On August 28, 2011, I walked up to a small group of people at an event and started talking with one of my roommates who was there. Then, I turned to the prettiest girl in the room and said “you look familiar, what’s your name?”

She really did look familiar, that wasn’t a pickup line or anything. She told me that her name was Emily, and within just a few minutes I was even more impressed by her personality than I was by her beauty during the event that we had just been at.

That moment I felt more peace and happiness than anything I’ve ever felt in my life. It was unexplainable. One of the best feelings I’ve ever had, if not the best. Well, maybe other than what it felt like to marry her 18 months later.

A lot has happened in the 10 years since Emily and I met. We both graduated from college, had multiple jobs, lost some jobs, started two businesses, had three kids, bought a house, and so much more. Throughout all of this, those feelings of joy and peace have continued to be there every day.

Thinking back over the years I’m grateful that I can still feel those same feelings even stronger as I run through our first memories together in my mind. What I’ve loved about being married to Emily is how much it just keeps getting better every year.

A lot of it has come from these few lessons we’ve learned since we met:

• Love is a verb. You express love with actions but love is also those actions. If you want love in a marriage to increase, love (the verb) each other.
• Don’t take anything in life too seriously. Part of why Emily and I have such a strong bond is actually because we’re opposites and thus we compliment each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I’m organized, while she’s more carefree. When I take life too seriously, she reminds me that it’s okay to let go, stop overthinking, and just enjoy the journey.
• The best relationships and marriages happen when you talk with each other for fun and about business. I remember one vacation we went on with some family and afterward one family member told me how nice it was to hear Emily and I talking with each other so freely and having so much fun while doing so. When we first met we’d spend hours just talking outside each other’s dorms, sometimes until the early hours of the morning. We’ve always had a strong bond because of our ability to talk. I still really look forward to vacations especiallly because we get hours to just be together and enjoy talking about anything and everything.

I’ve learned a lot more lessons from Emily and from being married to her, but these are just three of the ones that stand out the most. We’ve used these principles to develop a strong bond that continues every day.

And I’m so excited that I get to spend forever with her talking, being spontaneous, loving, enjoying life, and so much more. Life is good because I get to spend it with Emily.