10 Years.

Somewhere in the forgotten world of Myspace, I have a message from a Marine deployed to Iraq with a simple promise. It said, "I can't promise it will be easy, but I can promise I can take a hit."

Now, I have the memory of...well, Dory (as Shaun tells me), but that one, I remember well. It has embedded itself into my brain and managed to stick with me through these years.

Today that Marine and I celebrate 10 years or marriage. And I can confidently say that promise has certainly proven to be true. We have been been thrown more than our fair share of hits--- even just in the last year alone. We have survived deployments, raising a special needs child, mental illness (and if you know mental illness, you know we're not the easiest people to deal with, let alone live with), we've survived miscarriage, cross country moves, job loss, job changes...Heck, we survived recruiting duty--- TWICE! We've seen for richer and for poorer, and sickness and in health...and we're still standing. It definitely hasn't been the easiest of 10 years, but I cannot imagine going through it with anyone else.

I've certainly learned many lessons in this 10 years of marriage, and today I wanted to share that with you:

• 'I do' is not the same as 'Happily Ever After'. Having that ceremony does not mean that your life will become sunshine and roses. Life will still happen. It only means that you will have someone standing by your side in the midst of the chaos.
• Sometimes, you won't agree, and its okay. Who said being married was always a walk in the park? Well, they lied. You're human and as humans you're going to come across disagreements. You're going to think that you're right, and he himself. You just have to remember that you are a team and at times you will each have to compromise.
• There are few people in this world that will see you at your absolute worst. Your spouse is one of them, find someone who can stick by you, even when they don't always understand.
• Those little quirks that you first find endearing, might just in time drive you crazy... but if you spend time apart- be it deployments or work travel, etc... you'll find that you do actually miss them...at least a little. Treasure every moment.
• Have grace. Be stubborn. Your spouse may not be perfect, but neither are you, show the same grace you want to be shown...and be stubborn. No, not to win fights against each other, but in standing together when life throws you fights!

Here's to 40 more years. No matter what life throws our way next, we've got this.