2 Years of Marriage

Chris and I have been married for 2 years. Holy canoli. It feels like yesterday that I walked down the aisle to that big smile, but it also feels like we've been married forever. We've been through so many changes in the past 2 years--a major move, graduate school, adopting a puppy (seriously...life changing). 

The theme our first year of marriage was selflessness--learning to put your spouse before yourself. Our second year of marriage has been dominated by sacrifice. (Anyone starting to see why Jesus uses marriage as the ultimate picture of his love for us?) Sacrifice, a little deeper than selflessness, is letting go of something dear to you for someone else. It's more than agreeing to go to that Greek restaurant with your husband. It's leaving your home, friends, and church family to move to a new city so your husband can pursue his dream. It's choosing a school close to your wife's family rather than your own family. It's sacrificing time together. But this kind of sacrifice doesn't result in bitterness. It results in a deeper love and appreciation. Jesus sure loves us a lot.

We celebrated our anniversary a little early in our favorite place--Knoxville! 

Exploring the UT Gardens, where we took our engagement pictures.

We met up with our BFF's downtown.

We spent the next day in Gatlinburg and stayed at an adorable bed and breakfast.

We enjoyed a little bluegrass music.

We went to Sweet Fanny Adams theater and Chris was chosen to participate!

We had an interesting experience at a little restaurant. We couldn't order half the menu because the chef was out, the waiter insulted us and then spilled water in my purse, and our bed and breakfast owners were there. Good thing we were so stuffed from the Apple Barn that we weren't seriously looking for a good meal.

This is from our actual anniversary at the Cheesecake Factory (I smell a tradition coming on...). We ate a collective 6,238 calories and loved every bite. This is also just after my first trip to the Container Store, so I'm pretty much high right now.
 

I love being married to Chris, and I can't wait for all our future anniversaries! Next year will be our last anniversary owned by PT school, and the year after that, he'll be a free man! We're growing up...