When I think of my 3 year anniversary here is what I picture:

Wake up in the morning to a lovely breakfast together. We head off to work and text/e-mail each other throughout the day with gross lovey-dovey stuff. Once we both are off work we go home and get ready for a romantic evening together. We get all dressed up and head to Ruth’s Chris for dinner. We order a lot of steak and sides and spend the evening reminiscing over our time together. After dinner we walk to the car, head home to our lovely house and stay up late and hang out. 😉

Now, let’s talk about how the anniversary ACTUALLY went…

We woke up. Said happy anniversary and apologized for not having anything prepared for each other. We both understood and therefore were not too upset. Jay heads off to work and I go to my parent’s house since I was feeling quite ill. We spend the day texting about how terribly sick I am. He calls/texts to ask how I am and that is about it. Once we are both home he goes outside to clean his car and mow the lawn and I stay inside eating saltines. Our romantic evening consists of frozen potstickers, water, and episodes of “Friends”. Then we head to bed around 8:30.

Jay and I have been married for 3 years and have been friends for a good bit longer. Although I wish I could stomach a big steak and french fries right now I feel very blessed to have a husband who is willing to stay home and take care of his sick wife. I love the time we have together just being normal. I’m happy that our anniversary was spent in PJs, saltine crackers, and old tv show re-runs. I can be on a date with Jay any day I want. A date is simply intentional time spent with another person or a “romantic appointment”. I had a date with Jay that night. We showed our love through our realness. Jay could have stayed inside and sat on his computer, but he chose to be productive and mow the lawn for us. He chose to prepare us dinner and massage my back while I was feeling ill. If this is any sign of what the next years of our marriage will be like, I’m all for it!

This was a great anniversary. While there was no fancy dinner, no presents, and no romantic evening we showed our love by being ourselves and caring for one another. What more could I ask for? I challenge you to think about what truly matters in your relationship. Would you be upset without a fancy dinner, presents, or a romantic evening? OR would you also be happy just being together no matter where you are? Marriage is life-long. Not every important event in your life will be spectacular and not everything will go as planned, but it is important to place your focus on each other and support one another no matter where one another is at.

Love your significant other today. Speak kind words and love them no matter what.

Living Satisfied