Three

As of today, I have been married to my best friend for 3 whole years. =)

Still my fave wedding day pic. =)

While I am absolutely thrilled to be celebrating another year of marriage to my best friend, hero and man of my dreams, I'm also kind of sad. This is kind of a big deal...and he isn't here for it just like he hasn't been here for any other holiday or big event for the past year. 


I got a card in the mail from Nana the other day... Inside she wrote exactly what I needed to hear. My grandparents aren't their old cheerful, encouraging selves these days but every once in a while they say something that reminds me of why I need them in my life. This is what she wrote:


Sorry you can't celebrate together; but just remember how blessed you both are that you found each other.


Short, sweet and to the point. And she's right. No matter how upset I am that we can't celebrate this together, I have to remember that we're still celebrating. Separated geographically or not, we're still together, we're still married and we still love each other. Not everyone can say that they're married to their best friend and that they'd much rather spend all their time with their husband/wife than anyone else. Not everyone met their spouse at a young age {though we weren't quite teenagers either} and just knew from the beginning. 


The past 3 years have been quite the adventure. Looking back on our wedding day, I know for a fact we had no idea what the future held. No one does really, but I could never have even thought that just 1 year into the future I'd be sending my husband off to basic. And then to AIT. And then to the sandbox. Even our first year was quite the adventure. Even though Joe lost his job that year and we were way beyond broke for 5 months, it's safe to say that was our easiest year so far. A month after we celebrated our first anniversary, he went to basic. 2 months later, he was at AIT. 2 more months later, I moved to GA to be with him though we never really lived together while there. About 6 months later, we PCS'd to Hawaii. 2 months(ish) later, he deployed. Like I said...year 1 was the easiest.


Despite this craptastic deployment, I am incredibly thankful for my husband. He is one of a kind and I am always amazed by how sweet and caring he really is. I'm also thankful that he's a big goof like me and I can just be silly with him. I'm thankful that he takes care of me physically, emotionally and financially. I'm even more thankful that he loves me when I feel awful, wear the fat pants, haven't fixed my hair and didn't bother to put makeup on. I'm really thankful that he understands that I don't handle bugs well and that I must put on some form of makeup before leaving the house. When he's home, the man puts up with a lot. What am I talking about? He puts up with a lot even when he's not here!! All of the "where are you?!" emails, dropped Skype calls, extremely pixelated and garbled Skype calls, iChat messages, Facebook messages... 


Why God wanted to bless me with a guy like Joe, I'll never understand. But I'll always be thankful.