DreamGirl #2 "baby bride"

So you're in love!

You're gonna marry him & live the dream!--doesn't matter that you're barely a toddler yourself! lol! We #DreamGirls want what we want... but how do you keep it???

#DreamGirl Melissa VanPelt-Johnson shares the secret...

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I got married at 19! We were in love and there was nothing anyone could have said to change our minds.  Even though we had only been together a year, we knew it was meant to be. I had found the one! We prayed about it and felt peace with our decision. We were a bit arrogant and naive in the beginning. We didn't think we would ever argue or hurt one another. Or end up like the couples separating or getting a divorce.

Well here we are 15 years and three children later. We made it!

With a few bumps and bruises along the way. But still happy, still committed and still in love. Or should I say back in love.

No one told me I would fall out of love.

Or that he would too. That the 7 year itch is real! That after years of seeing a person everyday in all their unromantic unattractive glory you (gasp) might not like him anymore.  How could this be? That 19 year old was so in love. I thought ours was different. We're Christian,  we go to church together,  we pray together (sometimes).We are best friends.

Fortunately,  we had had a great pastor to teach us that love is a choice. You choose to stick it out. You fake it till you make it. You pray and meditate. You reminisce about when you fell in love. You think about the person that was there at the birth of the children saying you're beautiful. You think about the person that took care of you when you were sick. Or lost a loved one. You begin to appreciate all the little things. And slowly. Just like the first time.  You fall in love all over again!

Contributed by Melissa VanPelt-Johnson
Full-time Wife and mother to the four J's.(Johnathan, Johnathan II, Jaylen, and Jace). Part-time singer/dancer for the USO supporting our US military and their families!

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