Happy 10 Year Anniversary!

I seriously can't believe it's been 10 years! 10 years with the love of my life! That went by in the blink of eye.  10 years ago today we said our "I do's" and became Mr. and Mrs.  Wow!  I remember being so excited about getting engaged and wondering how and when it would ever happen.  We dated 3 years before he popped the question. The day AFTER Valentine's Day to throw me off.  We, will I,had lots of fun planning the wedding.  I don't think anyone has ever been to a wedding as unique as ours. I mean what wedding have you been too where Elvis serenades your first dance?  It was one of the most happiest and memerable days of my life.  Here are some of our wedding pics taken 10 years ago today.  (I apologize that they are kind of crappy.  I took them with my camera.)

 

But being married for 10 years and taught me lots and made me think about lots of things that are important.

 

1.  ALWAYS say "I love you."  We have both lost people very near and dear to us in the past.  A lot of them happened without warning. You never know when it might be the last time you can see or talk to someone so make it count every single time.  Tell people that.

 

2.  Family is the most important thing.  Without your family, there is nothing.  They are there in good times and in bad.  They are your support line.  Always make time to be with them because the memories you make with them are priceless.  We are very blessed to have loving families.

 

3.  Friends.  Friends are just important as family.  Especially if you are lucky to have some really great friends.  They are the ones who are going through the same thing as you.  You can call them anytime to ask marriage, parenting advice, complain, or tell them you need to get out for a drink otherwise you will go crazy and they'll be there.  We are both very lucky to have such great friends in our lives. 

 

4. Be careful. By this I mean sometimes you only have to do something once and your life can change forever.  When trying for our oldest, it took a few months.  But then something can happen say a promotion, and you get all excited for one night and you end up with twins. 

 

5.  Children are a blessing (most of the time).  We really love our children. We were blessed witih three of them.   We like playing with them, and taking them to new places, and teaching them, and watching their little bodies mold into the people they are going to become.  It really is the greatest gift to watch your child grow and learn.  Buutttt, let's face it...sometimes you want to go 5 minutes without hearing the word "mom" or having to say "no" or "stop hitting" 6 million times a day. 

 

6.  Take time for yourselves.  So this is pretty hard for us.  We have crazy busy schedules plus 3 kiddos.  We rarely have time for ourselves. I'm sure lots of people can relate. Maybe like twice a year we get out to a movie just the 2 of us.  It's hard and I wish we could have more time together with just the 2 of us. We will have to continue to work on that one.  Any babysitters out there?

 

7.  It's important to share each other's interests and likings.  For example, he loves Elvis.  We listen to Elvis.  I like NKOTB.  We listen to them too.  We buy each other collectibles of Wizard of Oz or Elvis because we know the other person loves those things.  In fact you know we love those things as both were a part of our wedding.

 

8.  Laugh.  With all the craziness and stress life can throw at you, it's important to stop and laugh.  It could be something the kids say that make you look at each other and laugh.  It could be one of you telling a story that makes you crack up. It could even be as simple as farting sometimes. 

 

9.  Be a team.  I have learned that it's easiest to work as a team.  We do pretty well as a team when we are mommy and daddy.  There's more hands and more eyes.  But as a couple too.  Make decisions together.  Work together.  Share the responsiblilty of work, bills, cleaning, kids, etc.  It makes it less stressful and shows the other person that you care.

 

10.  Never buy a townhome.  This one is meant to be kind of funny.  We were so excited when we bought our townhome 10 years ago thinking it would be the perfect "starter" home. Little did we know our family would outgrow it and as much as we tried to sell it (5 years in our situation) no one wants it.  I loved it.  It was great.  I brought my babies home to that house and that's what they called "home" for these last few years. But we are still stuck with it.  It has not sold yet.  Lesson learned.

 

10 years have gone by and I wouldn't change a thing.  Well, maybe the townhome thing.  We are beyond blessed to have 3 beautiful kids, 2 snuggly cats, and finally, our dreamhome.  We have good jobs and ok cars even though one is ready to kick the bucket and the other one is a minivan with stick people stickers but it fits our family.  We are fortuante enough to still be great friends with all the people in our wedding party (see below pics of my girls and me in front of the church we got married at tonight as we watched fireworks).  Life is good.  Time flies fast.  We gotta just enjoy the ride.