Our Anniversary | A Love Story |Virginia Wedding Photographer

Our Anniversary | A Love Story |Virginia Wedding Photographer

Today we celebrate four years of marriage! On December 13th, 2015 we stood in front of our family, our sweet boy, our friends, and God and promised to continue to do all the things that brought us there. Holding hands we vowed to pour into each other, to accept each other, and to never stop working to make our relationship a safe haven. Four years later we are still holding hands and creating a life together that we never dreamed possible. Every day I wake up to a life filled with love and encouragement and it all started with a checking account.

I will never forget the first time I saw John, it was a Friday, June 13th, he was sitting in the lobby of the bank I was working at. He sat there in the perfect simple way he does and I was instantly drawn to him. I wanted to meet the man with a kind face and dreamy blue eyes! Trouble is, clients were in a round-robin type of system and he was going to be assisted by the banker in the office next time mine. Thankfully my wonderful neighbor passed him along to me with the promise of lunch! We sat and chatted and laughed for about forty-five minutes while I tried to focus and actually do my job! It was not easy! I’m happy to say he did leave with a brand new checking account, eventually!

I was going on vacation the following week and I thought about my blue-eyed client often and wondered if he caught on to my big smile and little flirts. I couldn’t wait to get back into the office and check my voicemail! I was hoping he would call! After all, he had my business card! Wink wink! Sadly there was no voicemail. I didn’t think much of it and went about my work. The next day, Tuesday, now 11 days since I meet him, I came back from lunch to the SWEETEST voicemail! He thanked me for my help and asked him he could take me to lunch. Of course, I accepted!

Another week would go by before we had our first date. When he showed up he had a little plastic container with him. After we sat down and told me if brought me a piece of his homemade blackberry cobbler! We laughed and talked about our jobs and families. He was a perfect gentleman and that cobble was delicious!

John did everything a man does when he is dating a woman and he wants to impress her. He opened doors for me, helped put my coat on, carried things for me, cooked for me, never missed a chance to tell me how beautiful I was and would surprise me with little gifts or goodies. John shinned in every way possible but it was when he met Noah that changed everything. All the ways he showed he loved me he began pouring that same effort into Noah. He was always there to add into our lives, and not just on the fun and easy days. Through the tantrums and boogie noses, the sleepless nights and threesome dates to Chucky cheese, he was there and happy to be right there with us.

Four years ago we were married and that was a wonderful day but truly the happiest day of our relationship was the day we met! Not always the popular answer but it is the answer that is true to me! John has loved us and cared for us from the very beginning and that is what changed my life forever. Being loved in the way he loves me is something I didn’t think was real; it was for the movies and fairy tales. I now know that it is real when you share your life with the person that God made for you. The one for whom your soul loves.

John, my sweet man, my best friend, and the only person I want to take long middle of the night road trips with, words will never be a sufficient way to express how much I love you and what you mean to me. I have never known a man greater than you, and every day I want to be a better version of myself because of you. Each day you show me what it is to love another person in the purest most selfish way, a way that I thought only a parent could love a child. You have held me up when I couldn’t hold myself and you have believed in me when I couldn’t believe in myself. In our short time together we have overcome so many difficult times, more than I would have wished for, but you were a never-changing never-ceasing force that drove our family through dark days. You always find a way to bring joy and comfort and I am forever grateful to you. Every second of every day my heart is bursting with pride to be your wife! I stand in awe of all that you are and all you have accomplished. I will never miss a chance to brag about my husband and thankfully, my love you make sure I have plenty of material!

Honey, I know sometimes you worry and some days your heart is heavy and I see your strength as you lead our family. Noah sees it too. More and more I see you in him. The way he is eager to help his family, his kind heart, and the way he tries to care for me. You are creating a legacy; even on the hard days, he sees a perfect exactly of how a husband should love his wife, how a father should raise and mold his son and how a son should love his mother. Thank you, honey, from the bottom of my heart and with every fiber in my body, thank you for this gift.

I am so excited to see what this new chapter will bring and how our family and relationship will continue to grow. I love you X this much! Happy Anniversary B.C!

                                                                                                                         Xoxo S.M

photo credit: Yulia Panchanko