July 24, 2009

• Five Years Later

  Five years ago, on a bright, sunny day, Johnny and I got married in a gorgeous church overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

  Here I am, putting the old ball and chain wedding ring on Johnny

  

  Newly minted husband and wife

  

  No, my hair and makeup have never looked this good again  Note to self: Must hire hair and makeup team for everyday use

  

  Afterward, we celebrated with family and friends at our awesome Chinese banquet-style reception.

  Here we are with a bunch of the ladies from my sorority

  

  Father-daughter dance

  

  I smeared some cake on Johnny's nose

  

  You could say that Johnny and I were just kids then -- I was two months away from my 24th birthday, and Johnny had just turned 24 the previous month. At the time, we thought we'd already been through a lot together, having dated for five and a half years before our wedding day. But, little did we know that after our first five years of marriage, we would have:

  • One dog
  • Two sons!
  • Moved four times (three apartments and then into our first home, and one of those moves was cross-country)
  • An MBA (for Johnny)
  • Three student loans (to finance said MBA)
  • Three job changes (transfer to the Los Angeles office and then quitting to stay home and work part-time for me; the intense but awesome Mattel job for Johnny post-grad school)
  • A giant mortgage (but a lovely remodeled home to show for it )
  • Lost two beloved grandparents

  And of course, what's not in the list, but always a given, is that we've had lots of fun. Last night, Johnny and I were talking about all the things that have happened in the last five years, and we concluded that this was probably the most eventful five-year period we would have. I mean, hopefully, never again will we move four times in five years, and we better not have two more children! (If we do, I'm going to donate them to Angelina Jolie or Madonna.)

  So, it's been an intense five years, and through it all, Johnny and I have really worked as a team, and we've been partners and best friends. We're also extremely lucky in that we know we can always count on our families to support us through any challenges. It is a wonderful thing to wake up every day, as in love with your spouse (and even more in love with, in some ways) as you were on your wedding day. My wish for me and Johnny is that we will feel that way forever. Happy fifth anniversary, hon!

  p.s. Johnny found out that the traditional wedding gift for a fifth anniversary is wood. This made us giggle like immature seventh graders for a couple of days. I suppose we're still kids after all!

  • 8:48 pm
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