The Busy Life Plus Three

A Latina lifestyle blog for the modern mom

Marriage

AN OPEN LETTER ON OUR ANNIVERSARY

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.

 

by  
24 Comments

Comments

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

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

    Reply
  2. Eryka Spera says: November 30, 2016 at 12:16 AM

    Wow happy anniversary! Such stunning photos

    Reply
  3. 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!

    Reply
  4. Jessica from a monkey and his mama says: November 30, 2016 at 12:41 AM

    Beautiful photos! And happy anniversary

    Reply
  5. 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!

    Reply
  6. 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!

    Reply
  7. 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! ?

    Reply
  8. Esme says: November 30, 2016 at 2:37 AM

    Very beautiful Erika!

    Reply
  9. Shannon says: November 30, 2016 at 4:04 AM

    Beautiful post and beautiful photos!

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

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

    Reply
  11. 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? 🙂

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

    You should print and frame this! So lovely 🙂

    Reply
  13. Chelsea McKinney says: December 10, 2016 at 9:26 PM

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

    Reply
  14. 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!

    Reply

Leave Your Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • With Memorial Day Weekend coming up soon and summer quickly approaching, we are ready to hit the road again. #NationalRoadTripDay is May 24 and it’s also the day we start our Texas travel once again. We are heading to our annual spot for the boys birthdays- San Antonio! Recently, we discovered @pilotflyingj released a brand new mobile app that has helped us so much! With it you can sign up for free and find a Pilot or Flying J location near you. It has helped us plan our road trip route and save money along the way. Check out my stories for more plus a link to save more using the code ROADTRIP through 5/27. And come tell me of any road trip plans coming up for you & your family. #PilotFlyingJPartner #roadtrip #memorialdayweekend
  • I have [5] more days for my BOYS BIRTHDAYS// RYAN turns [9] and LUKE turns [4], the birthday countdown begins now. #ryanandlukesbirthdaycelebration// #oshkoshkids @oshkoshkids
  • My arms are full, my to do list is long, my laundry pile is two rooms high, my days feel short but my nights feel long yet my heart is bursting BIG for these people I call MINE. I know as moms we tend to complain a lot everyday- but remember there’s a purpose in what we do. #motherhoodunplugged // #oldnavy @oldnavy
  • Starting a fresh new week with some @cafebustelo. Much needed coffee after staying up way too late last night watching Game of Thrones. Please tell me I’m not the only one disappointed with how everything went down 😳🤯 what did you guys think? #cafebustelo
  • "The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new." It's been over 9 years that I get to celebrate this gift of being called a "mother" & another special year with all three of my babies. I just can't stop thanking god for all my blessings // Happy Mother's Day to all those selfless sacrificing mothers out there, today and everyday is YOUR DAY 💐 #mothersday
  • Today is a special day for our family as Luke gets baptized. May God, who loves us all, smile upon my son, so innocent and small and guide him throughout the years ahead as blessings light the pathway were those tiny feet are led. I am so grateful to be able to have the privilege to baptize Luke in the same church ⛪️ my siblings and I grew up in and did our holy sacraments, the same church Ryan and Elyse were baptized. I am a truly blessed I get to do it along side my childhood best friend who also grew up here. We couldn’t had chosen better God parents for Luke. May God always protect him and keep him healthy and safe. 🌿🕊 #baptism
  • Waiting to post these photos until Mother’s Day was just so hard. So how about I just post one EVERYDAY. Looking at this photo makes me want to cry because my babies are no longer babies. They are so big now. And I know us moms say it every time but can time just stop and slow down. #mothersday
  • Mother’s Day is this Sunday and Elyse and I have already picked out our @amgreetings Mother’s Day cards at @walmart for both of her grandmas. I made sure to personally pick one out for my mother & another for my MIL and what I was so happy to see is they also had a special selection just in Spanish. To me that made it even more personal, knowing they will fully be able to read how important they are to us & how grateful we are to have them in our lives. Now that I’m grown, I realize I don’t just feel gratitude for my own mother—but admiration too. Who are you sending Mother’s Day cards too? Do you go for the sentimental ones or a funny card? I am all about the tears 😭 every single year. #sponsored #AmericanGreetings #AGMothersDay #LoveThemTellThem #MothersDay

Follow Me @erika_cullen