2 Years

Our anniversary is coming up on Monday and it’s had me thinking about how different things are just 2 years later. And thinking about where we were and what we doing this time 2 years ago. 

It’s 2021 and there are only a few days until our wedding. I’ve finished sub plans for the school days I’ll be missing. We’ve been trying to get packed for the long weekend, not wanting to forget a thing. This involves a lot of me wandering around the house talking to myself. 

“Is my rehearsal dinner dress here? Or did I leave that at mom’s?” 

“Did I end up ordering the cake topper from Etsy?”

“Where did I stash my wedding shoes?” 

“Let me go get our marriage license out before I forget”

I’m doing my best to make sure Allan remembers all the pieces to his tux, especially socks, don’t forget socks. And the groomsmen gifts, and the wedding rings, and the information for the hotel and let’s not forget about the dogs! Loading up the car to make the trek from PA to SC. 

The months, weeks, days and moments leading up to a wedding are so full of fluttering chaos. The type of busy where you just flit from one thing to the next, giving a little bit of time here, a little focus there hoping that everything will turn out just right. 

But those days are also filled with the most beautiful kinds of anticipation and joy. The kind that rises up inside you till you’re about to burst. The kind that radiates in a glow on your face, through the giant smiles that seem plastered on in their permanence when talking about your fiancé. The kind of anticipation that brings butterflies to your stomach in the best sort of way. Feelings that you want to hold onto forever. 

And I think your wedding day is there to do just that. To anchor you and your husband to that joy. As we move through life and through the early years of marriage, we realize that our anniversary is just a day. An important day for sure. But it’s just a day. Our wedding is only one snapshot in the bigger picture of our marriage. And while it’s significant as the starting point of our forever, I’d like to go back and tell myself that it won’t be the peak of the anticipation, butterflies, smiles or the glow. That the coming days, while they may be less glamorous, will be full of these types of moments. 

The smile that radiates with pride when hearing about an accomplishment at work. 

The growing anticipation of a positive pregnancy test. 

The abundant glow that radiates for days as we share the news of our growing family. 

The flit and fluttering as we check off to dos on our moving list. 

The joy at an ultrasound.

The sweet smiles shared over coffee and the news on a Sunday morning in a new home.

The familiar comfort of your favorite person next to you on the couch watching jeopardy. 

The overwhelm at holding our son in our arms. 

The reassuring word while we figure out the parenting thing. 

A kiss on the way out the door.

A phone call from the road when he’s traveling. 

Date night in our own kitchen while the baby sleeps. 

It’s those same feelings from our wedding day, just reshaped to meet us in our everyday life. But always reminding us of the commitment we made, the love we share and the promises we’re keeping. I couldn’t have predicted what our life would like today when we said “I do” 2 years ago. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Cheers to 2 years with my best friend, and forever more to go!