Wow, it's been a really tough year and I'd be lying if I said that it's been easy for us to get through it or that our marriage hasn't taken some really hard hits along the way. It's all brought new meaning to the vows that we said to each other five years ago... for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health. This year has tested all of those vows in ways and to depths that we never could have imagined five years ago.
As we were trying to figure out what to do today to celebrate, since the combination of the rain, the pandemic, and the lockdown had left us with very few options and we really wanted to get out of the house for a bit, I was thinking about the days leading up to our wedding, which were also very cold, dark and rainy. But then, just as we were getting ready to head to the church to decorate for the ceremony and the reception and then do the rehearsal, the sun came out and the temperature started to quickly rise. The next day, our wedding day, which was also a Friday, was a beautiful, warm, sunny day with not a cloud in the sky.
I kept thinking about the visions that God had given me in the days leading up to our wedding day and as I was waking up that morning. I kept thinking about the amazing presence and power of God in that church during our wedding ceremony and reception... a presence and a power that literally changed the atmosphere in ways that I never thought I would see. And, for some reason, I kept thinking about the pictures that our photographer had taken of us in my dad's beautiful rental car, with the sun just starting to set behind us, and of the setting sun shining on the church where we had gotten married.
As Hal wrote in the card that he gave to me today, "you will always be mine, forever, through thick and thin." This year, more so than any of the other four, has tested what love and commitment really mean to us and how much we are willing to stand up and fight for this marriage. We're still standing and fighting, some days stronger than others, but we're not giving up.
So, happy fifth anniversary to us!
To celebrate, we decided to go to Chocolat Favoris to get ice cream and chocolate. I had raspberry sorbet covered with dark chocolate and hazelnut praline (oh.my.goodness... to die for... I think I found my favorite). I can't remember what Hal had because I just can't stop thinking about mine... haha! We had to eat them in the car since the seating areas in restaurants are closed off and it was raining outside, but it was still sooo worth it!
Afterwards, we went to a big mall that was nearby, wandered through the shops, and marveled at the longest line that we have ever seen for a store (it was for the Bath and Body Works and the line of people waiting to get into that store was absolutely unbelievable). I personally was most enthralled with the LEGO store. LEGO has certainly come a long way since I was a kid and I am seriously so tempted to buy some for us to play with over the winter! Then we came home, ordered delivery from our favorite Chinese restaurant and enjoyed a quiet dinner at home, complete with the weirdest fortunes ever. There's three because Hal got two weird fortunes in his cookie.
A simple but lovely anniversary celebration, pandemic style. 💕
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