Five Years

Hard to even believe that this year is our 5 year anniversary!! Jason and I were engaged early in 2006 when Jason came back from his tour overseas. It was incredibly hard on us both, but we proved that we could withstand the 15 month seperation. I was so confident in our relationship that I even started planning the wedding while he was gone, and sent him pictures of the church and the reception hall so that he too, could become confident that I was waiting for him to come home.  We were married on August 18 of that year.

We hopped a plane the day after our wedding to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. What a beautiful honeymoon! I don't know about Jason, seeing as he's always 'in-shape' but I think I was in the best shape of my life here. Even if that was the case, Jason still beat me to the top of all the mountains that we climbed and often watched me struggle my way up from up above. First lesson as a married couple, don't ever leave your wife behind!

Our first anniversary was celebrated a month early as we headed to New York City for the 4th of July. We had a blast watching the fireworks over the Hudson River on the streets with millions of people. We filled each day with tons of sightseeing and lots of walking all over the city.

Our 2nd anniversary, we headed to Jaco Beach, Costa Rica. We went white water rafting, ziplining in the jungle, saw the largest active volcano in the world, sat in hot springs, and learned to surf for the first time together. We spent most nights on the porch of the hotel watching the evening rain storms roll in.

Our 3rd anniversary was spent visiting Jason in Dallas as he went there for a whole year for training. This once again tested our marriage as we spent the whole year apart, as I was only able to visit twice. I was in clinical rotations that year in PA school and was working hard to find my true passion in medicine. 

Our 4th anniversary, we actually spent in Minnesota. I had a conference at the Mayo Clinic and it was so nice to visit with family while we were there as well. Shortly thereafter, we had our maternity photos to celebrate the upcoming birth of our first born, Austin.

And here we are to our 5th anniversary, and not yet have we made it again on another big vacation. That's ok though, we have our whole lives to travel with our little ones. Speaking of little ones, we are happy to announce that we are expecting our second (and last) addition to the family on March 6, 2012. This next year won't be a piece of cake that's for sure. We are planning on moving to Grand Rapids very soon as I start my new job in Surgical Oncology with the Lacks Cancer Center. New house, new job, new baby! Is there anything else we should add to the mix to make it more challenging for ourselves? I think this is enough for now.