June 1, 2008 I was waking up on my first day as Mrs. Lassiter. The wedding came off without a hitch and I was praising God that it hadn't rained. That part was crucial seeing as I had no back up plan for foul weather. I had a strong faith that God would answer my daily prayer for a beautiful wedding day. So much faith, in fact, that when mom and dad suggested getting a tent put up due to the 20% chance of rain on the forecast, I was yelling through my tears, "IT WILL NOT RAIN!" It makes me laugh now thinking back on it. That time in my life was completely crazy. I still don't know what was going through my mind when a week before the wedding I was closing on our house, picking out furniture, picking out appliances, moving, working, and buying a car, along with finishing up programs and making last minute plans for the wedding weekend. But, it all worked out somehow.
Ben and I celebrated our first anniversary on a 7 night cruise in the Caribbean! It was a last minute decision. We booked the cruise Wednesday night and we left Friday morning at 3:00 to catch our ship in Port Canaveral, FL. The minute I walked on the ship I knew we had made the right decision! We sailed to the Bahamas, the USVI, BVI, and then back to Florida where we stopped and spent a day in Disney World. It was a fantastic way to end our first year together. The picture above was taken on Solamon's Beach in St. John. You have to get creative with the photos when it's just the two of you there to take them!
My first year as a wife was fun and challenging a the same time with all of the newly acquired responsibilities. With bills, insurance, working full time, cleaning, cooking, planning around one another's schedule, finding a church, making new friends, fixing up the house, figuring out the budget, life can get more complicated than it needs to be! That took a little bit of getting used to for me. Now, one year in, I'm starting to get used to the swing of things. I'm learning to not freak out when I vacuum and then the floor needs vacuuming again the very next day. I've learned that I don't have to have a gourmet meal on the table whenever Ben comes home from work. He likes frozen pizza, his expectations are not high. I've learned that everything does not have to be taken care of all at once!
On our wedding day, Ben and I used a scripture from the book of Ruth in our vows to each other. We vowed, "Where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay. Your family will be my family, and your God will be my God. Where you live, I will live. And where you die, there I will be buried. May God deal with me ever so severely if anything but death separates me from you."
The beautiful and challenging thing about marriage is that you are bonded together for life. You can't just run away from your spouse when times get tough or when your relationship gets rocky. You work it out. You stick together and you work it out and you grow closer to each other. I've learned a lot already, but it has only been one year! I am looking forward to the things I will learn and the ways that Ben and I will grow together in the years to come.
