Babe,

It’s hard to believe this day is already here. We used to joke when we started dating about how one day you would be Thirty, like it was an ominous cloud hanging over our relationship, like not being in your twenties somehow made you ancient and that this life we’re leading would change so drastically.

I wish I could go back to those kids we were and tell them that life would change. Being married to each other has made life so different, yet so much better. We have become a family, you and I (and of course, the pups). We are each other’s comfort. We depend on one another. There is this bond between us that one only understands when they enter the sanctity of marriage with God and their partner, a relationship that can’t be put into words. I am so proud of the people we have become over the last few years. I am so proud of the life we are working so hard to build together. I am so proud of how hard you work for our family.

I may not be certain of anything else, but I am certain of you, and for that I am so thankful.

Thank you for loving me in all my ways, all the ugly, anxious parts of me.  Thank you for looking at me the way no one ever has. Thank you for giving me something to laugh about when all I want to do is break down and cry. Thank you for being patient with me. Thank you for learning (slowly but surely) how to live with my “creative,” messy ways. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for making me believe in myself. Thank you for pushing me to dream bigger, and promising you’ll be by my side no matter where life leads.

I am so grateful that when God created you, he had my heart in mind. This is the fourth birthday of yours we have shared together, and I pray for a hundred more.

I love you.

xoxo,

Boo Boo

Thank you to our dear friends, Michael & Carina, for this photo!