Anniversaries.

1st {2009}...
Actually, I had zero recollection of our first anniversary. None. I knew we were knee deep in newborn, with Lily being around 10 weeks old. I just looked to see what pictures we took around that time and here is what I came up with:

Oh yeah! I remember now. We went to St. Augustine with a barely-three-month-old!! I noted that the stats said this was taken at 5:30am on 8/9/09...

2nd {2010}...
We had just moved into our new house. I have no idea how we celebrated but I do know that we took this picture on August 9, 2010:

(Why is my memory so bad??)

3rd {2011}...
I remember exactly what we did on our third. It was the day we left for Costa Rica, spending a week with our friends Kim and Robby:

4th {2012}...
We went paddle boarding and relaxed in the sun most of the day:

We laid on the paddle boards, connected ourselves with a paddle, and floated down the bay, letting the current take us. We even {tried} to do yoga on them. It was the most relaxed I have been in so long.
In the evening, we took some take out back down to the beach and this came on Pandora radio:

Our wedding song. It was completely random.

I have come to realize that anniversaries are really a celebration of navigating through a pretty tough journey. Marriage isn't always tough, of course, but life is in general. It's weathering the storms together and seeing how strong you become from that. It's about teaming up and learning how to parent your emotional three year old. It's about realizing why you make sense as a couple. It's about so much and every year we tend to celebrate us more and more.
I'm a lucky girl to have so much to celebrate.

4.

4 years ago tonight, we were sitting at Ronny's Place in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, at our rehearsal dinner, with this view...

Our rehearsal dinner was simple, like everything in Costa Rica. It was held at an open-air, no frills restaurant. As we were pulling up, our wedding coordinator came racing to our car to inform Dustin and I that the restaurant made a mistake and forgot about our party, which meant no buffet meal. I said, "Oh, well, do they have a table for us?", "Well, yes.", Karen replied. "Ok, great. Let's eat off the menu!"...and so we did. A limited menu of 4 dishes we had to choose from, while some of our food cooked in a toaster over, as observed by one of our wedding guests. It was delicious. It was perfect.

And the very next day I married someone very special....

Every year I get so nostalgic as I think back to this trip. I liked the words I put together in last year's post. It wasn't just about a wedding. It was a celebration, sure, but it was the most amazing memories because of who accompanied us. We were definitely missing quite a few important people for one reason or another, but it was as close to perfection as we could get.

Happy 4 years, babe. I love this life we have. Thank you for being you and giving me such an amazing life. I love you.