Five years. I don’t know why, but that feels like A Big One. Our five year anniversary was on Friday. We made a point to drive in to Charleston a bit early so we could grab lunch at one of our favorite restaurants (King Street Grille, in case you’re wondering).
I wore a white dress, though a bit more casual than the one I wore on that day five years earlier. He ordered a beer. I ordered a glass of cab. And while we waited for our food, we talked.
A lot’s happened in these five years, huh? We realized that living in Athens felt like a lifetime ago. How is it possible it was only five years ago?
My one goal for the next five years? To move only once. Since our wedding day, we’ve moved five times. Raleigh to Athens. Athens to Charlotte. Switched houses in Charlotte. Charlotte to Buies Creek. Buies Creek back to Charlotte. I’m exhausted.
Our last five years have looked pretty much how you’d expect the first five years of any marriage to look. I will say I think we’ve had an unfair serving of tough times, but for the most part we’ve spent the last five years learning. We’ve stepped and stumbled trying to find our footing. We’ve fought and made up. We’ve shared some losses. We’ve made friends and lost a few. We started new traditions and revived some old ones. All the while, carefully weaving our lives together, creating an unbreakable bond.
To think our next five years could be as eventful as the last is an exhausting thought. When we stood together on that altar, holding hands, listening to the priest speak about the future and what marriage would mean, we had no idea, friends. We were young and in love, and that’s all we knew. We had no money. We had no real plans. We had no clue. And while there are moments from the last five years I’d rather keep hidden between the pages of my paper journal, there is a overwhelming sense of accomplishment here.
It might seem silly, feeling accomplished for making it this far. Marriage is and will always be hard. But I feel like the first five years are pivotal. Especially if you get married as young as we did. We’ve done a lot of growing up. We are most certainly not the same people we were back then. And there are many couples who just don’t make it through that. Add in the amount of crap we’ve had thrown at us, lost opportunities, countless moves, new jobs, losing jobs, sickness, just to give you a taste, and sometimes I can’t believe we wake up each day ready to face whatever comes our way.
But he makes me laugh. And we always come out on the other side of whatever life tosses in our direction closer than we were before. We are a united front.
And if you asked me what I think the next five years will look like, I’d laugh and say who knows. Because that’s the truth. I saw none of this life coming. You can make all the plans in the world, but your life will unfold before your very eyes.
So in the next five years, my only hope is that we still face things as a united front, ready for whatever comes our way. Oh, and that we only move once. If at all.
That’s doable. Right?
I'm voting no moves in your next five because you have such a great spot where you are now! Congrats on 5 years 🙂 {We celebrate that mark in July and I'm with ya – it just feels like a big one!} Your white dress looks so great on you. All that poolside time is giving you a gorgeous tan. I'm jealous because my skin is still pasty white – even after two days on the boat this weekend.
You are such beauties! I'm glad you were able to take a few minutes to really connect (we did the same thing for our 1 year anniversary and it was just so nice to just talk) and you should definitely feel accomplished. Considering how much you made it through in the last year, I can only imagine stacking 4 more on top of that!!! Just think how much you'll have to talk about in 10 years – except no moving stories of course! Happy Wednesday Friend 🙂
Happy anniversary! You're a lovely couple. Here's wishing you many more years together!
Happy Belated Anniversary!!! Wishing you an awesome next 5! 🙂
Happy late anniversary! I hope y'all had a great time celebrating! Here's to wishing you an awesome next five!
Happy belated anniversary!! Wishing you many more years of happiness!! xo, Biana –BlovedBoston
Happy belated anniversary, girl! It seems the best people get married mid-late May. 😉
Happy Anniversary! I love King Street. They opened a new one in the Inlet with an open bar on the marsh walk. It's amazing! 🙂
Love this post so much lady. It will be 5 years for us in September too. 🙂 I wish you guys many more years of love, laughter and happiness. I'm also glad that you had a nice trip!! 🙂
Such a sweet post! Happy anniversary! 🙂
Awe 🙂 Happy Anniversary to one adorable couple!!! I fully believe that five years is a big one and I wish you many MANY more years of trying to figure it out and laughter. So much laughter.
that is totally doable! my husband and i are coming up on our 2nd anniversary, and so far i agree – the first 5 years are pretty important / pivotal. here's to the next 5 and 50 years 😉
Happy 5 years! It sounds like you're going great. Congratulations and here's to the next five+! It's our 5 year anniversary in September and I agree, it does feel like quite a momentous milestone. Cheers to five!
We got married young too. It's crazy what life will throw at you and I think it's important to laugh all the time. No matter what comes, a good laugh is good medicine. Congratulations! Estherdavison@gmail.com
You're so eloquent. Our 6 year anniversary was yesterday and I wrote a whole lot of nothing.
But I think moving once in the next 5 years is a reachable goal. And realistic too!
Congrats on half a decade!
Happy 5 years!! Marriage is truly an adventure isn't it?? But it's been my favorite adventure so far! 🙂 Here's to many more happy years for you two!
Cheers to Five Years, sweet frend! xoxo
So I'm WAY behind but this is just beautiful! Cory and I will be celebrating 5 years in September and it is hard. I feel like we've had a fairly easy 5 years and it's still hard! I hope y'all had a great anniversary!