Seven Years.
Monday, September 10, 2012 at 8:22PM Today, Chris & I celebrated seven years of marriage.
On September 10th 2005, we said "I do". We vowed to stick together through good times and bad, through sickness & health. Through everything.
And so far.....seven years on, we've stayed true to those vows.
Marriage is hard. Anyone who says it's easy - has either been married for about five minutes, or they're lying. Marriage, like any relationship, or any commitment; requires a lot of nurture, persistence & compromise. However, for the most part, being married to Chris is joyous, natural and fun. Most of the time it's easy, and just the way it should be. We laugh and accept and show each other our true selves.
For all the other times, when it's hard work - we have those vows to draw upon. Those promises we made to each other seven years ago.
Our wedding day was perfect. Beautiful in every way possible. With our families & closest friends, we partied. It was a day of celebration. It was the close of many doors and past stories, and it was the opening of a bright, colourful future.
And when I reflect over how much, as a couple, we've grown & changed since that Spring day in 2005, I feel proud. Proud of us. We've overcome a lot. Pushed a lot of elephants up hills, repaired kicked guts & broken hearts and scraped over many a hurdle. We've come this far, and have only GOOD to show for it. With the unconditional support from our families, who have helped out mentally, physically and financially whenever we hit a low. We're very lucky!
Who knows what the future will bring us. Something I'm finally accepting, as I get older, is that we can't control everything. I can make dreams for the future and set goals. I can work hard towards it. I can steer my kids in the right direction and I can nurture my marriage with all my might, but at the end of the day, I'm not the one in control of what will happen tomorrow.....or in 10 years. I have to just take the ride. And enjoy it as it travels.
I remember watching a segment on A Current Affair a few years ago. It was a feature on an elderly couple who were celebrating their 70th Wedding Anniversary. SEVENTY.YEARS!!!! Ten times what Chris & I are celebrating today!!! Very cool. The feature had me in tears. And some advice that has stuck with me from that segment was..... The TV presenter asked them what their secret was to staying happily married for so long. The wife answered with this: "For starters, we made sure we never went to sleep until an argument or a frustration was nutted out. Never go to bed unhappy with each other. And secondly, we've been lucky to never be out of love with each at the same time! There will always be periods in a marriage where you just don't feel it - it's hard and repetitive. As long as you never feel that way at the same time, you should be right. You need to take turns at being the strong one holding it all together. And then like seasons, things shift and love returns. Just don't hit that low together too often."
It kind of reiteratied with me that marriage really is a union. A team effort. It's not about 'needing' the other person, it's about being together.
I love you Chris. Thank you for choosing me :)
{{ Since the moment I spotted you,
Like walking round with little wings on my shoes
My stomach's filled with the butterflies... and it's alright
Bouncing round from cloud to cloud
I got the feeling like I'm never going to come down
If I said I didn't like it then you know I'd lied. }}
So I'll say 'why don't you and I get together and take on the world and be together forever' {Nickelback/Santana Lyrics}
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Today, is also Nick's birthday. He would've been 34 years old today. This November marks the 10th anniversary since he was tragically taken from us. Happy Birthday Nick. I can feel heaven shaking from here, as you totally rock out your 34th Birthday!!!! I can only imagine the pain his parents feel on the day that represents him entering their world. And every year as we celebrate our marriage, we always acknowledge our special friend too!! RIP Buddy x
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love, marriage, together, wedding anniversary in {My Life}, {Real Life}
Reader Comments (4)
Happy Anniversary you guys!! You are such a beautiful couple and I do love reading about your little family's adventures.
Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday to your late friend Nick. X
Happy anniversary to you both!! What a beautiful bride you made Claire, stunning!! Loved seeing these photos.
What you've written here is SO true. Marriage is not always easy, there are many ups and downs but the important thing is you ride through all those highs and lows together. You guys sound so supportive of one another, a real team.
I love that you had gerberas for your bouquets, I remember reading that touching post you wrote about your dear friend and that potted gerbera. I'm sure he's watching over you and Chris and smiling at the gorgeous little family you have now :)
P.S Your bridesmaid dresses were a similar colour to mine and we must have been married at the same age - another parallel :)
What a lot you two have crammed into the past 7 years. You look like such babies in the photos.
It was a beautiful wedding for a lovely couple. All your family and friends had a great time xx