And there is no secret to the source of this much life...

Ah, the memories.

<-- Five years ago this afternoon, this is what was going on in my life.

I was so excited... and maybe a little nervous due to the fact that so many of our friends and family were staring at us as we publicly committed our lives to one another through God. We wrote our own vows, and I got a little choked up saying mine, but I did not break into tears, which I thought was an excellent accomplishment. When I cry, you can't understand what I am trying to say, really, so I had hoped I wouldn't start sobbing while trying to read my vows to my ne

w husband and he would be wondering "so, what did she just promise anyway?" Haha.

When it came time for the exchange of the rings, I think the magnitude of the moment hit me, and I tried so hard to put Jake's wedding ring on the ring finger of his right hand. He tried to stop me, which made me try harder to get the ring on the incorrect finger. Then, I realized what I was doing, and we all had a great little laugh. That's what the picture here is showing, us laughing as I place the ring, finally, on the correct finger. That is one of my fondest memories from the entire wedding ceremony. It's just... perfect.

I am still, fortunately, able to "play" the wedding day over and over in my mind as I please, and I pray that those memories never fade. We never received a video of our wedding, so I have never been able to actually watch the ceremony, but we were blessed with an audio CD recording from the church in which the ceremony was held. I have only listened to it a few times, because I feel like I can still remember it so well on my own.

It's been five years since Jake and I became husband and wife. I can't decide if it sounds like a short time or a long time.

I remember our first wedding anniversary (which we celebrated a few days early by this moment, because friends of ours were getting married the day before our actual anniversary and we were going to the lake the day of our anniversary) when I waited in my wedding dress, in the dark of our living room, with our first dance song queued up on the CD player with a note that said "press play." I sat, waiting, and waiting, for him to come through the double doors after his long day at work. I wanted to have our "first dance," again. I had planned that second first dance before we were even officially married. It was a wonderful surprise.

I remember thinking how big a deal the FIRST anniversary was. ONE YEAR! Wow! Consequently, each passing anniversary I have thought of as a bit more important, or monumental, anyway, leading up to today.. our FIFTH. I joke and call it our "golden anniversary," seeing as how we were married on August 5th (yes, I know the 50th is the official gold).

Five years is, in my opinion, the second big milestone for marriages. It's half a decade, which makes it sound like a long time, but it's only 5 years, too, a single digit number.

Regardless, I hold today with high esteem and great importance. It is a monumental day in our lives.

Unfortunately, this year, Jake is in Howard, SD, working a long day. He has been there since yesterday, not coming home due to DOT laws. So, I have not seen him since yesterday morning, and there's a good chance I won't see him until tomorrow morning, as he is usually home past 1am on this route day.

While I am sad that I cannot be "with" him physically to celebrate this wonderful day in our lives, I was blessed to have him call me and tell me he loved me. And, tomorrow, he does not work, so we have the entire day to be together. That's worth being thankful for, too.

So, to summarize, I can't believe that this milestone anniversary is already upon us. I am blessed beyond measure to have Jake as my husband, and to have started a family together (this is our first anniversary with Spencer celebrating with us!). We're already "growing old" together, which is something we looked forward to for many years.

I cannot wait to celebrate our 6th anniversary... and every anniversary after.

Jake, I love you. Thank you for choosing me.