Tomorrow, I celebrate my first wedding anniversary! Since getting married, one of the questions I’ve gotten is how I knew my husband was the one. Here’s my answer:

By the time I met my husband, I knew what I wanted in a partner. I knew that I wanted a fulfilling partnership with a man who shared my values and had a similar outlook on life. Most importantly, I needed a man with good character: integrity, loyalty, and honesty. Things I spent time developing within myself. Of course, my husband is handsome, intelligent, witty and funny, and I enjoyed and looked forward to our dates based on those traits. Those traits alone did not make him the one.

Dating is a time of discovery and a time to assess whether you mesh well with someone. During our dates, we delved into a number of topics, including the tough ones. We also asked each other hard questions.

Since we were both seeking a serious relationship (I ensured we were on the same page with our dating intentions), we did not limit our conversations to shallow niceties. These conversations not only meant that we were getting to know each other, but it also set the foundation for emotional intimacy in our relationship.

Back to the character traits I mentioned above: integrity, honesty, and loyalty. Over time, I noticed that my husband embodied those traits through his actions. He also showed me something else that I didn't realize I needed until then: consistency. My husband is a man of his word. He doesn't make promises lightly, and if he says he's going to do something, you better believe that he will. During our dating phase, he did everything that he said that he would do. Additionally, he consistently treated me well. I learned that I could count and depend on him and that he would be there for me through thick and thin. His consistency provided me with insight into how he would treat me in the long-term and throughout all phases of our relationship: dating, engagement, and marriage, he consistently shows up for our family and me.

Our the past year of our marriage, life came at us fast; in ways that we could not have predicted. Being the man he is, my husband has remained #solidasarock. There's no one better to do this life with!

Cheers,
~Nika