Two years ago I got married

Two years does not always seem like a long time.

In two years, I've been able to buy a house and finish my Associate's degree. In two years, I've adopted one dog and started fostering a second. In two years, I've dealt with toxic people and wonderful people. In two years, I've battled some pretty major health problems. I've seen a lot of good things happen and a lot of bad things. I left a job that was going nowhere and started a new one that has many new opportunities.

Two years ago, I got married.

Two years ago, I stood in front of family and friends and coworkers and promised to spend the rest of my life, through better or worse, sickness and health, with Austin. Marriage isn't about having the perfect relationship and never fighting. I didn't promise to never fight; I promised that I would be there for him when he needed me. I promised him a life together, through good times and bad.

Honestly, I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I didn't know the last thing about what being married meant. You can read all about planning a wedding and spend two years picking out the perfect flowers and table settings, but that doesn't make you ready for marriage. All the time spent making invitations and finding the dress doesn't get you ready for what marriage means.

I still don't really know anything about marriage. I think it is just something that you learn about as you go through it. I can tell you that I know what it takes to make marriage work but it would be wrong. I can't really tell you when I'm still working it out myself. I have learned a few things over the past two years. I have learned that marriage isn't about grand gestures. It isn't about buying your spouse a car for Christmas. It isn't taking exotic vacations. It isn't about having the perfect relationship. It most certainly isn't about never disagreeing. It is making coffee at night so it is ready in the morning. It is buying flowers when you know they've had a tough week. It is having a cup of tea ready after a trying day. It is the time spent listening to your partner rant about a selfish coworker. It is picking up the dry cleaning and cleaning the house when they don't have time.  It is apologizing when you're wrong. It is  waking up the next morning and realizing how silly that fight was. It is paying the bills and running errands.

The past two years have been full of a lot of ups and downs. I don't doubt that I would not have been able to make it through if it weren't for Austin. I'm so thankful that I've had him with me through this journey and I look forward to where our lives will go. I look forward to another two years, another twenty.