Then.

I can hardly believe that Kyle and I have been married for 3 years now. Yup, June 27th, was our 3rd year anniversary! It's so cool to think about the past 3 years and the life we have shared together. On the day we got married I didn't think I could love him more than I did that day. Brad Paisley puts it nicely when he sings this song called "Then":

I remember, trying not to stare the night that I first met you
You had me mezmorized
And three weeks later, in the front porch light
taking forty-five minutes to kiss goodnight
I hadn't told you yet
but I thought I loved you then

And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
Like a river meets the sea,
stronger than it's ever been.
We've come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then

And i remember, taking you back to right where I first met you,
You were so surprised
There were people around, but I didn't care
Got down on one knee right there once again,
I thought I loved you then

And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
Like a river meets the sea,
stronger than it's ever been.
We've come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then

I could just see you, with a baby on the way
And I could just see you, when your hair is turning gray
What I can't see is how I'm ever gonna love you more
But I've said that before

And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
We'll look back someday, at this moment that we're in
And I'll look at you and say
And I thought I loved you then
And I thought I loved you then.

It's a very cool feeling to think back at my life and what it has been like for the past 3 years. I close my eyes and I see his face, his smile, his laugh, and his silliness that I love so much. I see us together laughing and living and loving life.

The past 3 years have been full of much bliss, yes, but like all worthwhile things in life we have had our trials, arguments, and yes, fights. I don't want to leave out the fact that we've had trials because I give a lot of credit to those trials for bringing us to where we are today. I feel like I wouldn't be very honest to post things that make others think we are perfect. So I have to mention our trials for they are our shadows that prove our sunshine. (Thank you Switchfoot for those lyrics as well). It's true though. Our "shadows" or our trials prove that there is sunshine in our life. I wouldn't appreciate Kyle as much as I do now if we had not have had our shadows. I wouldn't love him as much. I think that is a beautiful thing about marriage. You can either take your trials and think you are doomed or you can take them as a learning experience and humble yourself and be better. So, you could think of it this way: the more trials you have in your marriage the better people you will become and the more you will fall in love IF you are humble and are willing to sacrifice your wants for the other persons's wants. If you both do that, technically, you both should still be getting what you want, right? =) The more I see Kyle sacrifice his wants for mine the more I love him because that shows me that he loves me and vise versa. I think selflessness is key to a successful marriage.

Kyle and I are so in love. We will always be, and for that, I am grateful.

We had such a fun anniversary celebration on Monday. He surprised me by taking me to the Anniversary Inn in Logan and we stayed in a Mexican Riveria themed room. They called it "La Hacienda". It was so cool! They even had a hammock in the room and it didn't cross our minds until we both sat in it together but we had our first kiss sitting in a hammock! =) It was such a nice get a way and we felt like we really were in Mexico. We will definitely be returning there next year. What a nice little break from our busy lives.

To finish this blog post I want to share one more song with ya'll. I've known this song for forever but it came on the radio the other day with perfect timing because at the moment I was lamenting about how busy our lives are right now. I'm sure you all know the song but it's cute to read the lyrics because sometimes you don't catch them while listening on the radio. It's called "Just another day in Paradise" by Phil Vassar. Kyle and I always write notes to each other on our anniversary and I put the lyrics in this song in his note this year. Our lives are crazy busy. I was complaining to him the other day that I hardly ever get to see him. He said "well, at least we get to eat lunch together on most days!" I laughed and then said "Yeah, but most people get to have dinner together and fall asleep together." We both work graveyard shifts sometimes at our job and probably have spent the nights alone more than any other happily married couple. Sometimes we only get to sleep together for 2 or 3 nights a week but mostly we get 4 or 5 nights together. Every week is different with our crazy work and school schedules and we only have 1 car and an old fashioned motorcycle my dad borrowed to us that is not that dependable all the time. It's so funny to take a step back and listen to the complexity of our ideas we share on how we are going to coordinate with our car that day. Our conversations go something like this: (don't worry, I am not forgetting about the music lyrics I told you I would post, they are coming)...anywho, our car coordinating conversations go something like this:

Kyle: "Hey honey, I work the grave tonight (midnight till 9 am shift)"

Me: "Okay...how am I going to get home after my work then?... I get off at midnight"

Kyle: "Well, maybe I could drop you off at 3:00 and then I could pick you up at 12:00 and you could drive me to my job and drop me off and then come pick me back up in the morning...and in the morning I could take the car to my other job."

Me: "But I teach dance at 10:00"

Kyle: "Shoot...okay...let me think..."

Me: "I have an idea...how bout you drop me off at 3, pick me up at 12, I drop you off at 12, pick you up at 9 and then you drop me off at 9:30 and go to your job and then pick me up at 1:30 when I'm done."

Kyle: "Okay, here's what we will do. You just take the car and I will ride my bike."

Me: "No, we can figure this out."

Kyle: (thinking)

Me: (thinking)

Kyle: "Oh! I've got it! I drop you off at 3, pick you up at 12, I will drop you off at the house and then go to work and drive home in the morning. Then, you will drop me at my other job right after I get off and you take the car until you are done and then you can come pick me up!"

Me: "Brilliant! Nice thinking, Kyle"

That is just one out of many car scheduling conversations we have. When the motorcycle is up and running then it is a little easier but we don't like to drive it at night so we still have to coordinate a little. One day we were having another one of our coordinating conversations and I just stopped and laughed. We sound so funny because it gets so intense trying to find the best solution. Anywho, I just wanted to give you a little glimpse of what our lives our like. Crazy. But that is life and I wouldn't have it any other way. This song pretty much sums up our life right now and I love it....(it's the one I told you I would post and the one that I wrote in Kyle's letter this year). Here it is:

The kids screaming, phone ringing
Dog barking at the mailman bringing
That stack of bills - overdue
Good morning baby, how are you?
Got a half hour, quick shower
Take a drink of milk but the milk's gone sour
My funny face makes you laugh
Twist the top on and I put it back.
There goes the washing machine...
Baby, don't kick it
I promise I'll fix it...
Along with about a million other things

Well, it's ok. It's so nice
It's just another day in paradise
Well, there's no place that
I'd rather be
It's two hearts
And one dream
I wouldn't trade it for anything
And I ask the Lord every night
For just another day in paradise

Friday, you're late
Guess we'll never make our dinner date
At the restaurant, you start to cry...
Baby, we'll just improvise.
Well, plan B looks like
Dominoes' pizza in the candle light
Then we'll tippy toe to our room
Make a little love that's overdue
But somebody had a bad dream
Mama and daddy
Can me and my teddy
Come in to sleep in between?

Yeah it's ok. It's so nice.
It's just another day in paradise.
Well, there's no place that
I'd rather be
Well, it's two hearts
And one dream
I wouldn't trade it for anything
And I ask the Lord every night
For just another day in paradise.

Happy 3rd year anniversary Kyle. You are my paradise and I never want to leave. I love you forever.