5 Years

Our family of three on our five year anniversary

Last Friday Matt and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. We've had such a great 5 years. I started a series of blog posts about each year of our marriage the week before Nathan was born, but then things got crazy and I haven't gotten back to finish them. Maybe someday I'll be able to finish them. When we first got married, five years seemed like such a long time, and I remember wondering what our lives would be like five years down the road. We've come a long way. In the last five years we have both started and finished graduate programs, moved to Broken Arrow, became home owners, started new jobs, and are now parents to a precious little boy. At times it seems like we have changed and grown up so much since our wedding day, and at other times it's hard to pinpoint exactly how we've changed.

I think the biggest change in our relationship in the last five years has been an increase in trust. I've noticed since we've gotten married and our marriage has matured, how much more we trust each other. There were times when we were dating where it felt like we were testing each other when we had conflict to see if the other person would stick around and not leave. I've noticed in the last few years how rarely if ever that happens anymore. We fully trust each other and so a lot of times conflicts and fighting seem pointless. We get over things much more quickly now. It seems like we've grown up a lot too in the last five years and have truly entered the adult world especially in the last three weeks when we have become solely responsible for another human.
We have had such a great five years and are so blessed. Back on our wedding day, when I dreamed about what our first five years would hold, I think everything has come true.

We left Nathan with my parents for the first time on our anniversary so we could have a little time to ourselves to celebrate. We are glad they are close and are so willing to babysit. We had a great dinner out. I feel like lately whenever I eat a meal, I'm either scarfing down my food because Nathan will need something, or I'm eating one handed while I'm holding him. It was really nice to have a relaxing dinner and some quality time with Matt. As all newborns are, Nathan is a needy baby, and even though Matt is off work and at home, it seems like we spend less time together than if we were both working. We ended the evening with ice cream and a little down time at home before we were missing Nathan too much to be away from him any longer. It might not have been Cinderella's castle, but it was still a very special evening.

In keeping with tradition, Matt and I talked during dinner about our top 5 moments of our fifth year of marriage. It was a crazy year with Matt traveling for about 40% of it. Last summer was probably the most difficult time in our marriage, with Matt being gone and so many stressors in my family at the time. Then came the excitement of planning and preparing for our first baby over the next several months.

Matt's top 5 moments of year 5
5. Seeing Nathan on ultrasound for the first time when I was 10 weeks pregnant
4. Parasailing in Pensacola
3. Our last day at Hollywood Studios during our Disney vacation (it was the day after our 4 year anniversary)
2. Riding jet skis in Pensacola
1. Holding Nathan for the first time

Angela's top 5 moments of year 5
5. Celebrating my 26th birthday in Kansas City
4. Visiting Matt in Florida last July (I couldn't narrow down one specific moment, but parasailing was one of my favorite things we did during the long weekend)
3. Dinner at Cinderella's castle at Disney World (Technically it was after our 4 year anniversary since we got married in the afternoon.)
2. Telling Matt I was pregnant
1. Meeting baby Nathan

We are excited to see what is heading our way in year 6!