Today is my five year wedding anniversary!

It's hard to believe it has been five years already! Being together hasn't always been easy, especially at the beginning of our relationship, but we have stayed together through thick and thin. We've learned so much and we've changed too! I love that we are slightly different people than the people we were seven years ago when we met. I think it's inevitable that people change and grow as they age. I'm grateful Jed and I have changed together. Jed makes me a better version of myself, he pushes me sometimes when I don't push myself. I'd like to think I help him become a better person as well! (Jed will tell you if this is true or not.) :) I really believe we are better people because we have each other. I love this man with all my heart and soul. I thank my lucky stars we found each other! Here's to another 5 years and beyond, Baby! XOXO

J + A Married Four Years!

I know I'm a whole month late writing about this, but I didn't want time to slip by too long before writing a little something here! Jed and I have been together for about 6 (SIX!) years now and last month we celebrated our four year wedding anniversary. I can't believe it's been that long already! I am just so so happy we met and decided to spend the rest of our lives together. Being with someone this long isn't always easy, but it sure is rewarding and it only gets better as time goes on. He is my best friend and I can honestly say that. I love spending time with him more than anyone. Life is pretty fantastic for the both of us these days. I can't wait to see where the future will lead us!

From the archive... three years, two years, one year, the engagement, our wedding day, honeymooning in PEI

Three Year Wedding Anniversary!!

Today Jed and I are celebrating THREE whole years of being married! I cannot believe it has already been this long! We have enjoyed every bit of those three years (plus the two years we had together before we got hitched). Sometimes I think about how crazy lucky I am to have met him. How we met is kind of funny, actually. We "knew of" each other for a long time because we were both homeschooled and were enrolled in the same homeschool assistance program. However I was much more involved in that program than Jed was, so our paths never crossed during our school years. In fact, I actually went to his high school graduation without even knowing who he was! And he remembers seeing me at a high school play my little brother was in. I guess I was the only person knitting in the theatre and he thought that was cute! Anyway, years later he and one of my brothers became friends and started hanging out together with his siblings to watch movies every week. Apparently my brother talked me up so much that it led Jed to go find me on Facebook and invite me to movie night. He didn't think I would come and I thought FOR SURE my brother was trying to set me up and I almost didn't go. But I ended up going anyway and boy am I glad I did! At first I wasn't really interested in a relationship, so when Jed asked me out, I told him right off that I wasn't interested. But there was something in Jed's reply that made me re-think my decision. And actually, Jed said later on that he didn't actually think he was asking me out on a date and didn't realize how obvious it was that he liked me! But I think girls generally have a pretty good idea when a guy is coming onto them. In any case, I feel bad now that I turned him down so hard at first without thinking that maybe he just wanted to be friends. We ended up going on that date and it turned out to be an incredibly awkward time, at least that's what I thought! Soon afterwards, I got a Facebook message from Jed saying he had a wonderful time! No way! I really thought that it went badly and that he didn't like me at all after that date. Looking back now I see how much I read into everything. Needless to say, I agreed to go on a second date, and when I finally stopped over analyzing everything, I realized what a sweet and kind person he was and how much fun we were having together. The rest is history! I love him more than anyone in this world and that love grows deeper every single day. And I know he loves me every bit as much. He's my best friend and the one person I can talk to about anything and everything. We are both unique with somewhat different personalities, and I think that makes our relationship as a couple more interesting, but also challenging! He makes me a better person. I don't know what I would do without him! Perhaps it's silly to say, but I truly believe we were made for each other.

P.S. These pictures were recently taken at my brother's wedding (the same brother who I thought was trying to set me up) at the very spot we were married three years ago. We were married in an old 19th century church in Amana Iowa and it just so happened that my brother had his wedding reception there this past May!

From the archive... One year ago, two years ago, the engagement, our wedding day, honeymooning in PEI

two years

Today is our two year wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has already been two years! I am so very happy I met this man. We have come a long way since the day we met (almost) four years ago. I'm so glad I get to spend the rest of my life with him. He makes me very happy. To end, I thought I would share our wedding vows with you. They are simple, but they mean so much to us. I kind of tear up every time I read them. And yes, I cried at my wedding! So embarrassing!!

Our wedding vows from June 18th, 2011:

I, Anna, take you, Jed, to be my husband, my best friend and confidante, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to treat you with kindness, to respect and honor you, to seek the truth with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live. 

I, Jed, take you, Anna, to be my wife, my friend, my trusted companion, and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family, and friends, I solemnly vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy and in sorrow. I promise to love and defend you, to be patient and understanding as we grow together in the Lord, to be both quick to forgive and quick to ask for forgiveness, and to cherish each moment with you for as long as we both shall live.

xoxo


(Photograph by John Allen)