Happy, Happy Five Years

Today marks our five-year wedding anniversary, and it seems impossible. It seems like just yesterday I was walking down that aisle. I had found him, the one that made me feel whole. Today, I look back and am in awe of all that we have done, seen, and accomplished in just five short years.

We moved overseas, navigated and built a life far away from anything we knew, completely outside of our comfort zone. We leaned on each other, and we built a strong foundation for what will be the rest of our lives together.

We wrangled a baby german shepherd, somehow managing to raise her to be a good dog, though it took many years and several pieces of chewed furniture.

We traveled Europe, Africa, the U.K., and Scandinavia. We worked hard, and played harder.

We survived a deployment and more business trips than I care to count. We know distance pushes us, it makes us stronger, it makes us appreciate one another even more.

We moved to Dayton, made new friends, and tackled new hobbies, a new town, new jobs, and a Master's degree.

We made a BABY. A baby. We made him, together. The most perfect little gift from God - Jackson has showed us what it really means to love, to grow, to be completely and totally vulnerable. He gave our life and our growing family entirely new meaning.

We moved again, to tiny Rome. We bought our first home and made it our own. We are again navigating new jobs and new friends. We are growing, we are learning.

My heart bursts as I write this. I could NEVER have imagined where we would be five years from that special day - but here we are, and it all feels so exactly perfect, exactly right.

We were so young, just 22 and 23 when we said "I Do". We have literally grown up together, and I simply can't wait to see what the next five years, and many, many more beyond that will hold.

To Tyler, I am so lucky to have found you. So grateful for your never-ending support, love, and encouragement. For completing my sentences when I can't, for knowing what I need, even when I don't, thank you.

I love you, endlessly.