How This Husband and Wife Chose To Rise Above Hardship in 8 Years of Marriage
While reading Tabitha and Brian's story of eight years of marriage, I had a few moments of raw reflection (and maybe a few tears). On the outside, you'll see images captured by Angel Owens of a beautiful anniversary and vow renewal celebration. But the true beauty lies within the way these two have overcome challenge after challenge. That my friends, is the inspiration I'm taking away today for my own marriage. I hope you'll do the same and spend a little time in this gorgeous gallery.
From Tabitha... When we got these photos taken it was so special. It was different than our actual wedding because I love Brian so much more than I did eight years ago. I was crazy in love then but now, after eight years, two kids and a crazy ride, I’m madly in love with my husband. Looking at him on our wedding day I thought about everything we were going to go through in a really different way, like a highlight reel sort of way. On this day, when I looked at him my thoughts were flooded with what we had actually been through, what we accomplished, overcame, there is so much more depth to who we are in these photos and I will cherish them forever. I know we have so many pages left to fill in our love story, I don’t know what that will entail but I do know as long as Brian and I are together with our family we can get through anything.
They say the first year of marriage is the hardest, it definitely was for us. We experienced the sudden tragic passing of my mom two weeks before Christmas, found out we were pregnant the next day, only to find out we miscarried 12 days later. Talk about a whirl wind. Four months later we found out we were pregnant again. On November 1, 2012 our little girl Saylor was born. What a blessing. She was literally my angel, and now Brian and I were parents. The next couple of years were great and then we hit bumpy waters yet again. Our little boy Boston came along in January 2017 after a long battle with infertility! But, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. As a married couple we experienced some major adversity. Like MAJOR.
They say the first year of marriage is the hardest, it definitely was for us. We experienced the sudden tragic passing of my mom two weeks before Christmas, found out we were pregnant the next day, only to find out we miscarried 12 days later. Talk about a whirl wind. Four months later we found out we were pregnant again. On November 1, 2012 our little girl Saylor was born. What a blessing. She was literally my angel, and now Brian and I were parents. The next couple of years were great and then we hit bumpy waters yet again. Our little boy Boston came along in January 2017 after a long battle with infertility! But, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. As a married couple we experienced some major adversity. Like MAJOR.
We were in survival mode. The two of us had never been in such a raw place in our whole relationship. The cars went, the gas cards, the trips, the freedom, the time we had together went, like “poof” disappeared. As time went on and we gained more responsibility from what we thought was our life of leisure, we could have really fallen apart as a couple. But we didn’t. We lost so much, but gained so much more. We worked hard together as a couple and for our family. Brian was really doing amazing at his job. My makeup business took off and something I had planned to do 2 days a week went into a full time job. Everyday we made the choice to work together to climb out of this hole we were thrown in to. If we didn’t love each other we wouldn’t have had a chance.
To make a marriage work, especially in times of hardship, you have to remember the vows you made to each other. For better or worse? In sickness or in health? It happens. The good, the bad, the ugly, you have ebbs and flows in your marriage that you could not even predict. I could write a book on what happened to both us in the first 5 years we were married. Death, sickness, financial stress, infertility, job changes, life changes, you have no idea what ride you are in for in life. But would you want to do that alone? I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. I would not be the person I am today without Brian or our two children.
To make a marriage work, especially in times of hardship, you have to remember the vows you made to each other. For better or worse? In sickness or in health? It happens. The good, the bad, the ugly, you have ebbs and flows in your marriage that you could not even predict. I could write a book on what happened to both us in the first 5 years we were married. Death, sickness, financial stress, infertility, job changes, life changes, you have no idea what ride you are in for in life. But would you want to do that alone? I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. I would not be the person I am today without Brian or our two children.
Know that being married you are going to continue to grow as a person, as you always did, your spouse is also going to continue to grow. Whether you grow together or apart is the kicker. You have to put in the work to grow together. You have to nurture and tend to your relationship so that it will thrive.
How we met... Brian and I met in a truly serendipitous way. He is from Boston, Massachusetts, and I am from Andrews, Texas, about 2,000 miles apart. So how did a guy from New England and gal from West Texas meet? HOCKEY! Yeah, I did not mistype that. Hockey. I mean I know we met because God meant for us to cross paths but hockey is the means that lead us to that.
It was December 2007 so I was home on Christmas break and went to the mall with my best who was dating a hockey player at the time. When we walked in Brian saw me with Kelley and since he knew her he came over to say “Hi” and to meet me. The rest is history. I fell head over heels in love with Brian. We dated for a little over 2 years, got engaged in Las Vegas, and then we were engaged for a year before we got married.
A bit about our wedding... On July 30, 2011, Brian and I got married in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, at the Cabo Azul Resort. I was 25 and he was 29 at the time. It was a dream wedding. We had 50 people come to Cabo to celebrate our marriage. This year will be our 8th wedding anniversary and we are going back to Cabo because it truly is such a special place to us.
It was December 2007 so I was home on Christmas break and went to the mall with my best who was dating a hockey player at the time. When we walked in Brian saw me with Kelley and since he knew her he came over to say “Hi” and to meet me. The rest is history. I fell head over heels in love with Brian. We dated for a little over 2 years, got engaged in Las Vegas, and then we were engaged for a year before we got married.
A bit about our wedding... On July 30, 2011, Brian and I got married in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, at the Cabo Azul Resort. I was 25 and he was 29 at the time. It was a dream wedding. We had 50 people come to Cabo to celebrate our marriage. This year will be our 8th wedding anniversary and we are going back to Cabo because it truly is such a special place to us.