one year in

somehow enough months and seasons have gone by 

that have made up a year.

on november 15th, 2008 we said our vows on 

a beautiful, blue-skied fall day.

we stood in black and white at the front of the chapel, 

making promises bigger than ourselves 

and trusting God to help us keep them.  

one year ago, surrounded by faces that love us, 

we stepped into marriage.

one year later, snow and ice covered the streets as we made 

our way to church.  a little further down the road of life together, 

we are learning to navigate the icy days a little better.  

and then there are those glorious days, too.

those are pure bliss.

scott offered me the gift of the written word, 

and i needed no more.  it was exactly what i wanted. 

for dinner we decided to return to the mona lisa, 

a local fondue restaurant where we had gone on our honeymoon.  

we were both surprised when they seated us 

in the same exact table!

from the cheese appetizer, to grilled meats to our 

almond joy dessert...our meal literally melted in our mouths.  

growing up, i often worried about marrying the wrong person.

i felt terrified of being stuck and wanting out or of 

waking up one day utterly dissatisfied.

but somewhere deep down, 

i knew that marriage could be really good.

then scott walked into my life and loved me.

he loved me first, without demanding love in return.

and he simply loved me and called me beautiful.

it held a certain ring of the familiar.

his love echoed the One who 

loved us both first.

on the day that marked day that God took away my fears, 

i was finally able to really begin loving scott.  

i too began to risk my heart.

not too many days later he met me at the end of the aisle 

with a grin reaching from ear to ear.

one year in, i've discovered that marriage can be really good.

in fact, it is even better than i even imagined.