Tuesday, June 7, 2011
celebrating three years
We're celebrating three years of marriage today. Well...low-key celebration...but happy nonetheless.
In honor of our anniversary, I went grocery shopping today. I figured what better anniversary gift than a fridge full of food and some deodorant? The truth? I cleaned the fridge out yesterday of all rotten, old, inedible food, and when I was done, I could clearly see every single shelf. I could deny it no longer...it was time. So, I went shopping, which I hate to do, in case I haven't mentioned that a bazillion times in the past. Hooray! It is done, I didn't run over anybody with my cart (although the thought may have crossed my mind a time or two), and I won't have to do it again for a while.
For dinner I BBQ'd shrimp with a brown sugar & rum glaze. Yes, they were as good as they sound, except I didn't have any Dijon mustard, had to use the yellow stuff, and the glaze didn't thicken up as much as it usually does. I know I'm not selling it very well, am I? Really, though, it is an easy and delicious recipe, just a couple of hiccups today. I'm blaming it on cooking in the trailer, or on the yellow mustard, or on global warming. Never mind about global warming, I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with non-thickening glaze.
They say your first year of marriage is the toughest. For us, it wasn't. Probably because we had already lived together for three years and had even bought a home. Our first year living together, however, was definitely challenging. We had been blissfully dating for a year, spent all our time together, it made sense to move in together also. Except, not only did we move in together, but I also went back to school full time, and Ryan started a new seven-day-a-week job. All this within a month. It was during this first year together that we learned to live with (and even appreciate) each other's true character and quirks, and the year where we had the inevitable "where is this relationship going" conversation. Although I would wait another year and a half for the Big Question, it was during this conversation that we committed to each other and to our relationship, and we haven't looked back since.
That being said, I have no doubt that our fourth year of marriage will be bringing with it even bigger challenges than the first year together. We are embarking on the biggest project of our lives, living in less than ideal conditions, and bringing a whole new person into our little family. I'd be lying if I said this doesn't stress me out almost daily. But it is also comforting to know we have weathered some storms together, and survived, and are fully committed to each other, our marriage, our babies, and our vision for our future together. And where love isn't enough... stubbornness will prevail. To me, marriage is born of love, but survives on two strong wills and the commitment to making it work.
As I write this (for the second time this evening...thanks Blogger), Ryan is making root beer floats. He knows the perfect ice cream to root beer ratio, then lets them sit in the freezer for a few minutes to set. As I watched him grab a can of root beer from the fridge, I told him "That's why I love you." And sure, there are about a million other reasons to love him, but root beer floats seem as good a reason as any right now. When the root beer is ready, he'll bring it to me, with the froth all frozen, and a big spoon, and he'll forget to wrap the glass in a paper towel (I don't like cold hands). But that's ok, because I love that I can predict this with almost 100% certainty, and cold hands certainly aren't a deal breaker around here.
{To Ryan: If you're reading this, I hope you can see how much I love you. And yes, you forgot the paper towel.}
Labels:
anniversaries,
just living life,
ryan
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
thank you for commenting...you just made my day!