I Cross My Heart

...I cross my heart and promise to
Give all I've got to give to make all your dreams come true.
In all the world you'll never find a love as true as mine...

     This song, by George Strait, was played at our wedding 5 years ago today!  We've been through a lot in the short 5 years, but I wouldn't change anything. 
     We married the year before Matt started Vet School, thinking that vet school would be one of the most challenging times of our lives and we wanted one "easy" year before diving into all that work.  We were so wrong!  The first year definitely came with challenges.  Even though we had dated for 4 years, we still had to figure out how to make our 2 separate lives 1 life.  We still had to deal with family struggles, but this time it was magnified because there were 2 families involved!  We still had to finish up our last year of undergrad, rearrange finances (or how we spend money), and learn the quirks of living with each other.  We were both working and I remember being thrilled when we got back our tax refund.... Matt quickly reminded me that's because we technically made less than the poverty level.  Oh well!  :) That was all just in the first year... the 4 that followed proved to have challenges too, just different ones.
     I say all this because clearly we were wrong about a lot of things going into marriage- like there being such a thing as an "easy" year!  While we've moved past the poverty line (thank goodness) life has not been this easy dream I thought it would be.  However, through the past 5 years we've definitely learned to be each other's number one supporters.  This and, more importantly, our faith in Christ, has been the driving force of our marriage.  Even though each year comes with it's own set of challenges, we've managed to have plenty of fun through the years too.  I have scrapbooks full of trips we've taken, games we've been to and so many more great memories we've made over the past 5 years!!  I am so thankful Matt and I have made our 2 lives into 1 great life.  I'm thankful for the support he has been to me.  I'm thankful for the struggles so that we can grow.  I'm thankful for the fun times and happy times!  I'm thankful that these next 5 years will bring us to a completely different stage in life... parenthood...  and the growth that will come from that.  I'm thankful to have Matt by my side through anything we will face.  He is an amazing husband! 

HAPPY 5 YR ANNIVERSARY! 

*Some pics from the last 5 years*

Aug 12, 2006

April 2008

January 2010

May 12, 2011