celebrating 5 years of marriage

Today is my 5 year wedding anniversary.  I've known Jake since I was 16.  We've been together almost 10 years and have been married 5 of those years.  Getting married is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.  Jake is my best friend, and I'm very fortunate to call him my husband, too.  We have been through a lot during the last 10 years, but it's been worth it.  I hope that we have many more years together.

I thought that you'd enjoy seeing a few older pictures of us before I show you my new ring.  The earliest digital pictures I have of us are from late 2005 and I didn't scan anything older so these pictures are mostly 2006-2010.  Please don't leave me any comments about how we look really young and/or we look way too young to have been married for 5 years.  It isn't appropriate or original and just don't need to be said here.  Thanks.  Enjoy!

Christmas with my in-laws (Christmas 2005)

formal dinner night on an Alaskan cruise (June 2006)

 wedding reception with two of Jake's good undergrad friends (December 29, 2006)

 on our honeymoon, at the Benihana's in the Hilton complex in Oahu (New Year's Day, 2007)

Jake's undergrad graduation (May 2007)

my little sister-in-law's 8th grade graduation (June 2007)

Iowa State Fair (August 2007)

Mexico/Honduras cruise (late December 2007/early January 2008)

Minneapolis, MN (August 2008)

my cousin's wedding (May 2009)

a good friend's wedding (May 2010)

Match Day (St. Patrick's Day 2011)

Jake's med school graduation (May 13, 2011)

my little sister-in-law's HS graduation (June 2011)

(For anyone wondering where the photos of my graduations are, I didn't attend my undergrad or master's program graduations for various reasons.)

Most of you already know that we have done a lot of neat things since we moved to Milwaukee, but I don't have very many pictures from events that include both of us.  I'll have to work on that!

Of course I had to include a photo of our little Angel, too.  She's 16 years old.  She lived with my in-laws for 10 years and then moved in with me right after I finished undergrad.  She's been with us through a lot, too.

As many of you know, what I really wanted for our 5th wedding anniversary was a ring.  After a lot of searching and much debate about what kind of metal I wanted (you really don't want to know how long I've been working on this little project), I finally settled on this ring from Madelynn of onegarnetgirl.  She did such an amazing job with it.  I could not be more happy with my decision and with her work.  If you're thinking about ordering metal gemstone jewelry, please consider her shop.  You will not be disappointed.  Click to see the larger photos.

Thanks for taking this personal trip with me today.  Stay tuned tomorrow for our regularly scheduled programming.

I included this post in Erika's It's a Wrap Link Party - Happy New Year!.