Love your Spouse Challenge. Day 1.
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Stephanie: [On Facebook] I was challenged to post photos of my beloved for 7 days to keep the celebration of love and the promotion of marriage going.
I plan to do this chronologically, so here’s a photo from March 2012… Rich had a tendency to think our first few dates weren’t going well when in fact, I was just really shy and, given how much I liked him, more than a little scared. We got over it 🙂

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Love your Spouse Challenge. Day 2.
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If our Day 1 photo was “persistence”, Day 2 clearly highlights our evolution, from a romantic walk around the Tidal Basin as a new couple in 2012 to… well, to Rich in 2016 wearing a tiny human. While holding another slightly larger, more expressive human. I love how he always makes time for his 3 Kostro women.

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Love your Spouse Challenge. Day 3.
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This one… this is the look. For anyone who wants a partner in life, this is the look he/she should be watching out for. I am so lucky to be on the receiving end of this man’s heart.

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Love your Spouse Challenge. Day 4.
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One of the things I love most about Rich is his sense of adventure. Whether it’s glacier hiking in New Zealand, diving with sharks in French Polynesia, or just living life in Alexandria, he brings such joy and fun to this world. Seriously, the dude’s got range!

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Love your Spouse Challenge. Day 5.
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This photo is one of my all-time favorites, even though it breaks my heart a little. Rich deployed to Afghanistan when I was pregnant, and he came home when Catherine was four months old. Luckily, he was also able to come home for two weeks, arriving the day after C was born. This is our family photo at Dulles airport right before he left to go back — you can see the tears AND the smiles.
I was, and still am, so incredibly proud of Rich’s commitment to serving our country and to caring for our family. LOVE.
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Love your Spouse Challenge. Day 6.
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Rich is an amazing father.
Really, that’s all that needs to be said. See for yourself.

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Love your Spouse Challenge. Day 7.
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Ah, the final day of the challenge… and the photo that best represents my love for my husband.

Our wedding was so much fun. Rich and I giggled and flirted throughout the entire ceremony. But we also paid close attention to what the priest was saying.

Father Rolo reminded us to love, honor, and cherish. To celebrate and to forgive. To communicate. And to remember that even if we have children (and we do love our girls), the most important human relationship we will ever have is with each other.

Thank you, Melissa, for issuing this challenge and reminding me that I have the most amazing partner in life. To paraphrase my love:

We aren’t perfect. But we are perfect for each other.

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Melissa Unemori Hampe: Thank you for taking on this challenge. Beautiful pictures, lovely sentiments. And you are perfect for each other. 😘

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