It’s our one-year anniversary on Sunday. And in anticipation for the celebration of our first year as husband and wife — a picture.

I love the emotion in this photo. We were experiencing an emotional whiplash of joy, excitement, nervousness, anticipation … This was our first “alone” moment together as husband and wife, and I remember it perfectly.

We can’t believe it’s been a year. I know people often say that, but it’s true. All that planning and preparation for a wedding day that seems to take forever to come, and then it does, and before you know it your wedding gown is collecting dust. The big question — was our first year of marriage all that we expected it to be? Probably not.

It’s been full of so much more adventure than we ever could have anticipated. We love each more deeply — which we didn’t see as possible before.

It was more challenging than we thought it would be too. Who knew there was more than one way to fold a t-shirt? I sure didn’t. And apparently I didn’t do it “the right way.” Conflict resolution ensued.

We love being married to each other. Marriage is continuous learning and growing. I’d like to think I mastered all my wifely duties in the past year — but I can say pretty confidently that I haven’t.

Bring it on year two. Bring it on.

** photo by Dawn Villella Photography