19 years ago today I became Mrs. Lord.

It was 1999.  Not even in our current century.  I was barely 21 years old.  I had only lived away from home for less than 5 months (and that was only my 1st semester of college until I moved home to be closer to my boyfriend….who would later become my husband).

I have never loved anyone else.  He was my first (and only) boyfriend and my first (and only) love.  I don’t know any different and I am so thankful.

19 years later.  3 beautiful boys.  One house that we have lived in for 17 years (which was originally supposed to be our 5 year house).

19 years is a long time.  I feel old and yet I still feel the same as I did when I got married.  A little more experience under my belt but essentially the same.  I remember my parents old (and ugly…..sorry mom) 1970’s bedroom furniture and when I asked about it she said they had it for over 20 years and I thought that was ancient.  And now I am there.  Do my kids think my bedroom furniture is ugly, old and outdated?  Probably.  And if you want to see that bedroom furniture from the 1970’s my parents still have it in their basement.

Marriage is really hard.  But so worth it.  I remember on my wedding day promising that I would never divorce.  I am not going to lie.  There have been some really dark and difficult times in our marriage.  Times when I really wanted to say the words “I want a divorce” and that is something I never would have imagined possible 19 years ago.   It would have been easier to divorce than what we were going through.  Or so I thought.  But I am so glad that we worked through it, stuck it out and kept walking the road.

He still makes me laugh.  And I love still making him laugh.  I love watching him be a dad.  I love the life we have built over the last 19 years and I am incredibly thankful for our marriage, our love and our imperfect life.  I am thankful for a guy who puts up with my control freakiness, my crazy ideas and who is always quick to get me a bubbly water when I ask for one.  He fixes stuff around the house, does the dishes and is my hero for taking over the laundry because I was slowly going insane one pair of socks at a time.  He lets me boss him around on the little stuff but steps up to the plate and makes the best decisions on the big, important stuff.  He is a great sounding board, is like a vault if you need a secret kept and has supported me in so many ways.

Not many people talk about how great marriage is and that makes me so sad.  People tend to think of it as something that if it doesn’t work out then divorce is not only a possibility but a back door that is always left open.  But I say….close that back door and lock up your marriage.  Be in it for the long haul.  Communicate.  Say the hard stuff.  Be willing to be humble and admit when you are wrong.  It is okay to go to bed angry as long as you sleep it off and you are willing to take another shot at it in the morning when you have cooled down.

Here’s to another 19 years my love.  May we always be there to make each other laugh and enjoy the little things together.

In honor of our 19th anniversary here are 19 pictures of us together.  Sorry for the missing middle of our marriage.  In these photos we skip from 1999 to 2013 because I didn’t have access to those years in photos when I was working on this.  If I had known this date was coming I could have prepared better……oh wait……this has been on the calendar every year.  Life happens.  At least I got these photos.

The night we got engaged.  September 1998.  We were babies.  Or at least I was.  I was only 20.  I couldn’t even legally drink alcohol.  Which means if my oldest son gets engaged when I did…..that will be in 5 1/2 years.  Not cool.   Not cool.  I’m sorry mom and dad.  You must have been freaking out.

Engagement Photos.  Look at Chris’ neck.  And I just have to say it isn’t fair that men get better looking as they get older and women just get saggier.

Hello 1999 wedding.

Honeymoon in Mexico.

Our condo.

Enough of the early years.  Let’s fast forward a few years.  Or 13.

Paul Fillhart photobomb.  Epic.

Thank goodness I insist on getting professional pictures done.  Chris doesn’t like pictures so we don’t take too many candid ones on our own.  He doesn’t realize he is married to a photographer.

We can even be adventurous at times (and by we I mean me, because he was born adventurous and I am not).

This is my favorite place.  Curled up next to him.

He might be a little grayer but dang….he still looks good.

And he really likes his sunglasses (as seen in almost half of the photos).

Let’s go celebrate babe!  Or just try to fit in some time together between running the kids all over the place tomorrow. #reallife.  And if you see my husband…..give him a high five.  He deserves it for putting up with me for the last 19 years.  Next year we’re going to do something awesome like go to Disneyworld….without the kids.  Just so we can see the look on their faces when we tell them.  Or if you have any better ideas, we would love to hear them.