Happy Anniversary, New York. We love you.

April 21 & 22nd: BYU Graduation. We walk together (he: Political Science. me: Psychology). 

April 30th: Wedding in Washington.

May 1 - 8th: Honeymoon in Cancun. Mike receives a counter-offer from his firm's NYC office (vs. Delaware). Easy decision.

May 9th - May 11th: Cross-country move with Mike's Pathfinder & a UHaul. We do mock-interviews (for me) the whole way.

May 12th: Visit NYC for the third time together (we came twice when dating), but first as THE Whitings. Eat our first lamb & rice with my mom & dad. Sign a lease on our Wall Street apartment after writing the biggest check of our lives. 

May 14th: New Canaan wedding reception. My dad & I are crying through most of it (New York = opposite side of the country as Washington & this is hard).

May 17th: Mike drives our UHaul into New York.  I'm terrified in the passenger seat. We move into our 30th floor 500 square-foot apartment. We sleep on a leaky air mattress for three months until our furniture finally arrives. 

I sort of feel like I should write a love letter to New York City. At the very least, I should have a gratitude journal entitled Why I'm Grateful I Live in New York that I can write in every single night, just so that I can count my (many) blessings. Because I would fill it up quickly & easily.

I've spent the last hour or so looking through my external hard drive of old photos from the spring of 2005. Snapshots of us moving into our first apartment. Us on a double-decker bus tour through the city. Seeing Wicked on Broadway. Eating at Shake Shack for the very first time. Looking at The Statue of Liberty from Battery Park. 

Thought #1 - I took really, really bad photos. Thought #2 - I made some seriously bad/strange wardrobe decisions. Thought #3 - I was a baby. We were babies. 

(There's this cycle in New York each spring where the new kids move in right after BYU graduation, or they arrive fresh faced & ready for their internship at "X" investment bank or accounting firm. Lately, we've been remarking at how young they look. Oh my gosh, they can't possibly have a BABY, can they?! They all look like babies. Married babies.)

We REALLY looked like babies. We did. I just realized that.

4 years. 

4 years later.

I've changed. 

Physically. Emotionally. Spiritually. Professionally. Creatively.

I've learned so much. Discovered. Found my independence. Observed. Experienced - things I could never have imagined. I've been stretched. It's been really painful at times, but I've grown. I can see it. I can feel it. I'm grateful. 

Sometimes I wonder if I would be in the same place, four years later, if I had lived somewhere else - if the same lessons could have been taught & grasped in a different kind of environment. I don't really know if the definitive answer to this question is yes or no. But I do believe in a greater power who has an active hand in my life, & He has been aware of me. I have been blessed. With experiences that have helped me to become better. With distance, that has fostered new independence & maturity. With trials, that have allowed me to break down & then rebuild. With loneliness, so that I could get to know myself & then learn how to be a friend. With challenges, that have allowed me to understand my real potential. With a new, unique environment that has allowed me to flourish. 

Why do I love New York? I love the diversity. It has opened my eyes & taught me about the world in which I live. I love the people I've met. They've allowed me to experience true friendship,  & have strengthened my testimony. I love the sights, the energy, the opportunities, the density, the food. They still take my breath away.

But I love it most because it's our city. 

The only place we've lived as a married couple. Where I've gotten to know my husband deep down to his very core. Where we've really realized just how much we love each other & how much fun we can have when it's just the two of us. Where we've grown up together. Where we've been a family. Where we've discovered so much together. No matter where we end up in life, this city, these experiences will be ours & we'll take it all with us. 

Happy Anniversary, New York. Here's to the years* ahead.

*At least until our lease is up next spring. And then I'm sure we'll renew again, or buy an apartment, because we really don't have plans on leaving. We're probably not going anywhere. But you never know, right?