Someone Hates Me.

Today is our 4th anniversary.


Man.  What a great 4 years!


I truly married a wonderful, amazing, wonderful man.

And if you know him, you know it's true.

Before we got married, Josh's mentor told him, "Remember that someone in this world hates her guts."

Weird to think about, but true.


Same goes for everyone, I'm sure.


That makes me smile, though.  Because he loves me anyway.

Here's to 90 more wonderful years with you, babe!


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That's really where I tried to cut this post off, but if there's one thing I can't shut up about, it's my hubby.  (Ok- there's a LOT I can't shut up about!)


A lot of people comment about our relationship and ask us "how."  By "how," they mean- we're 23 & 25 and have been married for 4 years!  During that last 4 years we've moved to a new state twice, I graduated college, and we've made ends meet against all odds, and went from being way underwater in debt to being nearly debt free (tune in next week for that post).


My answer?  Two things: God & Josh.  Having God in the middle of our relationship and respecting that has kept our heads together more often than not.  It's not just about going to church every Sunday, but that is a very good start.  Also, Josh is a super loving, giving, amazing man.  He always puts God first, and then me.  It's just who he is.  He loves, loves, loves.  BE that person in the relationship.  I strive to be that person, but he's just way better at it.  It keeps us going.


Then there's the ever so important thing: Sometimes just keep your mouth shut.  Instead of saying or doing (or NOT doing) what you were planning on, just do the opposite.  Don't spend the effort fighting.  At the end you wish you weren't fighting anyway, so why bother?


And finally, there are some song lyrics that perfectly described a choice that we made back in the summer of 2004 when we first met:


"You've got a dream of a degree and a shirt that smells like me.
We both got dreams we could chase alone... or we could make our own"


We both had plans for our lives:


Mine: college, great job, married, 6 children, living on my parents land in my hometown.
Josh's: backpacking in Europe, living in Atlanta, going on tour as a musician, never getting married, mission trips to Mexico


Sure, we could have each done what we wanted to do while dating, and then get married once we had accomplished certain things.  But we decided to combine our dreams and make new ones together.


So far, we've got this:


I finished college (with honors, baby!), married, both have great jobs, lived in my hometown for 2.5 years, then moved to Atlanta, Josh has spent most of our marriage as a full-time musician, has played for 25,000+ people, and we plan on eventually having 4 kids, including some adopted from Mexico.  I've learned to let loose a little more, and he's learned to not let loose so much.


We want to visit Europe and Josh's music career is definitely not over.


But we made our dreams together.  And we're chasing them.  Together.