I didn’t have anything written before today about our wedding anniversary, so I’m writing this off-the-cuff, at 8:00 am, with a cup of coffee in hand as I sit on our lanai. I’m missing Nick a lot today. But more than that, I am grateful for him and for the past four years we have shared together.

In the past four years, we have moved across the ocean three times and lived in two different states. There is no one else I would rather be on this crazy adventure with. I don’t care how often we have to move or how many times he deploys. As long as we are together, I know that we can get through anything.

I will be honest with you. During the time leading up to our wedding, Nick was deployed. We could only talk through sporadic emails. I was finishing my Master’s degree. I surely should have failed my last class, but somehow I passed. I was also working full time, planning our wedding, and preparing to move away from home for the first time in my life. And not just moving, like, a few towns away. I was preparing to move from New York to Hawaii. It was honestly one of the most difficult and stressful times in my life. But it was oh, so worth it.

When our wedding day came, all of that stress melted away. It was a beautiful day and we both were so happy. I’ve totally spammed my blog with pictures from our wedding over the years, but I’m not sure I’ve ever shared our wedding video. Probably because I never could figure out how to embed it until today:

During our wedding ceremony, our priest said something that has always stuck with me. He said that people come back to him years after he married them and tell him that it was the best day of their lives. He said that a wedding should not be the best day of your life. He said that your life together should just keep getting better and better. Those words they have proven to be true and that just blows my mind every year when I look back on how our marriage has gone.

Five days after our wedding, we said goodbye to the people who had traveled from all over the world to celebrate with us and flew to Hawaii. Those two years were just what we needed to start off our marriage, and I will always be grateful for them. We thought that Nick was going to get out of the military, but when the time came, he could not envision himself doing anything else, so we packed up rather quickly and moved to Connecticut so he could go to more Navy school.

The time we spent in Connecticut was hard because of our problems with our move, but Nick maintains that he was never as happy as he was in Connecticut. I think that has to do with the fact that he was in school instead of working, so we had lots of free time together. And then about a year ago, we moved back to Hawaii. We were thrilled when we found out we would be back here. I honestly don’t think there is any better place to be when your husband is out to sea than in a place like Hawaii, where it’s always warm and there is so much to do to keep you busy adventuring.

With Nick back on a submarine, this past year has been the hardest on us, but I know it’s made us stronger and more appreciative of each other. Whenever we have an evening or a day together it feels like magic. And I love seeing him work at something that matters to him, something he is fully invested in.

4 years ago, I could not have predicted what today would be like. But I’m grateful for our life together and for everything we’ve done together. Nick is the peanut butter to my jelly, the smartest, kindest, funniest, quirkiest guy I’ve ever met. It amazes me that he chose me and continues to choose me every day. I’d wait as long as these deployments take, as long as he’s mine.

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