7 years and not an itch in sight...

I can't believe that today, Brad and I have been married for 7 years! It has been 7 years of bliss, pure happiness, and romance....

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Anyone who has been married for more than 5 minutes can tell you that the last line was a load of...well, you know! But even though it hasn't been pure bliss and romance, it has been a wonderful time in my life. Brad and I have survived 6 moves (about to be 7). We've survived deployments and Army life and Jumpmaster school (my fellow Airborne wives can attest to how hard THAT can be!). We've survived a miscarriage, 2 high-risk pregnancies and shared in the miraculous birth of 2 beautiful children. We've comforted each other through grief and loss, we've shared amazing joy and laughter, and every emotion in between.  There have been times when I didn't want to leave his side, times when I've longed for his presence, and times I've begged him to just leave me alone! We've been through times of romance and passion and times when I would have whacked him had he even thought about sex right after our kids were born. I've put him to test on that whole "sickness and health" promise, and we've struggled through hard times together.  We've played and laughed, cried and fought, and through it all, I can't image a single person I'd rather have shared it all with. 

Brad is the man that can make me laugh through my tears.  He is the guy I know always has my back, who I can lean on when I'm weak, and who I know won't run screaming when he sees me at my worst.  He's the guy who laughs at my 3rd grade sense of humor and puts up with my silly antics.  He supports me, loves me, accepts me, and challenges me to be better. He's a loving husband, amazing father, and wonderful friend.  And although he can annoy me in a way that no other human being possibly could, he knows exactly which buttons to push to drive me insane, he is the one person I would choose to be stranded on a desert island with.

No, our marriage hasn't been perfect. It isn't some fairy tale where the husband and wife never fight and wake each morning singing to a sappy tune of love and romance.  It is real, gritty, sometimes rocky, but always committed. If I could sum it all up in one sentence, it would be this: each day, we choose love. And I know that for the next 50 or 60 years, we'll keep doing the same.  I love you, Brad, always and forever.