Monday, November 9, 2015

Don't You Know That I Love You ...

Today I'm celebrating two years of marriage with this guy:

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Although we've only been married for a short time, we've been together for nearly 8.5 years.

I had a lot of ideas about how I wanted to celebrate our anniversary on my blog, but I finally decided to share some of our time together through pictures. I mean, who doesn't love a post filled with pictures? (I apologize in advance for the shitty quality of some of these. An iPhone selfie in a poorly lit room isn't exactly a recipe for a stunning photo.)

I'll also share some stories along the way. (And I'll probably get kind of sappy at some points. Just go with it!)

I guess I'll start from the beginning. And if you've never read the post about how we met, you should ... It's actually a pretty cool story!

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Here we are in China. We weren't "official" at this point, though I'm sure you can see that we were already pretty comfortable with one another. We spent nearly every moment together on that trip, and, by the end, what could easily have just been a summer fling had blossomed into something real.

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This was taken on his first trip to visit me after returning from China. I was still living in West Virginia (which is where I'm from originally), and I remember being so nervous that things would be different or awkward between us when I picked him up from the airport even though only a few weeks had passed since I'd last seen him. We talked on the phone all the time, but it was hard to know if things would still be the same once we were both actually in the same place again.

I didn't need to worry. Everything felt exactly the same (maybe even better!). I had an amazing time showing him around my hometown and the town I was living in at the time, introducing him to my friends and family (I'm still so thankful he was able to meet both of my grandparents before they passed away), and taking him out for Indian food for the first time. The picture above shows his reaction to my "intolerable" lamb vindaloo. (He still doesn't like his food too spicy, but he's a huge fan of the more mild Indian dishes.)

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We've always both loved traveling (I mean, you don't meet in China if you hate traveling!). After we'd been together for about 4 months, Eric flew back to West Virginia and we drove up to Philadelphia for a long weekend. We stayed in an an awesome bed and breakfast, and spent a lot of time exploring the city. I'd been there before, but it was his first time. Philadelphia will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the first place we traveled together as boyfriend and girlfriend.

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After we'd been together for a little over a year, I got a job in Wisconsin. This picture was taken at The House on the Rock during one of his visits. (This was actually a pretty cool place. If you're ever in Wisconsin, I recommend checking it out if you have the time.) Please ignore how terrible my hair looks in this picture ... I swear I didn't have a mullet! (This was just the result of a somewhat unfortunate angle coupled with an inability to properly style my hair.)

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In September 2009, after only living in Wisconsin a little over a year, I took a huge risk and moved to Omaha to be with Eric. I didn't move until I had a job lined up, of course, but I was still terrified. What if things didn't work out? 

Honestly, it was a difficult transition for us both. We were used to a long distance relationship, and going from living apart to living in the same city requires some adjustment. (It didn't help that we were also working completely different schedules at the time.) Eventually we figured it out, though.

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By March 2011, we'd figured things out enough to make yet another major move in our relationship: moving in together. This is one of the earliest pictures I have of us in our apartment (that we still live in, by the way). 

Neither of us had ever lived with a significant other (unless you count cohabitating for several weeks on vacation, but I don't), so it was a little scary for both of us. However, we both agreed that we wouldn't want to get married without living together first ... So it was obviously the next logical step.

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After living together for a little over a year, he proposed in November 2012. This picture was taken the night we got engaged. I don't think I've ever shared that story on the blog, but I'm sure I will eventually.

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Almost exactly one year later, we were getting married. I haven't shared a ton of details about our wedding (with the exception of my post about the song we chose for our first dance), so maybe I will at some point. Right now I'll say that wedding planning was one of the most stressful things I've ever done (and we even had a wedding coordinator to help with the majority of it!), but it was all worth it in the end. I don't think I've ever felt happier than I did on my wedding day. 

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A year after that, we were taking our late honeymoon/one year anniversary trip. The trip included stops in NYC, Amsterdam, Brussels/Bruges, and Paris. This was one of our favorite trips to date!

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We've been through a lot since we first met in May 2007. 

Since then we've experienced 3 continents, 6 countries, and 15 states together. (Well, 15 including our current getaway to New Mexico!) 

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We've dealt with deaths of grandparents, job transitions, and major moves. 

We've been to numerous weddings, sporting events, and concerts. 

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We've argued over stupid things and major things, always choosing to take the time to work things out. 

We've laughed and created ridiculous inside jokes that include (but are not limited to) a ridiculous obsession with turkeys:

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Since the moment we first agreed to "officially" become boyfriend and girlfriend on a hot, sticky day in China in June 2007, we started building a life together. 

And on this date two years ago, we committed ourselves to forever.

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Things haven't always been perfect, but I can't think of anyone I'd rather spend the rest of my life with. Happy anniversary, Eric!

4 comments:

  1. awwwwww <3 i swear, there is nothing more i love than a good anniversary post lol. seriously, you guys are adorable and i love all the pictures, crappy quality or not ;) some of my favourite photos are crappy iphone ones, who cares! happy anniversary and i hope you're having an amazing time!

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  2. Happy anniversary!!! You guys are adorable!

    My husband and I started dating in 1996(!) and didn't get married until 2004 so I totally get taking your time. Marriage is a huge deal and there's no sense in rushing into it.

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  3. Happy anniversary!

    Totally with you on not getting married before living together - that living together transition was HARD for us and if we had had to make that on top of marriage, I'm not sure how well we would've fared.

    We took our time also - together for 8 years before we got engaged. I would've been happy never getting married! LOL

    I love that you guys are adventurous travelers too. Wishing you many more wonderful times together!

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  4. I loved all of the pictures. They all felt genuine and authentic, not staged and posed. Wonderful post. Happy Anniversary!

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