Three Years

Three years ago today, standing on a beach on an island in front of more than 100 people closest to us, I swore to love Katie forever, and she swore the same for me.

That poor girl. 

I've had to grow into marriage. It hasn't been easy. But it's been more than worth it. 

Since three years ago we've learned a lot of things about a lot of things. About each other. About what it means to really love. About how to screw up and then make up.

We've fought plenty of times. We've yelled, we've cried.

But we've also adventured, laughed, played. We've felt the depths of sorrow and we've felt the heights of joy. 

Also, because apparently one Jack Russell Terrier in the family just isn't enough, we got another dog, and he's part Jack Russell part pit bull part American bulldog part God only knows what, and we named him Jack, and he's an idiot, and we love him.

We've done grown-up things like advance in our careers and save money and buy a car and start Roth IRAs. 

We've done stupid kid things like spend weekends doing nothing more than marathon-watching Friends and The Office and Dexter and The League and whatever other TV shows we get addicted to while eating nothing but pizza and Bojangles.

And then we've gone to the gym for five thousand hours the next week because we feel like lazy heifers who don't deserve to live if we're gonna waste our life like that.

And we've done so much to make sure we squeeze the absolute most out of this life. 

We have had life and had it abundantly and we've had it together, through all that has been awful and all that has been great. 

And it's only been three years. We're 25. We have forever ahead of us. We have big dreams and grand ideas and we're going to go after them hard as hell. We're going to have as much fun as we can and we're going to do as much as we can and baby, we are gonna LIVE. 

And I couldn't be happier about living with her. 

Happy Anniversary to us. 

Not to ramble on too badly, but—I'm so overwhelmingly grateful. People spend their whole lives looking for someone to live with, to share their passions and dreams with, to work with them in chasing said passions and dreams, and to believe in them as they do. Katie does all that. She also calls me on my bulls— and although I get completely ticked off sometimes, I know that she's right. She is. She's helped me to become such a better man.

I can honestly say that right now, I am the happiest I've ever been in my life, and more importantly, I'm just giddy about life ahead. I don't know that I could say that without Katie. I'm so glad I'll never have to.