Michael and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary yesterday! I remember when we had just been married a few months I would hear an “older” [lol] couple say they had been married 7 years and I thought that sounded soo old! Now here we are, 7 years into marriage and I kinda still feel like we just got out of college!
Michael and I got married relatively young (Michael was 24 and I had just turned 24 2 weeks before). In the past 7 years, we have moved about 10x [not really 10 but it feels that way haha], traveled all over the world, lived in Colorado for 3 years, had a baby, laughed our heads off, had some major conflict, cried together, made new friends, lots of cheeseboards, prayed together, walked through infertility…and millions of other life moments that have made our marriage & friendship & love what it is today. So today I wanted to try and highlight 7 of my favorite memories from our last 7 years of marriage. And also mix in some throwback photos for you guys!
The picture above is from our 1 year wedding anniversary when we bought our first house in Lake Highlands!
memory #1: italy
Michael and I went to Europe for the first time together in 2015 [i think?]. We went to Italy for two weeks and it was the most magical + memorable trip ever! We still dream / talk about it all the time and can’t wait to go back one day!
This is one of my favorite memories from the last 7 years not only because…Italy haha but it was such a cool experience getting to travel to a foreign country together. Research where we were going, where to stay, what to do…how do the trains work, communicating with the people there etc! Italy had always been a dream of mine, and getting to experience it with my husband / best friend was so special! We hiked and drank wine and did historical tours and had so much one on one time together. I can’t wait until we can go back one day!
memory #2: moving to boulder
The photo above is from fall 2016 when we first visited Boulder, CO….to see if it was a place we’d want to live [and to check out CU Boulder where Michael would potentially be getting his MBA from]. After being in this city for 5 minutes, we both knew we wanted to make Boulder our new home.
Michael and I were both born and raised in Dallas and all of our family is here…so moving to Boulder was a huge adventure for us. This season of life brought us SO close, helped us to truly become each other’s best friends…and it was a blast. We made amazing friends here, found a church home together, hiked, skiied, explored new restaurants…our 3 years in boulder truly were a dream and one of the best things ever for our marriage.
memory #3: hawaii
We went to Hawaii while I was in my first trimester with Shiloh! This is where we took our announcement photos and this trip was SO special! It was my first time to ever go to Hawaii and one of my favorite trips we’ve ever taken! We were there for 10 days and it was the perfect mix of active and relaxing. It was also such a special trip for us because we knew we were pregnant but only a few other people knew at this point. So we talked and talked, prayed and prayed, and dreamed about this little baby we would soon become parents to. I remember discussing names over dinner each night…and Hawaii is actually where I came up with the name Shiloh, and first told Michael about it!
memory #4: our fertility journey
I’ve shared a few times on here and on instagram that we are currently walking through [secondary] infertility. This has hands down been the hardest road I’ve ever walked [and I know it’s been difficult for Michael too]. Amidst some major pain though…our marriage has had some really sweet moments, and moments that have made us so much stronger as a couple. One particular moment I will never forget…
We were about to start IVF in Jan of this year. We had the medications ready to go. We both spoke to doctors [fertility doctors, michael’s urologist, as well as other specialists] who basically told us if we want another baby…IVF is probably the only way. 2 days before starting the injections…I can’t explain it but I just 100% did not have a peace about doing IVF. Something jut wasn’t sitting right with me, but I was freaking out because I thought Michael would be so upset with me and say we had to do it.
We went for a walk one afternoon I had my whole speech ready on why I didn’t have a peace about doing IVF & bullet points with all my reasoning. He stopped me like 30 seconds into my speech and just said “babe if you don’t want to do this right now, we don’t have to do this.” It’s hard to explain but it was just such a special moment of remembering the importance of always being on the same page & operating as a team with your spouse. So it was that moment that we decided to put fertility treatments on hold and just focus on our health and our marriage and for that moment…it was the exact right decision for us.
memory #5: colorado trips
While we were living in Boulder, we explored ALL over Colorado! Lots of trips to Aspen and Telluride and Vail and Breckenridge and Estes Park and more! These trips together are some of my favorite memories from marriage! Getting to be active together (hiking, snowboarding), explore our new home state together, try new restaurants, witness the beauty of God’s creation…these trips were always so special and so fun! [And our Telluride trips also made me make it a life goal of mine to own a property in Telluride one day haha it is such a special place!]
memory #6: becoming parents
I mean…I could obviously write a novel about how becoming parents to Shiloh has just taken our marriage to new heights + made me fall in love with Michael all over again! But, for now…I clearly had to include this as one of my favorite memories from marriage! Shiloh is such an amazing gift from the Lord and I will never ever ever forget welcoming her into the world in Boulder Colorado with Michael by my side, and from the moment we held her in our arms knowing our lives would never be the same.
memory #7: everyday life & chats
I know this isn’t necessarily a specific memory…but some of my favorite moments of marriage over the last 7 years have been moments like we had last week for my birthday staycation in Dallas. We didn’t have any plans…we hung out in our hotel room and got cake from a grocery store nearby one night and just read our books in our robes haha. One night during our staycation, we walked down the street to go get pizza and sat at dinner for 2 hours just talking about how God was moving in our hearts lately. I was able to talk to Michael about body image struggles or my decision to stop drinking for the time being or other anxiety I’d been experiencing. Being married to Michael is like having a live in best friend with me at all times who cheers me on, listens to me, encourages me, challenges me, and holds my hand through every single step I take. I am so so thankful for his leadership and his friendship and for knowing no matter what…he has my back. It truly is the greatest gift I could ever ask for.
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Hear me when I say…our marriage is so far from perfect and we definitely have our own struggles. We are both sinners, married to another sinner. We can be selfish or short-tempered of course. But I can also honestly say…even if it’s hard sometimes, marriage is more than worth the work and I am so thankful God gave me Michael Sims as my husband! Can’t wait to make more amazing memories over these next 7[0] years!
xo Lauren
