AN OPEN LETTER ON OUR ANNIVERSARY - The Busy Life Plus Three

LETS CELEBRATE US

On Thanksgiving day we celebrated 6 perfectly-imperfect years of marriage. Six years ago we became husband and wife at only 20 and 22 years young. Although we didn’t have a traditional wedding at all but a simple trip to the courthouse- that’s okay. My wedding day isn’t plagued with any sense of regret. Sure, it would have been nice to have had a beautiful wedding, with my dream dress surrounded by all my family and friends. And it would have been wonderful to have a room in our house full of beautiful pictures of us on our wedding day to look back on. But one day does NOT define our marriage. It will be the years to come…and in the future I would love to have that religious ceremony as we plan to renew our vows with God as our witness with the company of our kids. I will tell you this- what has defined this marriage has been the laughters and tears, the good days and the bad.

“Marriage is a commitment to care for one another in mutually-fulfilling ways. It is not an act but rather a life-long relationship that’s always evolving.”

To My Husband I want to tell you

I know that I don’t always show it and I certainly don’t always say it enough as I should (I’m working on that) but I am thankful for you. For the man you have become, for the man you are, and most importantly the father you are to our children.

Here we are 10 years, three kids, and a few wrinkles and grey hairs later- still standing strong. It’s amazing to love someone and be loved by someone for ten whole freakin’ years. I know that loving me is not always easy and I make it hard sometimes. I am not that young carefree 20 year girl you once fell in love with… together we have grown and you accept me for who I am.

For instance on mornings I am too tired and you wake up and get our son ready for school without making a noise so I get to sleep in an hour or two more, or on the days I have to work and you make sure you get all three kids showered and ready so I can drop them off ready and already fed, or days that you are off and make sure I wake up to a ready breakfast by the time I walk to the kitchen. Or when you decide to go grocery shopping after work and surprise me with a trés leches cake when you get home (you know the way to my heart so well). Even the small things you do make me smile; like a phone call on your break or setting up a date night for just us two without me knowing (because you know any time away from the kids is always needed) or when its late at night and you’re arriving home from work and I am a hot mess with tangled hair in a bun and baby spit on my shirt yet you still reach over and squeeze me and kiss me. Everything you do never goes unnoticed. I mean it when I say I would be lost without you.

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING

I share openly when I say- with all honesty that marriage is hard work. It’s easy more so often to quickly give up. I have felt like this at times, our first year of marriage was hard. You tend to focus on your work, your child, and trying to figure out the “new you” in motherhood, as a wife, and quickly without knowing you forget what you guys once were before marriage.. before kids. Back to when life was all carefree, when money didn’t matter, when we could go out at midnight to drive downtown and get Starbucks simply because we wanted to, or times when we planned random date nights to Olive Garden followed by hours at the movie theater because we had no responsibilities or children to attend too.

Quickly all that had become forgotten. I admit our first year we had a lot of fights, many disagreements, becoming adults got the best of us. If there’s anything I am grateful for now are those arguments.I believe If there’s no fighting in a marriage how are you you going to grow with one another. It’s not always about being right but about building a mutual agreement and resolving the problem together. It’s all about sacrifices.

“Marriage is about becoming a team. You are going to spend the rest of your life learning about each other, and every now and then things blow up. But the beauty of marriage is that if you picked the right person and you both love each other, you’ll always figure out a way to get through it.”

I am sure there’s been a lot of things I’ve done wrong in our marriage but I am also confident enough to know I have always tried my best to make things right and to always try- no matter what. But despite those mistakes I am proud of where we are, what we have accomplished together so young and what we will continue to bring in the future together.

You are my strength, my equal, and my biggest supporter. Happy Anniversary Gustavo, I am so blessed and couldn’t be more proud to be your wife.

“I love you today and always.I’ll choose you over and over again. Without a pause, without a heartbeat, I’ll keep choosing you,”

A special thanks to David Trinh Photography for this session. David did a beautiful job. Thank you for capturing us once again.

Comments

Shannan Panganiban says: November 30, 2016 at 12:13 AM

This is such a beautiful post. Happy 10 years!!!! And stunning photos!

- erikacullen says: November 30, 2016 at 1:55 AM
  
  Thank you so much Shannan
  
Eryka Spera says: November 30, 2016 at 12:16 AM

Wow happy anniversary! Such stunning photos

- erikacullen says: November 30, 2016 at 1:56 AM
  
  Thanks Eryka! Always great to document every year with photos
  
Chanel van Reenen says: November 30, 2016 at 12:26 AM

Oh My Gosh Erika! These photos are gorgeous and this post was so beautifully written. Congratulations on 10 years! Cannot wait to see you in February!

- erikacullen says: November 30, 2016 at 1:57 AM
  
  I can't wait for February, thank you so much Chanel. So glad we will finally get to meet soon
  
Jessica from a monkey and his mama says: November 30, 2016 at 12:41 AM

Beautiful photos! And happy anniversary

- erikacullen says: November 30, 2016 at 1:58 AM
  
  Thanks Jessica!
  
JeeYoung W says: November 30, 2016 at 1:21 AM

Beautiful couple! Happy anniversary! We had our sixth anniversary earlier this fall and I agree with so much of what you wrote about marriage!

- erikacullen says: November 30, 2016 at 1:59 AM
  
  Glad you can relate as well. Happy belated anniversary to ya. It sure is a beautiful ride of ups and downs.
  
Jessica Koza says: November 30, 2016 at 1:52 AM

This is such a beautiful post Erika! I loved reading it… and how stunning are your photos!!!! You guys make one gorgeous couple!

- erikacullen says: November 30, 2016 at 2:00 AM
  
  Thank you Jessica. I appreciate it so much
  
Patricia Taylor says: November 30, 2016 at 2:34 AM

Happy, happy anniversary! What beautiful photos to accompany such a lovely post! And a man who brings you a trés leches cake is definitely a good man! ?

Esme says: November 30, 2016 at 2:37 AM

Very beautiful Erika!

- erikacullen says: October 5, 2017 at 8:52 AM
  
  Thank you Esme, and for taking the time to read my post.
  
Shannon says: November 30, 2016 at 4:04 AM

Beautiful post and beautiful photos!

Brittany Ashmore says: November 30, 2016 at 1:50 PM

I absolutely love these photos! You look gorgeous! What a great photographer!

Glenda - Confessions of a Scorpio says: November 30, 2016 at 10:19 PM

omg this is sooo beautiful. Thank you for sharing this with us. and the photos are gorgeous. how did your husband react to ur letter? 🙂

Anonymous says: December 3, 2016 at 12:10 AM

You should print and frame this! So lovely 🙂

- erikacullen says: October 5, 2017 at 8:50 AM
  
  Thank you so much for your kind words.
  
- erikacullen says: October 5, 2017 at 8:51 AM
  
  Thank you so much!
  
Chelsea McKinney says: December 10, 2016 at 9:26 PM

This was simply beautiful Erika! You guys sound like you have an incredible relationship!

- erikacullen says: October 5, 2017 at 8:53 AM
  
  Thank you for your kind words Chelsea!
  
jehava of Onlygirl4boyz says: January 5, 2017 at 12:58 PM

I love this! We have been married 11 years and there are definitely ups and downs but, I have found an amazing man to spend the rest of my life with! 3 kids later too, I love him more than initially! Happy Anniversary!

LETS CELEBRATE US

To My Husband I want to tell you

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING

Comments

Leave Your Comments Cancel reply