VOWS

while sorting through some photos in my Dropbox account, trying to choose which to order and put up in our house, (the only photo we have hanging up of hudson was sent to us by a friend, embarrassing) i came across these vows that i didn't remember writing until i started reading them. i don't think i've looked at them since getting married. (these aren't the vows we said to each other during our ceremony, but a little exercise we did before to get warmed up.) they make me smile so big and i want to put them somewhere i won't lose track of them again. so here they are.

      What is the single greatest thing about the person you are going to marry?

It’s your curiosity and enthusiasm for life. You become interested in something and want to know everything about it. You feel passionate about your “Stuff You Should Know” podcast and your nightly Jeopardy. I love that!

     When did you know that you were in love/ know that this person was the one you wanted to marry?

I knew I was in love the instant I saw your Officer Dangle short shorts Halloween night. Not really. In all honesty I don’t think there was one instant that I knew. That idea is a bit too romantic for me. Over time, our love grew and evolved. I began to see more all the time that you are incredibly kind, silly, curious, intelligent, diverse in your interests and passions, and accepting of the person that I am. The more I got to know you, the greater my understanding was of what a loving best friend, husband and father you could be. I’m marrying the person that you are, but I’m also marrying the person I know you will be over time because I am wholly confident that I’ll always be able to count on you. When you asked me to marry you at the top of a mountain, feet buried in the snow, I had no doubts. 

     What does marriage mean to you? Why do you want to be a married person?

I have heard some people say that your spouse is actually just a glorified roommate. I’m sure many days that is true. But, to me marriage is about making a commitment to someone, vowing to be by their side forever no matter what. It means agreeing on the important things, while learning to compromise and be pliable about other things. It means having babies and raising those babies to be the best people they can be. It means laughing ‘til we cry, challenging each other and sometimes arguing. It means having a pal to explore with, a solid embrace to cry into, and a person to be strong when I cannot be. It means listening even when I don’t want to or when I want to interrupt. It means being able to be quiet when I don’t want to speak. It means the good, the bad and the ugly. But of course it also means those very special moments that we hold close to our hearts always.

     What will change about your relationship once you are married? What will stay the same?

To sum up what will be different is the idea that this is FOREVER. For me, it is incredibly comforting to know that NO MATTER WHAT, this is for always. We’ve lived together for over a year so some things will feel the same. We will share a name and a bank account, which is different. We will have new titles, husband and wife, and with that will come new responsibilities and challenges. I’ve been told that it’s hard to articulate, but things will feel different. We will feel different. I’m ready for that. I’m looking forward to more of the good stuff we already have. More cooking and baking together, dinner parties with friends, more camping trips and hikes, more years of Bay to Breakers silliness, more hugs and kisses, more costumes, more travel, more knitting, more love.

     What is your most favorite memory of your partner?

The proposal, our first real date when we strolled down to Solstice talking and learning about each other, sitting on the hill behind The Greek in our Viking helmets, many nights in the hot tub with friends making drunk person stew, cooking together, making our Hulse family Christmas video, our spontaneous trips to The Tempest after work for the special, you being SUCH an amazing cheerleader when I finished my triathlon, that night we watched Stop Making Sense over and over. There are so many, I can’t list them all here. But there are more and I know there will be TONS more to come! I love you more than anything!