4 Years Ago....

We were just starting out, and we were in love. Though we had been friends since 2001, we had only been dating for 6-7 months when we took a little vacation to Panama City Beach with Chris's parents and his brother, Johnathan. We had not discussed marriage or children; it was just about us and seeing how strong the bond between us actually was.

Our relationship had never been uneventful. We had broken up once early on but had found that we just couldn't be apart. Just after we started seeing each other I suffered an injury with a bruised sternum from a car wreck. Chris had actually been on the phone with me when the wreck occured; an inexperienced 16 year old driver darted out in front of me leaving me no time to stop. Chris heard my scream, the crash, and then silence; and he thought that he had lost me. He took care of me after the accident, helping in any way he could and making sure that I didn't let my Super Woman mentality take over.

On Easter that year, after visiting his family in Crossville, we took a drive on the Natchez Trace. Uncharacteristically, it was a nearly silent drive. I didn't know what kind of struggle he was going through, but when he whipped into a small parking lot and started babbling about not being able to "keep it in anymore," I thought that he was going to break up with me for good. Instead, he really shocked me by declaring, "I love you!" Pure happiness welled up within me. Not being able to help it, I laughed... a lot. And yes, I was able, after a few minutes, to say those words myself. And then, a few months later, we went headed for the beach. Though I had been around his family on several occasions, this trip really served to endear us to each other even more. The fact that they invited me showed me that they accepted that I was an important part of Chris's life. It was a wonderful trip.

Later we would suffer the loss of family members and friends, struggle with finances, and weather all sorts of other storms together, but on this trip we saw just how much fun we could have together and how well I fit with this family. We were looking at the world not with wide eyed innocence but with hope and faith and the joy that comes from knowing that we had found our "other."

In just a few short weeks, we'll mark the first birthday of our baby girl and then three years of marriage. (More will come on those two topics as they draw nearer.) We're still new at all of this but just as cheesily in love as ever and still living on hope and faith and joy.