Ten Years

Today Sam and I have been married for 10 years.

We started dating in December of 1997 when he was a senior and I was a junior in high school. I followed him to Purdue University in 1999 and we got married during the summer of 2001. People often comment that we were so young to get married - only 20 and 21... but we loved each other desperately and also (and probably more importantly) had the same life goals.

We have our differences - he loves sports, I hate sports.

I love crafts, he hates it when I drag him through JoAnn's.

He is down to earth and dependable. I have my head in the clouds.

I am a complete nerd. He humors me. :)

Yet, we could sit and talk for hours about movies and television, quoting random lines and trivia and using imdb.com to confirm suspicions. Before we had a daycare bill, we would jump on the motorcycle and ride for hours, not talking, just enjoying the companionship and scenery. Now that we have our own family, we relish sharing experiences with our son and watching the world fresh through his adorable eyes.

My mother once said that she thought there was a little bit of chance to life when you got married young. You both have a lot of "growing up" to do and you never know how those changes could positively or negatively affect your relationship. One boy could grow into a good provider and another boy could grow into a bum... If that is true, then I feel like I have won some karma jackpot. Although we have both grown and changed, when I look in
to my husband's eyes I still see the boy I longed for and daydreamed about with the passion of youth... and I also see the man who is the excellent father and outstanding husband I adore today.

So here's hoping for another 10 fabulous years of keeping our wedding vows:

"Amanda, do you pledge your faithfulness in all love and honor, in all duty and service, in all truth and tenderness, to live with and cherish Sam in the bonds of holy matrimony, as long as you both shall live?" I do.

"Amanda, what promise to you make to Sam?"

I, Mandy, give myself to you, Sam - to be your wife, partner, and friend.

I promise to love, honor, and cherish you in the covenant of marriage, from this day forward, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, through the best and the worst, loving you faithfully, as long as we both shall live.