Four Years

Today my wife and I celebrate our four year anniversary.  But that is only the time since we've been married.  We just were discussing the other day that it is so strange celebrating wedding anniversaries when you've been a couple for so long.

I've actually known Erin for over 11 years, and she has been my best friend almost all 11 of those.  We met in a high school musical, and I knew from the moment I saw her that I wanted to know everything there was to know about her.  I knew that we would spend the rest of our lives together.  I just had the inconvenience of a girlfriend at the time.  It didn't keep me from wanting to date this fun, adorable girl that sat on my desk after performances and sat in her car listening to music during rehearsals.

When we did start dating a few months later, I never wanted to spend a day without her.  Although the logistics of that particular wish didn't really work out what with our long-distance relationship, we still spent as much time together as possible.  I remember what she ate on our first official date (enchiladas).  I remember our first kiss on a midnight street (much like the David Gray song).  We got to know each other and our families.  That still didn't scare either of us away.

We moved away from one another (Erin to Spain, me to Colorado).  It didn't deter us.  We both knew that we were meant to be together.  We didn't let the distance keep us apart (HA!).

When I moved back, I wasted no time getting a ring.  I knew that I wanted Erin to be my wife.  She may have wanted it even more than me.  I asked her to marry me overlooking Donner Lake in Truckee.  When I say "overlooking" I mean that we were above the lake, but we couldn't see anything with the copius amounts of fog.  It is her happy place, and I'll never be able to walk that trail again without thinking of that foggy morning when she stood on a rock and turned around to see me holding out the ring.  I didn't even have to ask.  She was jumping off the rock hugging me in 1.2 seconds.

Our wedding day is known in some circles as The Party of the Century.  It really was a great time and everyone had a blast.  I remember it more for how breathtakingly beautiful Erin was in her wedding dress.  As much as I was head over heels in love with her for the years leading up to that moment, I was absolutely hers from that moment on.  I couldn't believe how lucky I was, and all I could do was cry tears of joy during the vows.  After a night of dancing and fun, Erin wanted a hamburger and french fries.  Let me tell you what devotion is: Trying to find a fast food joint that was open after 1am to get your new wife french fries because that is all she wants on her wedding night.

Since then my life has been beautiful.  There were some growing pains at first, but I can't complain about a thing because it was all a part of our journey.  The good times have always outweighed the bad because those times were spent together.

The day we got married has become one day in a series of greatest days of my life.  It wasn't the start like so many people look at wedding days.  It was a continuation of the greatest love story I'll ever know.  It is just one of many fantastic days in my life with Erin.  My own personal Mount Rushmore: The day we met, the day we got engaged, our wedding day, the day I found out she was pregnant, when we found out we were having twins and the day Grace and Ana were born.

So I do find it strange that we hit that reset button as if nothing came before the wedding day.  I celebrate it because it's fun to do so, and it signifies one more day of our story.  I love my wife.  I love that she loves me right back.  I love what we have done together over the last 11 years.  We have created something so much greater than either of us.

Erin, being with you has made my life so much better and richer than it would have been being alone.  You make me laugh every day.  You are kind and supportive and oftentimes have more faith in me than I do in myself.  You have given me the gift of undying love every day that we've known each other, and that gift has led to a better day than every day before it.  You gave me two beautiful girls, and you are just as good at being a mom as you are at everything else.

I love you now, then and for the rest of our lives.