matter what. It's such a gift. I know marriage can be one of the most challenging things in life, but it can also be the most enjoyable if you let it. I am always praying that God continues to strengthen & bless our marriage & friendship as long as we keep Him in the center of it. Lose focus on the Lord, & every single other relationship you have will falter, trust me on that. When God's not first in my life, my marriage to Rich, my parenting, even my relationships with friends just become more rocky. Just as Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." It's pretty cool knowing that the first "relationship" God ever created was marriage. =)

Hope you all enjoy your Valentine's Day!