One year ago...

Eri

One year ago today, we got married in my hometown surrounded by our family and friends.

We celebrated our first anniversary last night at the Buckhorn Exchange.  If you know what that is, try not to be too jealous.

In honor of our anniversary, I thought I would share our original wedding vows with everyone.

So here they are...

 Eric's Vows:

I struggled to write these vows for a while.  I found it particularly frustrating that something that came so easy to us was so difficult to express in words.  And then I thought about the things other people say when they mention love.  They say, "I love you,"  they show their love, they feel love, they make love.  And then it hit me.  Love is so hard to describe in words because love is best described in action.  Love is not just words on a page.  Love is action.  Love is one perfect moment on the side of a mountain.  Love is a long walk and an even longer conversation.  Love is a special birthday dinner and love is a date with the DVR.  Love is a Sunday morning ritual and love is a left-side pass with a little attitude.  Okay, maybe a lot of attitude.  

So here are my vows to you.  I vow to show love for you through my actions, both big and small.  I vow to say, "I love you" with such conviction and passion that there can be no doubt as to its depth.  I vow to make our love stronger every day, for the rest of our lives.

All of these things and more I will do for you.  Because, that's what love is.  Love is something that you do.

My vows:

I never wanted to marry someone perfect.  Instead, I wanted to marry my best friend, someone who was perfect for me.  And you are.

Over the course of our relationship you have taught me many things; one of the greatest lessons you have taught me is that relationships are about sharing: sharing the blanket on the couch, sharing household responsibilities, sharing the stories of your day and life.  You have someone to share the successes and triumphs of your life no matter how great or little they may be.  But most importantly, you taught me that when it feels like the world is sitting on your shoulders, you have someone to share the burden with you and lighten the load.  Today, it is no longer a "me thing".  Today, and forevermore, it is a "we thing".  

Because of you, I understand the meaning of true friendship and honesty.  Because of you, I have the three greatest things: faith in myself, you and our future; hope for the great things that will come; and a love that surpasses anything I could have imagined.  

I look forward to growing together, not just growing old, but changing and being there to see the people that we will become later in life.  

So today, I promise to be there to listen to you every day, even if it's about the great drive you made on the golf course that day.  I promise to make pancakes for you every Sunday morning.  I promise to respect you, cherish you, appreciate you.  And I promise that every morning for the rest of our lives, I will wake up to thank you for loving me, and that I will love you more than I did the day before.