On anniversaries- US!!

Happy Fifth anniversary to us!!

Let's take a little walk down Memory Lane, shall we?

I had JUST gotten back to the Soo after Reading Break. I'm pretty sure I'm wearing two sweater instead of wearing a jacket. Why? I have no idea.

'Fishing' trip with Josh and Tash and Dave's parents. The START of the standing-in-hearts photos.

Thanksgiving '08, a couple days before we got engaged. Also, the day I managed to impale myself with a piece of wire while climbing.

Christmas '08.

At our stag and doe. My sweater says 'Mrs. Hillyard.'

And then we got married!! It was a GORGEOUS June day on the farm. The lilacs had bloomed just that week (I ran out every. single. day. to check), the sun was out, and the bugs weren't even as bad as they could have been!

(Tidbit for you: Did you know our first 'real' kiss (on the lips) was at the alter? We waited!)

I'm a huge Disney fanatic (but really, who isn't? I'm actually listening to 'Be Our Guest as I type this'. And we walked down the isle together to 'Kiss the Girl'), so Dave took me to Disneyworld for our honeymoon!!

We HAD to. And they match our Christmas ornament!

Our first year of marriage was so much more than we expected. We learned so much about ourselves and each other (and we're still learning!), watched other friends get married, have babies, buy houses, fight and love each other unconditionally. I returned to school for my final year of university, and Dave worked for his dad doing landscaping and snow removal. We were in no means rich, but did have love!

And we started making serious choices together, as a family (because two is a family!). We BOTH decided to return to school, and to move to North Bay to do it. We had no idea what the future held for us, but we faced with side by side and with God's plans in our hearts.

At our friends Chris and Tiff's wedding.

On a hike with my MOH, May.

For our first anniversary we went home and planted a couple saplings (evergreens of different varieties) at my parent's house close to our ceremony site. Every time we visit we can watch them grow a little bit more!!

And then we moved to North Bay and learned to live without each other. For two summers Dave moved to the Muskokas for his school placements. He was working and learning, which was great, but we were a couple hours apart.

We saw each other every other weekend, though, and once in awhile got to do super-cool things like sit second row at a Stompin' Tom concert!

Or get dressed up and take the same photo two years in a row after work/ fancy dinners!

Or make silly faces when I got back from my week in New York with my friend Claire.

We even started shooting weddings together!! (Honestly, best second shooter ever!

And then, during our third year of marriage we started REALLY talking about what we wanted to do after graduation. And the topic of travelling and me teaching and Dave learning new cuisine just kept coming up again and again.

Before we knew it, we had graduated.

And had moved home to live with my parents for the summer while we prepared to travel overseas. We still didn't know where or when yet, we just knew we were going.

Dave spent the summer working for my parents on the farm, cooking in the same kitchen I waitressed at, and second shooting for me while I divided my time between shooting weddings, filming a documentary about my parents' farm and waitressing at a local restaurant.

We celebrated our fourth anniversary.

We started saying goodbye to our friends, and packed up most of our belongings.

About September we had finally accepted a position for me to teach in Taiwan. We were nervous but so, so excited.

 And before we knew it we had said goodbye to our families, had boarded a plane and were landing in Taipei, Taiwan.

After a few weeks of training (for me, Dave got to play tourist!), we moved and settled in Tainan, the old capitol of Taiwan.

We celebrated our first Christmas just the two of us.

And had the cutest little handmade Christmas tree!!

We brought in 2014 both here in Taiwan and in Canada (by skyping TWICE with Jenny).

We toured around parts of Taiwan and started to fall head over heels in love with this country.

So what's next? We're at the half-way point in my contract, so we need to decide soon whether or not we want to renew, and what we want to do/ where we want to live/ where we're going to work when we return home.

Five years seems like a really big milestone when we think of how many couples we know that aren't together anymore. But for us, it seems like a big milestone of how far we've matured. I wouldn't trade in the last five years for anything.

We've had ups and downs and fights and temper tantrums and joy abounding. We've strengthened each other's faith, supported each other in times of weakness and celebrated our triumphs. We've seen  each other cry, fall, and fail, and we've been there as shoulders, hands up and words of encouragement. We've graduated (three times!), loved on our nieces and nephews and celebrated with our friends and family while we wait to have our own children, lived in 5 different cities/ towns and two countries, owned two cars and a scooter, had at least 11 different jobs between us, longed for the day when we're finally 'settled' knowing right well that our version of 'settled' and most people's version of 'settled' are completely different, celebrated paying off debt and seriously considered what we wanted in the future.

So, so many people say their spouse is their best friend. There's a reason for that. I used to think there was some secret 'recipe' or trick to make marriages work, but I know now there isn't. It's all about balance. Love is important, but so is trust and commitment and faith and communication. 

We're not perfect, so our marriage won't be perfect. But we're together and willing to fight to stay that way.

I joked with Dave that I had made some predictions for what our next anniversary would hold. He didn't want to hear at first, because he wanted to just wait and see (and probably because I'm a terrible guesser!).

So here it is. Next anniversary, I think we'll be...

 still together.

That's it. And the anniversary after that and after that one until one of us dies. We may have to postpone our celebrations until we're in the same city again (I think we've been together twice or three times in five years on our actual anniversary), but we'll still be working on our marriage, still loving, still fighting.

And really, that's all we can do.

I leave you with two more photos.

Out to dinner on our fifth anniversary at the top of the Shangri-la- one of the highest buildings in Tainan. Check out that view!! 

(Note: Dave and I aren't really fancy dinner people, but he knows the Chef. Since we're planning a big anniversary trip for December, Dave decided to do something we NEVER do and we treated ourselves to a nine-course Taiwanese/ Chinese influenced dinner. I don't think I've EVER eaten that much food. Ugh. At least it was delicious!!)

Waiting for the lights to come on and the dragon boat races to start!

Here's to whatever God has in store for us next!!

PS: Mad photo props go to Chris Kittmer and Amanda Hillyard for wedding photos, Amanda Hillyard for pro couple photos and various friends and family members for other photos!!