A sunset honeymoon session and the secret to lasting love

I remember being surprised when my friend said it. “You and Adam fight?!” I’d just vented a recent disagreement I’d had with my love. “You seem so happy!”

Well, it was true. But to think our friend imagined my relationship with Adam was nothing but rainbows, butterflies and Saturday nights spent chowing angel hair pasta from two ends to meet in a kiss… well, that just seemed wrong.

We’ve been together over a decade, and spend nearly every waking minute together – between raising two kids, living thousands of miles from family and working to build and maintain our business from home – we don’t get much time apart. And, just like the best friend in high school you ended up hating after they slept over three nights in a row (love you Holly. Love you Justine), we have our arguments, move on and come back stronger.

I’ve never received a greater compliment about our relationship than I did from a nurse before delivering our son. “You guys just married??” she asked, looking to Adam and back at me with a smile. “No, we’ve been together nearly ten years!” I returned her smile and looked over at Adam with stars in my eyes (maybe that was the epidural.)

The secret to lasting love? Treat it as a journey, not a destination. Realize there will be good days and bad. Don’t strive for perfection but for growth. And, of course, have honeymoon portraits taken so when the bad days inevitably roll around, you can glance at the good times and help the hard times roll in to the distance like a falling tide.