Eight years later...

Today, January 25, 2011, as I sit at the computer, unemployed, home with my girls - one of whom is watching Up (the world's best and saddest Pixar movie) and the other who is scaling bar stools and attempting to eat a bag of homemade play-doh, I have the chance to reflect on that day - eight years ago.  A day that seemed so surreal and so perfect...and it was...both of those things.  If you asked me on that day what life would be like for us in eight years, I would absolutely never have guessed we'd be where we are today.  I think for as much worrying as I have done about "the future", I've never really anticipated anything about it.  The future has just unfolded and played out the way God planned for us. 

I woke up late on the morning of my wedding.  Of course.  We rushed off to the salon - I'm not even sure I took a shower.  The stylist was a lifelong friend of my soon-to-be mother-in-law's...because that's how it works in small town Georgia.   She up-do'd my hair (as I begged her not to go too poofy) and did my makeup (I'm fairly certain that was the first time I'd ever worn it in my life).  If I might say so myself, I think she did a great job with what she had to work with - that is, a tomboy of a 19 year old girl with a mid-winter complexion and impossibly straight hair.

We chatted while she worked, and suddenly, we looked at the clock and realized that we were late.

That's right, folks.  I was late for my own wedding.

Okay, so it wasn't the wedding proper...but I was late for the pre-wedding photo session.  (It just sounds more dramatic the other way.)  And if you know our reputation, it's all too apropos.  We're the couple that if something starts at 7pm, the hosts tell us 6:30pm as they're winking at each other.

Anyway - I'll spare you the play by play of our wedding day.  I'll save it for some other time.  It really was fabulous (thank you Mrs. Lisa for all of your hard work to make it happen!!!!).  Instead, I want to focus on some of our highlights over the past eight years - per the advice of a very wise couple on the marriage panel of our January marriage series at church who said the key to keeping the joy alive in a marriage is to keep a journal/scrapbook/whatever of the happiest times in your life, and when you hit a low - go look at them. Iit helps to remind you of the good and helps you to forget the bad.  They had recently celebrated their 50th anniversary and were challenged by their decorator to think of one significant (happy) event from each of their 50 years of marriage.  Then they, in turn, challenged our young married Sunday School class to do the same - only more frequently.

Here's to our last eight years -

Hahahahaha!!!!!  We were 11 or so here - about a month before our wedding.

January 25, 2003

Moving into our first owned-by-us house just days before Mr. Ben made his appearance.

 Beautiful, pink, plump Ben's arrival.

 Spoiling that little boy rotten and soaking up parenthood in the midst of a very chaotic season of life.

Beginning (or, rather, continuing) our annual Destin tradition.

 Finishing engineering school (No, seriously, HALLELUJAH!)

 Selling our first house...

 Buying our second - and present home.

Meeting our little blonde sunny-side-up angel, Abby.

 

Seeing Ben turn from baby boy to big brother.

 

Taking a kidless trip to Austin, San Antonio, and New Orleans.

More fun in Destin...every single year.

Another kidless trip to Salt Lake City - with a secret #3 baby brewing inside.

 And our "surprise" gender baby was bouncing baby girl, Sarah.

Then we ran away from our kids (again) to the great city of Chicago.

Which brings us up to date...

I can't lie.  It hasn't been a perfect eight years.  I am imperfect.  We are imperfect.  Shoot, even Sam is imperfect (every once in a while).  But it has been a perfectly and equally challenging and rewarding eight years.  And in keeping with tradition, I'm not even going to try to guess where we'll be eight years from now.

I trust it'll be awesome though.

Happy Anniversary, Sammy.