5 Years Later. . .

Today is Casey's and my fifth anniversary. Five years ago today, we vowed to love each other and be one flesh for as long as we both shall live. We celebrated last month, when Casey's mom was in town to watch the girls. It was our first overnight alone together since we've had children (over 3 years!). It was quite wonderful to have time just to ourselves. Casey surprised me with a dance lesson at a nearby dance studio on the way to dinner that day. I was completely taken by surprise, which has been difficult for him to do most of the time. He's really getting the hang of this surprise thing. This is the second time this year that he's done something I never had any idea about until it was happening. Even when we pulled into the parking lot and I saw the studio, I thought to myself, "That would be really great to do sometime, take lessons together." But of course it quickly went out of my mind as a possibility for us that day, since it would have required planning and it is expensive, and we were already spending a pretty penny for our night at the Tamaya Resort. With buying a house and keeping our old one, Casey was feeling the financial pressure, and he is very financially responsible, so of course it was out of the question. After we parked and started walking away from the car he told me "Oh, and we're going to have a dance lesson before dinner." I almost cried. Casey has known since before we started dating how much I love dancing. Any time we have a chance to (at a wedding, usually), I beg him to dance with me. He isn't confident in his dancing ability (even though he's good when he does it), and doesn't like to do things he doesn't know how to do very well.

That 40 minute private lesson was a great surprise, and told me that he hadn't forgotten how much I love dancing, even though it isn't something I talk about much anymore. And it meant so much, knowing how outside his comfort zone he must have been. Placing my desires above his own because he remembers what I enjoy and wanted to do something that I'd really like. (He had looked at some jewelry and decided against it, then thought of the dance lesson. A much better choice, I must say. He knows me.)

Thank you, sweetheart, for 5 wonderful, loving, fun and challenge-filled years. You are my best friend, and you're still the first person I want to spend time with at a given moment. May God give us many more years together, and may we grow to love one another more with each passing year.