On Saturday, Michael and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary while photographing a beautiful wedding that I can’t wait to share SOON!  We will get more time just together to celebrate, but honestly it was really nice to spend the actual day witnessing the start of another marriage in that way!  I will share much more about that in their post…but for today, a little love note to my husband.

You guys…being married to Michael is like winning the lottery every day.  No joke.  5 years isn’t like a lifetime or anything, and I know that.  But it isn’t entirely minimal either, and we have traveled a lot of paths in those years.  We both went through a lot of difficult relationship situations before meeting each other (which was quite a while before realizing what was in front of us), and I still cannot believe how unbelievably lucky, blessed, I am to have him.  I would just gush ridiculously but just seems a little cheesy for his taste…so I am going to stick with 5 amazing things about the last 5 years with my Michael.

1). Michael is a brilliant cook.  As in, he cooks for us 30/31 nights of the month that we eat at home, and everything is delicious.   If it was up to me, our poor children would eat mac and cheese and peanut butter and jelly every night…and maybe tacos once a week, but that’s about it. I have zero kitchen skills, which is something I intend to work on at some point in life, but after work Michael cooks, and we are so amazingly lucky (and so are our tummies!) for that.  He also does laundry, dishes, irons, and cleans when necessary. Amazing!

2). Michael makes me (us) laugh.  If you had just met him, and hadn’t paid much attention, you might not know that he is funny.  Because he is also quiet.  But he makes us laugh so so much, every day.  And laughter is so needed when raising kids!  Or just living.

3). Michael loves me. I am not sure why most days, but he loves me and so so well. He knows how to calm me down, and make me smile, and help when needed, and what kind of ice cream I need depending on my mood!! 🙂 He lets me dream and supports those dreams without question. I try not to push too much on loving someone else because of what they do for ME, but I would be remiss not to mention how much of a better person he makes me as well because of his moral compass, and kindness, and endlessly giving nature.

4). Michael is an amazing father. This is tricky to write about for me because I know there is a bit of a societal push nowadays to just expect husbands and dads to do an equal share of the parenting and there should be- I believe that it should be equal and don’t ever want that to be misunderstood. But the thing is, that isn’t reality in a lot of homes.  And Michael is amazing.  He loves being a dad, he loves his children, and he gives SO much to them, for them, every single day.

And lastly…

5). Michael betters everyone and everything he touches.  His work, our homes, his family, our business, me…he doesn’t do anything half way, he gives his all and has this incredible effect on everything he does because of it.  Everything is better because of him…he makes everything in life better.

My Michael, I still promise.  The words I said to you 5 years (and 2 days!) ago are still fresh on my heart, and as I told you that day, loving you continues to be the greatest privilege of my life.  Just in case those words aren’t every ringing in your ears every day in the grind of life…

Michael Aaron, from this day forward, you will never be alone.  I promise to always be by your side, a part of you, facing life’s joys and challenges with you.  I promise to continue to try new foods with you, to laugh with you, and to learn with you. I promise my faithfulness to you, knowing that you are the only one for me and that my heart is fully yours.  Most of all, I promise to love you…even when dinner isn’t on the table, even when you won’t let us keep the stray cat, even as we grow and change, I will love you, thoroughly, completely, and endlessly.

**Pictures by the fabulous BethLaurren Photography.