This weekend was Angel and mine seventh anniversary. We got married as college students and were making about $550 a month. If it weren't for some savings and (to give credit where it's due) some divine miracles we wouldn't have been able to cover our bills or afford tuition and fees. We didn't have much. When we moved for the first time everything fit into a van with a 7 foot trailer. Our entertainment our days were spent in classes, grabbing lunch together when we could and taking a ballroom dance class together. Our evenings were often filled with homework.
Our first Valentine's Day had me stuck in a class until 7:30 pm. When I got home Angel had dinner waiting for me. She had splurged a little and bought steaks. She also had done baked potatoes, the big 40 count ones, and had a monster sized green salad. She smiled at me and told me that she expected me to eat everything on my plate. This was a cruel thing to do because she had spent the last 6 months training me to leave leftovers. My parents generally only made enough food for the meal - we weren't to keen on leftovers. Angel's family always made enough for leftovers as her parents took them to work for lunch the next day. The problem became evident when Angel made enough for leftovers and I ate everything on the table out of habit. The problem with the Valentine's Day meal was that the potato alone was about two pounds! I only ate half of everything and was very full.
There were many lessons learned that first year. We have fond memories of those times before we moved, found professional jobs and had children. There were plenty of ups and downs trying to figure out how we were going to balance family, roles, interests, and just how to mesh our two lives together. We celebrated our first anniversary with Angel being two months pregnant with Kanga. We took our cake topper with us. It hadn't been wrapped well and the outside fondant was as hard as a brick. However, when we flipped it over and peeled off the cardboard on the bottom, the cake was still moist inside. The frosting had protected it and we actually ate more than just the bite we fed each other on our wedding day.
Since then we've been through a lot. I won't, and can't tell it all anyway. Needless to say our ups and downs have gotten higher and lower, but through it all we've gotten closer. When Angel and I decided that we were going to get married we both confessed to being scared. Logically, it didn't make sense for us to wed at our current state. But we decided that regardless of how scared we were it was much better to be scared together. We have been many things together - including scared. But we have found that as long as we are together we can do whatever needs doing. I feel very lucky to have married Angel. Heaven knows that I don't deserve her. But I feel that every happily married man feels the same way about his wife. Saturday we went to the temple to do sealings, a tradition we started a couple years ago. It's almost like renewing our vows. While we were waiting one of the temple workers ask how long we had been married. He was surprised that it was seven years. He said it looked more like six months. Our reply to that was one of gratitude. As we believe in eternal marriage we figure that the relative shortness of mortal life when compared to the expanse of eternity that we are still (and will be for many, many, many years) honeymooners.
I love you, Angel. Thank you for seven wonderful years and I'm looking forward to infinitely more.
Our first Valentine's Day had me stuck in a class until 7:30 pm. When I got home Angel had dinner waiting for me. She had splurged a little and bought steaks. She also had done baked potatoes, the big 40 count ones, and had a monster sized green salad. She smiled at me and told me that she expected me to eat everything on my plate. This was a cruel thing to do because she had spent the last 6 months training me to leave leftovers. My parents generally only made enough food for the meal - we weren't to keen on leftovers. Angel's family always made enough for leftovers as her parents took them to work for lunch the next day. The problem became evident when Angel made enough for leftovers and I ate everything on the table out of habit. The problem with the Valentine's Day meal was that the potato alone was about two pounds! I only ate half of everything and was very full.
There were many lessons learned that first year. We have fond memories of those times before we moved, found professional jobs and had children. There were plenty of ups and downs trying to figure out how we were going to balance family, roles, interests, and just how to mesh our two lives together. We celebrated our first anniversary with Angel being two months pregnant with Kanga. We took our cake topper with us. It hadn't been wrapped well and the outside fondant was as hard as a brick. However, when we flipped it over and peeled off the cardboard on the bottom, the cake was still moist inside. The frosting had protected it and we actually ate more than just the bite we fed each other on our wedding day.
Since then we've been through a lot. I won't, and can't tell it all anyway. Needless to say our ups and downs have gotten higher and lower, but through it all we've gotten closer. When Angel and I decided that we were going to get married we both confessed to being scared. Logically, it didn't make sense for us to wed at our current state. But we decided that regardless of how scared we were it was much better to be scared together. We have been many things together - including scared. But we have found that as long as we are together we can do whatever needs doing. I feel very lucky to have married Angel. Heaven knows that I don't deserve her. But I feel that every happily married man feels the same way about his wife. Saturday we went to the temple to do sealings, a tradition we started a couple years ago. It's almost like renewing our vows. While we were waiting one of the temple workers ask how long we had been married. He was surprised that it was seven years. He said it looked more like six months. Our reply to that was one of gratitude. As we believe in eternal marriage we figure that the relative shortness of mortal life when compared to the expanse of eternity that we are still (and will be for many, many, many years) honeymooners.
I love you, Angel. Thank you for seven wonderful years and I'm looking forward to infinitely more.
No comments:
Post a Comment