Every once in awhile I am reminded just how young I really am. Case in point: this evening my husband went out with his buddies and I stayed home with my son. As I thought about movies I wanted to watch but would never be able to convince my husband to see with me, High School Musical came to mind. It’s okay–you can laugh–but I am not too old for High School Musical.

I was only ten when High School Musical came out in 2006. It’s been eleven years already? Indeed it has. High School Musical was my generation and while my husband might stick his nose up at the rehearsed dancing and cheesy plot line, the High School Musicals will always hold a special place in my pre-pubescent fan girl heart.

So tonight I fired up the TV and spent the evening snuggling on the sofa with my little boy while I watched Troy and Gabriella go in different directions only to realize they were in fact meant for each other and they should be together forever. Yes, laugh at me if you must, but then straighten up that smirking face of yours and remember what an adorable couple Troy and Gabriella are. In case you’ve forgotten, the story is basically this: Troy is a super jock; Gabriella is the smart, sweet, quiet girl who just moved into town. They sing together and fall in love; they are dramatic high school students who go their own ways and then realize they’re meant for each other and they live happily ever after until the next movie when it happens all over again.

In fact, Troy and Gabriella kind of remind me of my husband and I when we were in high school.

Shh, don’t tell my husband. If he knew I was comparing him to Troy Bolton on the internet he would probably start banging his sandy boots off over the sofa just to get back at me, but clearly he has no idea what an honor being compared to Troy truly is. Both are dark and handsome, multi dimensional, tormented-on-the-inside jocks, with a soft side and a love for their girls and a tendency to pour out their inner demons via soulful ballad. Perhaps they aren’t particularly similar after all–but as I watched High School Musical 3 and tried to pretend like it wasn’t tugging on my heart strings, I couldn’t help but think about what my husband and I were like when we in high school.

We were a lot like them, actually.

We met in middle school and fell in love quickly–we were crazy for each other all throughout high school. Dancing in the rain for no reason, surprise hugs from behind, quiet conversations after school, best friends forever and due to our missionary kid lives, we constantly dealt with goodbyes. We were that icky ooey-gooey couple that nobody liked because we held hands under the table in my mother’s english class (Dad, please don’t tell Mom that) and we wanted to spend every single moment with each other. Instead of paying attention in class, we would stare into each other’s eyes from across the room, regardless of which awkward classmate got stuck in the middle. We lived for those simple moments together and less importantly, we were That Couple. Our relationship was certainly not without issues, but we were young and spontaneous and completely in love.

And then life happened. He joined the Marine Corps, we had a baby, we bought a house, and now we’re piled under dishes and bills and diapers and did you do the laundry and haircuts every Sunday. There came a point in time where it didn’t just “keep on getting better” because (mostly I) became too caught up in practicalities. We’re not two crazy teenagers anymore–we’ve grown up a lot since our early high school days–and marriages change as husbands and wives mature, which is a good thing.

But there’s something to be said for spontaneous dances in the rain and choosing the other person even when we’re being pulled in a hundred different directions.

My husband and I thrive off adventure and spontaneity and that has all but evaporated in our marriage due to life happening–but just because our adventures are slightly more limited now that we’re parents and we have, you know, responsibilities, doesn’t mean that we can’t be intentional about keeping that vital part of our marriage alive.

I am just as head over heels in love with my husband as we were when I was in high school and while in many ways we still are the crazy young couple, we’ve lost the crazy in the ways that matter to us. We don’t need the big house we have, I don’t need to start my own business and my husband doesn’t need to be extremely successful in his career–and it’s true that we have been blessed with those things but all we need is our little family, a whole lot of crazy, and most of all Jesus.

In December 2015, one of my best friends married her high school boyfriend. I stood up at her wedding and gave a toast in front of a room of people who had no or very little experience with teen marriage and I told her that the thing that makes a teen marriage unique is that you’re kids together and then you grow up together and you can be silly in a way that adults forget about as they get older and that is the most crazy fun opportunity I can imagine in a marriage.

I don’t know why it took watching High School Musical to remind me of one of the most special parts of my marriage, but as it turns out the sappy movie is good for more than just giving me the feels. There is a thousand miles between my husband and I fairly regularly–his job dictates that–but a thousand miles has got nothing on our marriage and for some reason I needed the reminder from High School Musical, of all movies, to remember what makes my marriage to my husband so special and to fight for it.

Young wives, go watch High School Musical and relish how adorable Troy and Gabriella are together. Then remember that while your relationship might be different from theirs, you husband is way darn better than Troy Bolton. Young marriages are precious and sometimes we need reminders that come from strange places.