Today is our 6 year anniversary!

Cameron and I met in high school and (as cheesy as it sounds) we fell in love quickly! It was Cameron’s senior year and he was just months away from leaving on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We spent the entire summer together fishing, eating snow cones, cuddling by a fire, and dreaming of being husband + wife. Together we planned a life full of love.

When Cameron returned home from his mission we picked up right where we left off and were married the May after he returned. Marriage is SUCH a blessing and we’ve learned so much from our six years of marriage together. Here’s somethings we’ve learned.

1. Making sacrifices leads to blessings – When Cameron and I got married I had 2.5 years of college done and Cameron had none. When he asked my parents if he could marry me they made him promise to finish school. It was a HUGE sacrifice to have us both in school at the same time. We opted for night school to avoid student loans and debt and as such, spent each night in class until 9-10pm after working all day. We would literally meet at Cameron’s work to have dinner together in between school and class. He’d microwave tv dinners for us and we’d sit in the car to spend 30 minutes together before heading off to our separate colleges. Then, we’d get out of class and spend some time together before heading off to bed. Then, we’d do it all over again the next day. It was exhausting and so hard, especially as newlyweds. But we knew that if we got school done quickly and with no debt we’d be able to get better jobs and be more financially stable. These sacrifices proved to be huge blessings. We both were able to graduate from college with Bachelor’s degrees and were able to find great jobs because of our degrees but also because we had great work experience from working while in school (something we didn’t expect to be a blessing). We were able to buy our first house when we were really young 22 and 21 and then, 3 years later sell it after the market exploded and move into our dream house. College and the sacrifices we made to complete our schooling were huge blessings to us. There were SO many times when it would have been easier just to stop going. We would have saved money, seen each other more, had less stress, ect. ect. ect.  BUT, it was SO worth it.

(wedding pictures by Chloe Nguyenen Photography)

2. Getting married young does NOT mean missing out – Growing up I pictured after high school I’d go off to college in some different state, have a fun and carefree college experience, travel the world, get a fancy corporate job, then meet someone and eventually get married when I was in my 30s. I kind of thought that’s how life worked. After I met Cameron and realized (at a VERY young age) that I was going to marry him, my life plans and dreams changed. I didn’t want to go off to college, instead, I wanted to get school done for a cheaply as possible so that I wouldn’t be a financial burden in my soon to be marriage. I wanted to travel, but understood that with getting married that might not be financially possible, and I was okay with that. I was wrong, however. Just because I was 20 when I got married doesn’t mean I missed out. In fact, since being married I’ve traveled more places than I did prior. We’ve been to Banff, Italy, Hong Kong, Thailand, Hawaii, New York, Philly, and on multiple cruises and honestly, always have a trip planned. In the fall we’re going to France and in spring of 2020 we’re going to Peru. Instead of giving up my dream of traveling I’m sharing it with my best friend and now with our babies. We’ve seen and experienced SO much together which is truly the blessing of getting married young. Every important thing I’ve ever done has been with Cameron, my sweet husband, right by my side.

3. Marriage requires forgiveness and grace – You don’t get married and suddenly are an expert at marriage. Marriage is a learning process. It requires practice and mistakes. I’ve made lots of mistakes in our 6 years of marriage and so has Cameron. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be married or don’t go together (which is what I think a lot of people assume when they fight). No, it just means we’re still learning how to be married. We’re imperfect and are trying to get better but that only works if we give each other a lot of forgiveness and a lot of grace.

4. Your marriage is not your parent’s marriage (or anyone else’s for that matter) – Cameron and I both have divorced parents. His divorced when he was young, mine divorced when I was 23. Because of that, I have a lot of divorce anxiety. I fear that we will end in divorce because both sets of our parents are divorced. Now, I know that that is irrational, it still is a huge fear and bugs me. But, we are not our parents. We are shaped and influenced by then for good and bad, but mine and Cameron’s marriage is SO different from their marriages so there is no need to live in fear of divorce.

5. Unspoken expectations lead to fights – GAH, this is one that I am so guilty of. I get these grand expectations in my head of what Cameron will do or say and then, I get mad when he falls short of what I expected (but didn’t tell him) and then we get in a fight. I’ve been doing this our whole marriage and am still working on it. For example, I love to do this around holidays or big events. When our son was born, I expected a lot of things from Cameron that I failed to communicate and we fought, a lot, because of that. Before our daughter was born, however, I communicated my expectations with Cameron and It’s been a completely different experience.

 

6. We are better together – I was reading in our wedding guest book the other day and there is a cheesy page that says predict where we’ll be in 5 years. There were tons of funny and sweet comments but one struck me “2 degrees and a 3 car garage.” I have no idea who wrote that but it stood out. We were 21 and 20 when we got married. WE WERE SO YOUNG. So 5 years later put us at 26 and 25 – still SO young. But you know what, we accomplished that predication. By our 5th year of marriage we had 2 college degrees AND a 3 car garage. That’s a huge accomplishment for any couple let alone to have done it by our mid 20s. This is not to brag, but rather, to say that we couldn’t have done that by ourselves, but together we were able to accomplish those huge predictions. Because we pushed each other to become better and work harder + because we compliment each other SO well. Marriage requires your best self, which in turn means you can accomplish more than you could alone. It’s such a blessing to have my best friend by my side and pushing me to be my best self.

And here’s Cameron’s list: (his words are in bold)

1. Team work makes the dream work
2. Details make all the diff – you know, the little things. Doing nice things for each other, caring about each other.
3. Sticking your tongue out helps – (this was a knock at me. I stick my tongue out A LOT. And he always teases me about it hahaha)
4. Do not disturb sleep. EVER.
5. Love/appreciation is a verb
6. My life has more meaning, happiness, and purpose than I ever thought possible.

You can tell who does all the talking between the two of us 😂 He’s the best. Happy anniversary LOVE.

I would LOVE to work with you! Please contact me to book your wedding date! To view more of my portfolio, follow me on Instagram.