After a weekend spent at a major country music festival, Sidney and I took today to relax as we celebrated our first wedding anniversary. At church this morning as I sat in the pew I couldn’t help but close my eyes and think back to exactly a year ago when Sidney and I stood up on the altar and said our vows. I did this as I held my daughter in my arms.

Sidney and I at our wedding. Today I sat in this very church reflecting on our special day exactly one year ago today.

Ah yes, we had a daughter our first year of marriage. Because of this, our first 365 days as a married couple seemed to go by both fast and slow. It went quickly in the sense that it seems just like yesterday that Msgr. LeBlanc was officiating our wedding. But it also seems like these first 52 weeks dragged by just a bit because when you are pregnant for 37 of them (or your wife is) it tends to slow down time just a bit.

But regardless of how fast or slow this first year went, one thing is for sure: it has been blissful. I married an incredible woman. Between last June 11 and this June 11, we experienced so many highs. We also battled some challenges but that is what happens when you give your life to someone else and you create life at the same time…all in 365 days.

It was a beautiful feeling walking back up the aisle with Sidney after we were married.

This evening we ate a portion of our wedding cake from a year ago. I was so excited to taste it, I really wanted to experience what year-old cake would taste like. I was expecting it to lose flavor or taste freezer burnt. But believe it or not, it was delicious! In fact, it tasted like it did on our wedding day.

Sidney and I eating our wedding cake with Sloan this evening.

In a way, the cake was a metaphor for our young marriage. Since we said “I do” our relationship has not lost any flavor nor has the magic we felt when we walked down the aisle left us. Now obviously the key is to keep the flavor and magic lasting well past a year but you have to start somewhere.

We cut this cake a year ago today. Tonight we ate some of it.

I am so grateful for my beautiful bride and for what she has given me. I am extremely blessed and will forever be indebted to God. Happy anniversary, Sidney. Don’t Blink.