5 Years and Counting

Five years ago today....I married him....under a hundred year old oak tree, wearing my great grandmothers wedding dress. Five years seems like nothing compared to 10, 20, or 50. But the more I think about it, we've had a lot happen in 5 years, and it should be a big accomplishment....we're still hanging on, with a firm grip.

I remember the summer I finally fell in love with him....he wasn't even around, and I took over his job of mowing 4 acres of grass, so he could go rafting with a friend...crazy how love works. I think even he had given up on winning me over. But I knew that I missed him and I wanted him around. I realized how genuine our friendship had become over the past two years...how he always made me laugh....really laugh...he was an adventurer....always wanting to do something spur of the moment, and the complete opposite of what I was thinking...like skip class and drive 2 hours to Lake Claiborne, only to just turn around and come back, or the time that we randomly had a pizza fight at Mitchims peach orchard....I don't even know how that got started,...but I can still picture a slice of pepperoni pizza sliding down the side of his face!.. Or the time I had to ride 4 hours with all the windows busted out of his Jimmy, not to mention it was 30 degrees outside. I was wrapped up in a blanket the whole way home...not a very comfortable ride to Baton Rouge. We have lots of stories....good ones and bad ones, happy ones and sad ones, stories about hardships, and stories when we had no worries, and didn't even know it! I love to reminiscence about stories when we were falling in love....just beginning.

Then our kids came....and ruined everything....just kidding! We can't even remember what we did with our time before them....But they make us laugh, they make us cry, they make us worry, feel stressed, let down, happy, proud, embarrassed, crazy, loved, and over flowing with joy....and we made them....they are part of us...another chapter in our life...something added to our marriage that we have to balance. And for the most part, its "interesting"....sometimes I feel like I'm raising three kids instead of two....we argue about discipline, sleep, household chores, things I could have never dreamed up! And lets all admit that no marriage is that fairy tale that we once dreamed of when we were little girls....because after all "fairy tales" aren't real. But it is so much more than that, it's a life long commitment, no matter how hard it gets...its forgiveness, no matter how stubborn we want to be...its compromise, even though your idea sounds better...its perception, and trying not to think of the worst...and most importantly....love...it's what keeps it all together.

So....5 years IS a big accomplishment....and I am looking forward to the next 5! God knew exactly what he was doing when He picked out my life long mate. We are perfect for each other....I know I can depend on him to take care of us, provide, and protect us, and I am so grateful for that. And even after two kids, he still thinks my butt looks good!

Thank you Brandon for a wonderful

five years, and for two of the most beautiful

children...maybe I can get just one more?

Your the best book I ever read

Your the finest groom I'll ever wed

Your my breakfast in bed!

I love you

&

Happy Anniversary!