Reflecting on One Year of Marriage + Anniversary Photos

11.12.22 marked one full year married to my best friend. To celebrate our first anniversary, Matt and I made the trip to Corolla, NC for a long weekend at the beach. We got engaged and married in Corolla, so it’s always special to come back and relive old memories. I am a firm believer that you’ll never regret taking photos at some of life’s most exciting milestones. So, while in Corolla, I reached out to Natalie from Natalie Heim Photography to see if she’d be able to capture anniversary photos for us. I am so glad I did! Every single photo Natalie captured so perfectly encompassed our personalities and love for one another.

Matt and I basically have operated like a married couple since our sophomore year of college: our lives were already intertwined, so our first year of marriage really made it feel like the puzzle pieces of our love story were falling into place. We were definitely meant to be husband and wife! While our relationship hasn’t come without its challenges (arguments courtesy of being either hangry or sleepy), we’ve always put our relationship first and made one another a priority.

We went to a leisurely dinner the night of our anniversary and discussed our highs and lows for the year. While our positive moments far outweighed the negatives, one struggle was definitely the first month after we adopted Parker. Parker, our one-year-old German Shepherd, was rescued from the streets of Texas. We now know he has a heart of gold and is absolutely the best, but he had a difficult transition and needed a lot of training. We didn’t know how bad his reactivity to other dogs was when we first adopted him, and there were several times his leash reactivity really hurt me or Matt (i.e. made us fall, slip on ice, or severely hurt our shoulder by pulling, full force in the wrong direction). When I say it was bad, it was to the point where I couldn’t walk him by myself without fear of getting hurt.

At this same time, Matt was working 12-hour shifts at work: alternating day shifts & night shifts every few days. So whenever he was home, he’d be absolutely exhausted or sleeping, and I’d be mentally drained from working from home while Parker was barking incessantly at anything that passed our apartment window and lunging and barking at other dogs. I was scared at one point we were going to be asked to leave our apartment complex because Parker’s behavior was just that scary. He’s a 70lb German Shepherd so his bark sounds terrifying. Coupled with the lunging and seemingly aggressive behavior toward other dogs, I knew some of our neighbors had a right to complain.

This challenge really pushed us to openly communicate and have hard conversations. There were several times we told one another we couldn’t handle this; he was just too big, and he was going to unintentionally hurt one of us. I repeatedly told Matt it wasn’t time to give up on him yet. So, we did what we do best: we showered him with love, gave him a reason to trust us, made it clear we were the bosses in this relationship, and in turn, created a best friend. As I write this, Parker is now snuggled up next to me sound asleep, the biggest sweetheart I could have ever imagined. He guards me fearlessly and loves Matt and I in a way I didn’t even think a pet could. I can’t even stand the thought of giving up on him that first month.

I’m proud of how we weathered the storm and dealt with controversy together this past year. We got engaged at 23, married at 24 and are now 25. I’m thankful for how we have maturely handled any trials and tests that have come our way. The best is still yet to come with this incredible man by my side. (p.s. love you Parker-Doo!)