6 Years Of Marriage | Keeping It Real

I don't write about my marriage often because I feel it is unfair as I am only one half but I had Tyler read this before I shared it to make sure he was ok with everything I wrote.

We just celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary over the weekend! We made dinner at home alone (the kids were with grandparents) and it was so nice. Each year on our anniversary we read the messages our wedding guests wrote to us, the day we got married. In place of table numbers, we placed note pads with numbers and asked our guests to write us a note for that anniversary, then on that year we read the notes from the specific table number. It’s really fun and hilarious to read the notes, it takes us right back to our wedding day. 

Our wedding day was an awesome fun party with all the people we love, I remember the high of the day that left me floating for awhile. 

I love being married to Tyler and I love our life. 

Married life is hard, raising humans with your partner is challenging and staying connected with Tyler during a season where we hit the pillow some nights without even talking, is in my opinion, more challenging than raising children. 

I have no doubt the work is well worth the effort as I have many examples of awesome long and beautiful marriages around me. But, in the middle of long days, sometimes little romance and intimacy it can feel scary and I have wondered will we ever get back to where we were? It’s only been six years and we have many more lessons to learn but one thing I have learned is there are ebbs and flows to our marriage and we can’t get stuck in the little ruts, they won’t last and when we do push through them, we come out on the other side so much better for it. So no, we won’t get back to where we were because we were different people and our circumstances were different but we will get to a new better spot if we keep working at moving forward together. 

We need help sometimes too, we can’t make it work alone. We need grandparents to watch the kids and advice from our parents, grandparents and counsellors. We need our friends as sounding boards for honest conversations and I need the guidance of God to be the best wife I can be. 

Marriage is awesome and challenging! I am grateful to be doing this life with Tyler, he is a perfect match for me in this imperfect life. 

Xoxo

Audrey

Five Years

Last weekend Tyler and I had the pleasure of attending our friends wedding, the ceremony was one of the best wedding services I have ever attended. The minister was so personal and the way he talked about marriage really spoke to my heart. He offered some words of wisdom to the couple, in the form of remembering to always see their parter as the whole person they are. Stand back, give your spouse space and admire everything that makes that person who they are and what they bring to your marriage. Then he continued on to share some beautiful characteristics of the bride and groom individually.

I felt very fortunate to witness this wedding ceremony so close to my anniversary because my wedding was on my mind. I do find in general, I have a greater appreciation for witnessing wedding vows after being married myself.

As we enjoyed the delicious wedding celebration dinner that night, Tyler and I quietly discussed that our wedding vows mean so much more to us today, than they did the day we got married. Sure we took the wedding ceremony seriously and participated in our pre wedding classes as instructed by our minister but the experiences of the last five years has placed more weight and value on our relationship.

I am grateful for everything Tyler and I have experienced over the last five years and honestly we have grown the most in our times of challenge. Celebration is easy, a blessing and welcomed with joy but our times of pressure have really refined us as a couple so far.

As we move through new milestones together and grow as individuals, I always want to see him for who he is, not just my husband but a man with admirable work ethics, a guys guy who likes to keep productive, an intelligent person who can find an efficient solution in most situations, a hands on dad who truly loves spending time with his family, someone who notices the little things and compliments on them often and an affectionate heart.

I am blessed to stand beside him, seeing him for all he is and holding his hand as we continue through life together.

Happy 5th Anniversary Tyler
xoxo
Heather