Today is my 2 year wedding anniversary. I figured I would write about the good times and hardships that come along with the vows that we took. We were together for 2 1/2 years before we got married, so we certainly knew we wanted to be. We had actually planned a big wedding, I had bought my wedding dress, all of the bridesmaid dresses, all of the reception decorations, and put the down payments on a place for the wedding and reception. Then we ended up cancelling it, and losing over $1,000. We cancelled because at the time we felt that there were people who were not happy for us, and we didn't want what should be one of the best days of our lives to be miserable. The wedding was put on hold.
When we finally did decide to go get married, we decided that we were just going to go to a courthouse. In Illinois you do not need witnesses. It was just me, him, and the judge. A whole 5 minute saying of vows, signing the wedding certificate, and walking out. The thing is, we didn't plan this at all. We went to get the marriage license then called the courthouse and said 'whatever day you have available, put us down'. I didn't even realize it was Cinco de Mayo until after we walked out of the courthouse and saw a huge banner in downtown Ottawa, haha. We didn't tell anyone until after we had done it. That way, we wouldn't feel like we were going to be talked out of it. I'm glad we got married, but I do wish we'd have had a small ceremony with family and close friends. One day, we will. And it will be the most beautiful ceremony. Everyone assumed that we got married because I was pregnant. Not the case. We had been planning a wedding for a year, and were originally supposed to have a ceremony on April 22, 2009. Instead, that was cancelled and we were married in the courthouse on May 05, 2009. Some people thought me getting pregnant was an accident. Also not true. We had tried for so many months to get pregnant. It took us 7 months. He was absolutely planned.
Our first year of marriage went by soo fast. Chris signed a contract with the US Army on July 2, 2009. A lot of people also speculated about that, saying I forced him to. Nope, he actually tried enlisting in the Army National Guard while we lived in Alabama, but was temporarily disqualified due to them finding a hernia. He had surgery, then once he was healed and he had a few months to think about it, he decided he wanted to go active duty and signed a contract for that. The rest of my pregnancy flew by, and we welcome Conner into the world just a week before Chris left for OSUT. I was suddenly tossed into a single parent situation. It was difficult the first few weeks, but I adjusted. I had to. This was going to be what our new lifestyle would be like. He found out he had a second hernia and had to have surgery while in the BCT portion of OSUT. He came home about a week earlier than everyone else for Christmas Exodus. After two months of not seeing him, it was weird! He was so scared of Conner. It was like the day of his birth all over again, except Conner was a few pounds heavier haha. He left again at the beginning of January. At first he wanted to quit, and come home to be with us. But we talked about it, and we knew he truly didn't want to quit. He was afraid Conner and I would resent him for not being there. We could never resent someone who is training to fight for our country! He graduated in February of 2010 and we roadtripped to go see the graduation. Then we made out first PCS to Fort Bliss, TX in March 2010.
Now, our marriage is by no means perfect. We argue over stupid things. We argue about serious things. But at the end of the day, we're on the same page. The second year was definitely harder to get used to, since we were now at a duty station and he had been gone for almost 5 months of our first year married. Friends came and went. Field exercises, CQ shifts, all that good stuff. We moved from our original apartment to this house on post. There were times that I didn't think I was strong enough to continue to be a married woman in a single parents shoes. It's a rough lifestyle. But after seeing the Chaplain a few times, I know that it's worth it. We did decide together that it was okay for him to join the Army, however he made the decision of what MOS and how long on his own. I didn't even know that until he came home from MEPS. Regardless though, we are in this together. And I couldn't be any more proud.
We are making some big decisions for our lives, for our family. We want to give our son the best life he could have, and that includes having two happy parents. When times get hard, we know it could always be worse. We've seen that. In the military, the mission always comes first. That is just something we have to come to terms with. However, in this house, WE come first. We're learning how to make that happen. And if it means we lose 'friends' along the way to making ourselves happy, then so be it. John Lennon couldn't have said it any better: 'Grow old along with me, the best has yet to be.'
Love, Me.
When we finally did decide to go get married, we decided that we were just going to go to a courthouse. In Illinois you do not need witnesses. It was just me, him, and the judge. A whole 5 minute saying of vows, signing the wedding certificate, and walking out. The thing is, we didn't plan this at all. We went to get the marriage license then called the courthouse and said 'whatever day you have available, put us down'. I didn't even realize it was Cinco de Mayo until after we walked out of the courthouse and saw a huge banner in downtown Ottawa, haha. We didn't tell anyone until after we had done it. That way, we wouldn't feel like we were going to be talked out of it. I'm glad we got married, but I do wish we'd have had a small ceremony with family and close friends. One day, we will. And it will be the most beautiful ceremony. Everyone assumed that we got married because I was pregnant. Not the case. We had been planning a wedding for a year, and were originally supposed to have a ceremony on April 22, 2009. Instead, that was cancelled and we were married in the courthouse on May 05, 2009. Some people thought me getting pregnant was an accident. Also not true. We had tried for so many months to get pregnant. It took us 7 months. He was absolutely planned.
Our first year of marriage went by soo fast. Chris signed a contract with the US Army on July 2, 2009. A lot of people also speculated about that, saying I forced him to. Nope, he actually tried enlisting in the Army National Guard while we lived in Alabama, but was temporarily disqualified due to them finding a hernia. He had surgery, then once he was healed and he had a few months to think about it, he decided he wanted to go active duty and signed a contract for that. The rest of my pregnancy flew by, and we welcome Conner into the world just a week before Chris left for OSUT. I was suddenly tossed into a single parent situation. It was difficult the first few weeks, but I adjusted. I had to. This was going to be what our new lifestyle would be like. He found out he had a second hernia and had to have surgery while in the BCT portion of OSUT. He came home about a week earlier than everyone else for Christmas Exodus. After two months of not seeing him, it was weird! He was so scared of Conner. It was like the day of his birth all over again, except Conner was a few pounds heavier haha. He left again at the beginning of January. At first he wanted to quit, and come home to be with us. But we talked about it, and we knew he truly didn't want to quit. He was afraid Conner and I would resent him for not being there. We could never resent someone who is training to fight for our country! He graduated in February of 2010 and we roadtripped to go see the graduation. Then we made out first PCS to Fort Bliss, TX in March 2010.
Now, our marriage is by no means perfect. We argue over stupid things. We argue about serious things. But at the end of the day, we're on the same page. The second year was definitely harder to get used to, since we were now at a duty station and he had been gone for almost 5 months of our first year married. Friends came and went. Field exercises, CQ shifts, all that good stuff. We moved from our original apartment to this house on post. There were times that I didn't think I was strong enough to continue to be a married woman in a single parents shoes. It's a rough lifestyle. But after seeing the Chaplain a few times, I know that it's worth it. We did decide together that it was okay for him to join the Army, however he made the decision of what MOS and how long on his own. I didn't even know that until he came home from MEPS. Regardless though, we are in this together. And I couldn't be any more proud.
We are making some big decisions for our lives, for our family. We want to give our son the best life he could have, and that includes having two happy parents. When times get hard, we know it could always be worse. We've seen that. In the military, the mission always comes first. That is just something we have to come to terms with. However, in this house, WE come first. We're learning how to make that happen. And if it means we lose 'friends' along the way to making ourselves happy, then so be it. John Lennon couldn't have said it any better: 'Grow old along with me, the best has yet to be.'
Love, Me.
I love you, and I'm so happy to read this. Happy 2 years, and here's to many more for you guys <3.
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