Our Best Nine!

9 years ago, two kids stood at the altar before their friends and family, held hands, and committed their lives to one another.  In those 9 years, those kids have grown immensely.  We are those kids, still holding hands, and we've learned how to be better spouses, better friends, better parents, we've learned how to trust Jesus, we've learned how to be truly thankful, and we've learned we still have SO much to learn. 

God has blessed us SO immensely over the past 9 years.  We have seen dreams come true and we have seen prayers answered (So. Many. Times.). We have worked hard to crush goals (like getting debt free!!) and we have, undoubtedly, failed a time or two (we're currently getting debt free... again).  I always love taking a look back at what God has done in and through us, and celebrating a wedding anniversary seemed like the perfect time to do that... again. :)

YEAR ONE: The highlight of our first year would DEFINITELY have to be our wedding day.  It was the fairytale beginning I had always dreamed of, and it is a day we relive countless times every year.  It only encouraged and grew my love for weddings, and Brad frequently asks if we can do it all over again.

YEAR TWO:  Our second year of marriage brought one of our biggest blessings, and something that continues to bless us to this day.  After over a year of ups and downs for both of us in jobs, Brad landed a career-job with Carlisle and Gallagher, now NTT Data... where he still works today!!  His job has blessed our family in more ways than I can count, but the list would include provision for our family, our (greatly used) health insurance, relationships for Brad, and the trips we've been able to take thanks to those miles and points he accumulates.

YEAR THREE: During our third year of marriage, we lived away from all the familiar we'd known.  We moved to Irving and then Carrollton, and we decided to attend Gateway while we were in the area.  It was during that time that we were totally on our own.  We were away from the familiarity of so many things we had always known, and we learned to truly rely on each other.  It was during that time that we decided to start trying for a baby AND to move back home to Arlington/Fielder for good! This was the year life seemed to settle into a rhythm for us (consistent jobs!!) and we received so much clarity from the Lord.

YEAR FOUR:  Our fourth year of marriage was a BIG year for us, and it was an emotional roller coaster to say the least! We moved into our first home that we had the privilege of building with DR Horton, and we loved the entire process.  To this day, we are still so happy with the decision we made and (almost) all the design choices! ;) Here's to hoping year 10 brings us some nice wood floors!  It is truly home to us and we have loved the life we have made, planted right where we are.  On the roller coaster of year four though, we found ourselves in some new territory, and Brad was traveling for work every week.  Even tougher than that, we had been trying to get pregnant with ZERO luck for almost two years. And then it happened... with an IVF appointment on the schedule, we got our very first positive pregnancy test... followed by 40 weeks of being sick, but like I said, it was a roller coaster.

YEAR FIVE: The highlight of year five was, hands down, Bryleigh Renee Hammons. We had longed for her and prayed for her, and we were overjoyed when we finally got to hold her in our arms! She was, and is, the sweetest answered prayer.  Life has never been the same!!

YEAR SIX:  Year six was when we got our SECOND positive pregnancy test.  For someone that was told I would never naturally conceive, this was great news, but in the same moment I saw I was pregnant, I knew it was a baby I would never meet this side of heaven.  I don't know how to classify this memory from year six, or even how to put it into words like I do most things. I've been sharing our "Best 9" from our nine years of marriage, and this doesn't exactly qualify as BEST, but it was certainly the biggest moment for us during that year and it has eternal implications.  We forever have a piece that's not with us, we forever look to heaven with a bit more longing!

YEAR SEVEN: Year 7 will forever be known as the year we fell in love... with DC!  One of our favorite things to do together is travel, whether it's somewhere else in the metroplex, or across the United States (we're ready to add across the ocean...), we LOVE adventuring together. We've visited NYC, DC, Baltimore, Vegas, and LA together since getting married, and we can't wait to add more spots to the list!!

YEAR EIGHT: Year 8.  Year 8 was WILD.  Year 8 was when we spent way too much time in a hospital.  Year 8 was when we met William Bradley and the wild was so worth it.  He is one of the very best parts of our world and one of the biggest blessings of our 9 years married.

YEAR NINE: The last year didn't quite go as expected... like expecting Bryleigh to be in her second year of preschool... but it ended up being even better.  We spent the entire year TOGETHER.  Watching Bryleigh and Will together over the last year has been one of the sweetest things and memories we'll hold on to forever.

YEAR TEN: The best is yet to come!  Here's to holding hands through the next 9 years of adventure and beyond!