a decade of marriage

it's amazing we survived everything.

honestly, i can look back and think...

wow. that all happened...in 10 years?

3 kids. 1 dog. 10+ houses. a few (lost) cats.

not to mention, i've now been married for 1/3 of my life!

 

the first time i saw my love, i thought, "omg. he is SO cute. he looks like a tough guy too."

well, he is super cute, but he's not the rough and tough guy i imagined.

not to say he's a softy, cause that's definitely not the case either! hahaha.

he is a perfect mix of both, right smack in the middle.

 

our wedding was not what i had always imagined as a young girl.

you know, we all have those dreams of this perfect white wedding,

a beautiful million dollar princess dress, the biggest ring ever, yada yada yada.

 

but that wasn't the case for us.

we were young, we'd just had our daughter 2 months prior.

we were broke as could be.

neither of us had ever participated in any wedding events, not to mention never been to one!!

we were clueless, yet we thought we knew it all!

(i'm actually stopping to laugh at my former self at this moment.

if i only knew then what i know now. cause now i do know everything. bahaha ;)

 

not to say i would change anything if i could. cause i wouldn't.

it all had to happen that way. that was Gods plan for us.

still, trying to have a wedding and be a 'grown-up' when all your friends

are hanging around the keg, literally making a circle around it...

wasn't in my plan for my perfect wedding! hahaha.

none-the-less, it's a good laugh to think back on.

 

august 3, 2003

 

so coming up on our 10 year i was juggling the question;

"do we want a big event, or small and private?"

we chose small and private...very small. very private.

just him & i & our babies.

and it was perfect.

 

we chose to renew our vows infront of the kids.

with the same pastor that married us.

and one of my best friends as my photographer.

 

top: my love & i

bottom: my bestie that photographed the renewal

 

(these aren't the professional pics, just the few i took)

 

we also had wrote our own vows. which was amazing.

we didn't do it the first time. which i do not regret lol.

i hardly remember our wedding, not that its been too long, but it was chaos for me.

this renewal though...ya, i'll never forget it.

it was very personal. there was no one to be worried about...

except for the boys that kept hitting and pushing each other. but whatev right?

it was all about us, just as a marriage should be.

 

after...

as soon as the renewal was over, we took off to a cabin with the kids for the weekend.

we chose to take the kids because, well we do everything with them anyways.

but also, they too survived this past decade with us.

they're learning from us...from us...what a marriage should be.

i emphasize the 'from us' part because it's a daily reminder to be our best selves,

we have little ones watching our every move.

 

and to us, our marriage involves our kids.

they make us better parents, better friends, better husband and wife.

and, i can be very honest when i say, there are a handful of times that we

may have not made it through, but we stuck it out for them.

and i'm so glad we did. cause really, we were sticking it out for us too.

 



the cabin was perfect. it was called the miner's cabin

@ coloma resort, coloma, ca.

 

we got the boys their first swiss army knives as gifts at the renewal,

the pic above is me, showing my 5 year old all the gadgets. i was scared haha.

 

it even had a/c. thank God cause it was hot out.

 

it was right off the south fork of the american river.

 

i highly recomment this place, very kid friendly www.colomaresort.com

 

 

there is a cute little gold mining town set up at the resort.

the kids karaoke'd infront of 80+ people.

here's my daughter singing the star spangled banner by whitney houston

and my son singing walk this way by run dmc & aerosmith.

 

and whats a vacation outdoors without s'mores!?

the boys had to keep burning them so they could blow them out. pyros? possibly.

 

 

to all my friends that are married, or are on their way to the alter...

the most important thing in our marriage (i included in my vows):

 

proverbs 31:12

"she brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life"

 

it seems easy, duh, why would i harm him?

but it happens, way too often.

and it doesn't only say to not harm him, cause honestly thats the easy part!

but it also says to bring him good.

support your husband, stand beside him.

not infront of him. not behind him.

 

i try my hardest to live my days out so that my family will see this in me:

 

proverbs 31:28

"her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her;

many women do noble things,

but you surpass them all"

 

so here's to another decade and many more!

happy anniversary boo. i heart you.

 

.erin.