Happy fifth anniversary to us!!!

Today Jeremy and I celebrate 5 years of marriage. As you can see we've both changed quite a bit from this time in 2004. Since it's my anniversary, I thought I'd write down "our story". Jeremy and I met in the summer of 2002. There was a new family at our church who had just moved from Phoenix, Az. I thought their son was absolutely adorable. He was very shy though. He didn't really talk to anybody or anything, so I didn't know if I'd ever get to meet him (I was also shy when it came to guys). Come to find out this family (the Prestons) had been stationed here at Eglin, Afb when their son was little. My mom already knew these people! Mrs. Preston (my mother-in-law) found out that I was in beauty school and asked if I'd put some color on her hair. I said yes, and we made a date for her to come to my house and I'd do it. So the day came and Amber was teasing me saying "do you think she'll bring her cute son along with her"??? I was like "no, she wouldn't do that" "he wasn't invited or anything". Well, when she arrived Amber looked out the window and said "her son's here too!!!" I thought she was joking at first, then when I saw she was serious my heart started pounding and I thought I was gonna throw up. Jeremy was so cute watching Dumbo with Carissa (2) and Abigail who was just a few months old. I liked his personality, he wasn't one of those guys who always had to be "cool", he was just himself. Sadly, a month or two after I met him Jeremy was headed back to the University of Arizona to go to school, summer break was over. We went to lunch with them the day before he left and again I just thought he was so nice, and so real. "Oh well", I thought that's the end of that little crush. About two or three months after this I came home from school and my mom said "guess who's moving back here?" and of course I had no clue. Yep, Jeremy Preston was moving back to the area, and I have to admit I was soooo happy. It took a long time (or so it seemed in my mind) for us to even meet up so I could say hi. I kept trying to place myself near him at church, but he'd come right before it started, and leave right after it ended. I didn't know then that Jeremy had broken off a relationship in Az. that he knew God did not want him in, and left the school because he knew it was not what God wanted for his life. He was in a hard time in his life, having to suck it up and admit that he had made some bad choices. I had no clue though, I just assumed he was not interested in me whatsoever. One day his mom came to me and asked me for my e-mail address. (this still makes me smile) I received an e-mail from Jeremy a few days later asking me if I wanted to go to a high school football game with him. Of course I said yes. I still remember that night we were talking, and I had lost a very close friendship, and was just telling Jeremy that I didn't have much going on at the moment, and he said "me either, maybe we'll be able to keep each other company." You obviously know the rest. We dated for 6 months and then got engaged (on March 27,2003). After being engaged for a year we married on March 27,2004. My wedding was a fairy tale, in fact, my life was a fairy tale. Everything went so easy for me with finding Jeremy (I know he's who God had for my life). After the wedding is when life happens. Our marriage is not always perfect. We are both human, and human beings mess up. We can be insensitive, or selfish or just plain out a pain in the butt. Our infertility has brought up issues that can ruin marriages. Financial pressure, physical problems, emotional pain, but I believe it has brought us closer in our marriage. We've had to lean on God, and each other. There are things we've experienced that no one else can know. There's a line in the movie "Fireproof" where the guy says something like "you don't let your heart lead you, you lead your heart" and I couldn't agree more. We choose to love someone. When times get tough we cannot give up and choose to stop loving that person. We have to fight for our marriage. It helps that I am 100% sure that Jeremy is the man God had for my life. I thank God for the 5 years we've had together, and pray he will give us many more. I Love you babe!