I instantly get teary-eyed thinking about the fact that one year ago today, Dave and I were surrounded by the people we love most in the world as we said our vows and became husband and wife! There are so many things I can think to say about our first year of marriage and how, thanks to a lot of prayer, grace, and surrender, it has truly been the best year of my entire life, but instead, I’d love to share a quote from our favorite saint. We included it in our ceremony program and I think it perfectly sums up the way I feel about our vocation.

“In this way, the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.” (1 John 4:9). Here is love at its source. Love is the gift of self. It means emptying oneself to reach out to others. In a certain sense, it means forgetting oneself for the good of others. Authentic human love reflects within itself the logic of the divine. In this perspective, the duty of conjugal fidelity can be fully grasped. ‘You are everything to me, I give myself totally to you, forever’: this is the commitment that springs from the heart of every person who is sincerely in love.”

– Saint Pope John Paul II, Message to Married Couples, 25 September, 1993

Dave Kirk, I love you more than ever. I still can’t believe that I get to wake up next to you every single day, and I can’t wait to see you be a dad to our sweet baby boy. You have always been, and continue to be, my greatest blessing and my biggest adventure.

P.S. I’m taking off of blogging for the week while we celebrate our anniversary on vacation in Singapore! Follow along on Instagram, if you’d like :)