Two years ago today Matthew and I walked into a Voodoo Doughnuts Shoppe in Downtown Portland and got married to each other, by a man wearing a Mexican wrestling mask. When we said "I do" the staff threw doughnut sprinkles at us.

The family that could, traveled to be there, and everyone else was with us in spirit. We felt nothing but love and support that day, although, I'm sure all of them had reservations of some sort.

You see, we had only just met 8 months before.

Oh yeah, and I was 5 months pregnant (you do the math).

It was, looking back, kind of crazy.

Our relationship has been through more in it's first two years than some go through in ten.

I mean, three months into the first time we ever laid eyes on each other I was vomiting six times a day and he was stuffing anti-nausea suppositories up my butt. (In both my pregnancies I continued this behavior until the 16 week mark).

Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer snuck into our lives when my father was diagnosed shortly after we learned we were pregnant, and ultimately stole him from us much to soon. (Part of me believes that the reason our timeline moved so fast was so my Dad would be able to meet his grandson and namesake).

We got licensed as a goat dairy, like morons, when our son was just one week old. (Seriously, who starts a business when they have a two year old and a literal newborn?)

We are raising two small children while building our own business from the ground (or I should say goats) up.

Indeed, our relationship has not necessarily withstood the test of time, but it has withstood the test of the world.

Maybe that's why marrying this man I had just met didn't really seem all that crazy to me.

He has, from our very first kiss, felt like home.

We are lovers, parents, farmers, business owners, dreamers, and doers.

This is a man who loves me BECAUSE of who I am, not IN SPITE of (it took me a LONG time to figure out the difference).

There are no games in our relationship. I have never had to guess or question how he felt about me. I have always known, even from day one, that this is a good man.

There's a kindness between us that can't be learned or taught, a kindness that can only happen when two people who have endured cruelty from a mate, find each other.

It's this same kindness and respect that we have for each other that we also have for our farm and its animals.

And maybe that's what makes our farm so special.

Two people, raising two small people, fighting like hell to make a micro goat dairy successful in an age where most of our dairy comes from unnamed animals raised in confinement.

It's only been two years. But we have been able to come out of arguably the hardest two years of our lives feeling more balanced, more grounded, and more in love than before.

And also, more driven and more inspired to see our little itty bitty goat dairy succeed.

So here's to two years with my person, who my heart has known for who knows how many lifetimes, but who I really just met. Here's to the lifetime we have before us getting to know each other and, in the process, building one helluva goat dairy.

Cheers to us! And cheers to our best friends for watching our kids tonight so we can go on our fourth date (it's hard to find time away from the kids and the dairy!)

An image from our doughnut wedding, with Banzai in my belly.

An image from our farm wedding after Banzai was born.

The best decision I ever made