My Favorite Things About Marriage, 2 Years In

I don’t know where the time could have possibly gone, but we are celebrating two years of marriage today and I can hardly believe it. It really feels like these past two years have passed in the blink of an eye, but at the same time I look back at our wedding photos and think of how so much has happened and changed since then. Since I didn’t have this blog back when we were planning our wedding or got married, I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane and share some of my thoughts on marriage now that we’re two years in.

Blair and I met sometime during our junior year of college, though neither of us remember exactly when (probably at a fraternity party which explains why we don’t remember…). I distinctly remember being intrigued by him and he says the same of me, but the timing was just never right for us. We were definitely in each other’s respective “friend” zone but would often take each other to fraternity/sorority parties when we needed dates and didn’t know who else to ask. It wasn’t until the very end of our senior year, though, that I just had this nagging feeling that if we didn’t at least try to date, I would probably always wonder what could have happened. I proceeded, then, to ask Blair if he would please take me on a date (true story) and the rest is history from there. Both of us knew within the first month that we wanted to be together forever and were pretty much willing to do whatever it took to stay together after graduation, including 2 years of long distance dating and lots of ups and downs.

Because Blair is from Bermuda and I am from California, there was really no easy place for us to get married that made a lot of sense to us or our families so we chose Charleston, South Carolina, the first place we ever went on vacation together and a city that both of us love so much. We landed on a small wedding with about 75 guests (the perfect size if you ask me!) and it is one of the best days of my life, hands down.

By millenial standards, we were very “young” when we got married (I was 24, he was 25) but both of us agree that the timing was right and we’ve never wished we had waited any longer to commit ourselves to each other. Being married never felt massively different than when we were living together and just dating from a lifestyle perspective, but there is something very special about knowing that we share a name, have committed to spending our lives together and have our own family unit between the two of us (and our cat, Nash!).

I genuinely love being married and thought I would share some of the reasons why (mainly for my own memory):

A Built-In Best Friend
It goes without saying that having someone to come home to, call anytime, and hang out with every day is the greatest thing ever. I don’t take it for granted that life would be much more lonely and way less entertaining without him in it.

A Foundation to Hold Me Up
Life is hard, and taking risks, being bold and stepping outside of my comfort zone is way less scary knowing that I have someone to back me up. Because I know that I have a solid foundation of our relationship, I feel more empowered to focus on things like my career, my friendships, and my hobbies.

Our Own Family
Since both of us don’t live far from our families, we have had to really depend on each other through everything — there are so many instances where I think that it would be so, so nice to drive over to my parents’ house or grab lunch with my sister anytime I want (someday!), but since it’s not an option for us, we’ve learned to make our own traditions, find hobbies and pastimes that we genuinely enjoy together, and figure out who we are as our own family unit without the rest of our families around.

We’ve Grown Up Together
Navigating your twenties is no easy task — both of us have had some really crappy years when it comes to friends, family, jobs, figuring out who we are and what we want to do with our lives, etc — and that has often caused us to really challenge each other and our relationship. Luckily, though, knowing that we can get through what seems to have been some of the most confusing and difficult years of self discovery together has grown us closer than I could have ever imagined two years ago.

Blair and I went for our typical morning walk today and spent some time reflecting on these past two years, and we both agree they have been the best years of our lives without a doubt. We both feel grateful to have each other and don’t take any moments together for granted. To me, health is nothing without happiness, and I have so much gratitude for the happiness that these past two years have brought to my life.