ten years.

ten years ago this week, popeye asked me out on a date.

he did it in front of family and friends by the Jamba Juice in his college town and I was so giddy with anticipation I could have burst.

a few days later he picked me up in his parents yukon and took me to a pizza place where i proceeded to be terrified to eat in front of him and he performed magic tricks to try and impress me.

i still have the tickets we won playing arcade games that night.

we stayed up talking until after 3 am.

i am pretty sure i was in love from the moment he came to my door.

the past ten years since that first date haven't always been easy.

we lived hours and hours apart.

we turned our lives upside down to move home and be with each other 

only to break up for a whole year just a few months later.

we've bickered.

we've cried.

we've been stubborn.

we've ignored.

we've rolled eyes and talked back and been defensive on more than one occasion.

we've been hurt and hurt each other.

we've been through more trials than i could have ever imagined as a love-struck college girl.

we've been ugly sinners in desperate need of forgiveness from God and each other.

but.

we've grown and changed and matured.

we've sought after God to guide us in our walks with him and each other.

we've trudged through the hard stuff 

not always knowing if there would be something beautiful on the other end.

we've fought hard fights for each other and with each other.

we've clung to this little family when it could have easily slipped through our fingers.

we've remembered our vows to Christ and to each other.

and it has truly been an honor being married to such an incredible person.

someone who can frustrate the dickens out of me one minute and make me laugh until i cry in the next.

a person who knows me often much better than i know myself.

who isn't afraid to call me out on my crap while still defending me to anyone who tries to hurt me.

who loves me unconditionally.

who has forgiven me and loved me far more than i deserve.

we have had a million special moments together.

and a million more that were just regular moments that somehow 

are just more wonderful because we did them together.

we've traveled.

we've laughed.

we've sung lots of Michael Jackson and watched way too much 

Seinfeld and Arrested Development for anyone's good.

there are a million differences between us but somehow we've made it work.

he hates leafy greens and soft cheeses.

i find most fried foods repulsive.

he could listen to comedy stations twenty-four hours a day.

talk radio is more my speed.

he is extremely into privacy.

i don't understand why i have to shut the bathroom door just to pee.

he enjoys action movies and sleeping in.

i prefer to read a book and wake up with the sun.

he argues just for the sake of having (and winning) an argument.

i am defensive and can never seem to get around his circular logic.

his idea of a perfect vacation is laying on a pool raft doing nothing.

i might just drive him crazy with my plans to drive cross country 

and hit every national park along the way.

and we both like to have the last word.

but somehow, amongst all those differences, we've found a sweet and special love.

i depend on him to keep me sane and strong and sensible when i'm acting like a crazy emotional fool.

he depends on me to keep our sheets clean and our lives organized and our child educated and fed.

we both have a special job in this relationship and i'm thankful for the fact that popeye regularly acknowledges and appreciates the jobs i do to keep our family and home running and functioning.

our marriage isn't perfect.

but to be honest, the hard stuff is what has made this marriage so sweet.

we've risen up many valleys and climbed many difficult mountains.

and at the end of the day, i can truly say i would rather hang out with him than 

anyone else on this planet.

popeye.

you've seen and known me at my very worst.

you've loved and forgiven me more than i deserve.

you've been patient and kind with me through so many obstacles.

you drive me nuts.

seriously.

but i love you unconditionally through that nutiness.

i admire the freedom you have to live worry free.

your confidence.

the fact that you always believe everything will turn out fine.

and your tenacious spirit.

(except when you are using it to try and wear me down.  then i want to just throw a pillow at you.)

thank you for putting up with me when i seem to have a one-way ticket to crazy town.

thank you for laughing with me about ridiculous things and quoting Seinfeld at the perfect moments.

thank you for putting up with my shenanigans and allowing me to have a free spirit, even though i know i regularly drive you nuts with my piles and messes and projects galore.

thank you for loving me enough to take me traveling and hiking and exploring to my heart's content.

for knowing me well enough to know that pancakes and museums are my love language.

and for enjoying meat buffets and hotel beds and blended margaritas as much as i do.

i appreciate the ways you show me you love me.

by never giving up when i so desperately wanted another baby.

by being patient through my days and weeks and months of mourning over the ones we lost.

by encouraging me and praising me in my parenting and schooling of swee'pea.

by truly putting me above all other people and things.

i have loved you and still love you more than i ever thought possible.

i have prayed for you... for this marriage... more than anything else i've ever prayed for.

i have fought for you.... for this marriage... more than anything else i've ever fought for.

you are still one of the cutest boys i've ever laid eyes on.

and i still swoon every time i see you in your uniform.

you may not like to cuddle with me or let me touch you with my feet.

but until the day we grow old and senile and can't remember each other's names or faces,

 i will never stop having the hots for you.

well.  even still.  because i think you will probably be a super hot old man.

i love you more than harry potter and zweibach and rosemary's ice cream and NYC combined.

times a million.

thank you for loving me in return.

it has been the greatest decade of my life being with you.

and i can't wait to see what the next decade has in store for us.

New love...

Love comes in all shapes, sizes, and ages. It comes in the sand boxes during weekday morning park play-dates... at middle school dances and high school football games... it comes when you want it, when you need it, and oh-so-often when you least expect it.

Their love came when they'd both lost everything they held dear.

They met in 1964, the year my mother was born. They knew each other mostly through their kids... two girls that loved to go on adventures and dreamed of someday being sisters so they could always be together.

It's hard not to know each other when you live in a small town... run-ins at the only grocery store, mutual friends weddings and parties and church events. And so casual friends they remained for nearly 50 years.

Last summer, at a routine check-up, his wife of 58 years was informed she had late-stage pancreatic cancer. Two months later, she passed away.

Last October, after nearly two decades of debilitating health problems, countless surgeries, months in the hospital, and a final few weeks at home with Hospice, her husband passed away. After serving as his sole caretaker for years, the loneliness was suffocating.

The pain was almost unbearable. His family wondered when he would smile again... hers wondered the same. And time drug on. In December, they ran into each other at a church function. He put his arm around her, told her he knew what she was going through. That yes, having your kids around you helped. That no, it wasn't the same as having your spouse and their love and support.

That night, a seed was planted.

He took the gentlemen's route. He called his four children and discussed his intentions. He gave her time to heal. And yes, he even had his daughter call his daughter to see if what he was plotting even stood a chance.

In February he made his move.

It was early in the week. She had been surprised to get a phone call that evening from her daughter's old childhood friend. Even more surprising was how nearly an hour into the conversation her call-waiting beeped and she discovered it was this woman's father.

"Um, your dad is on the other line, I've gotta go."

"Oh, he is in so much trouble."

They talked for awhile, and then he asked if she'd join him for dinner. "Friday night," she replied, not feeling quite ready to go out and knowing this would give her days to prepare.

By Wednesday, they both later shared, they were in agony and just ready to get the date over with.

The first date went well. He took her to a nice dinner, they laughed and talked and felt at ease with each other. They ended the night by a respectable 9pm after she'd accepted his invitation to go out the second night.

The second date went even better. To cap it off, he invited her to be his date at a political function he was attending for a local politician.

The third date had her gracing his arm at a high-dollar dinner. She sat with his family. She had a great time. No reports on what time she got home that night.

By the fourth date she was a different person. Walking straighter, laughing lighter, and smiling like I hadn't seen her do in years.

On the fifth date, just one week after that first call, he asked for her hand in marriage.

And she accepted.

The wedding planning has been a blur. Arrangements to be made, guest lists to be written (and rewritten and rewritten and rewritten). Flowers were picked out, rings purchased, and a honeymoon planned.

The biggest transition has been the housing. She is a city-girl. He is a born and bred country boy, living on hundreds and hundreds of acres of his own farmland covered in cotton and almonds and pistachios. She has some adjusting to do. "With him," she says, "I'll gladly do it."

A bit over a week to go, and I have a feeling she is just as giddy and anxious as a 69-year-old bride as I was as a 23-year-old bride. I laugh when he shares that he wishes that they wouldn't have waited as long.

And I couldn't be happier for my Grandma Linda and new Grandpa Fred.

Thirty-six months...

Today marks thirty-six... thirty-six whole months since Popeye and I tied the knot.  For those of you who don't want to do the math, that is three years.  Three years of wedded bliss with the man I am confident I was born to be with.  The man who makes me laugh and cry... sometimes both at the same time.  The man who has been by my side literally in good times in bad, in rich (and poor! haha), in sickness but in many, many times of health.  The man who gave me the most precious gift of my son, and who fills each day with excitement and randomness and giggles galore.  

I love you, Popeye.  For everything you have meant to me, and everything you are to me.  For the way you love me in your own way... and for all that lies ahead in our marriage and our lives.  Thank you for thirty-six wonderful months, and I can't wait to experience many, many more with you!

And to celebrate this fantabulous occasion, I figured I'd list out thirty-six random things that I passionately love about my hot hubby... don't worry, none of them will be too terribly scandalous. :)

1. He takes out the garbage without me begging and without too much complaining.

2. He lets me sleep with the ceiling fan on each night, even though he is always freezing.

3. He encourages me to "live my dreams," like owning a bridal shop or starting an event planning business.

4. He talks about baby names with me... and even better, likes the ones I like.

5. He always eats at least one bite of whatever I have cooked... even if it is disturbingly disgusting looking.

6. He gets up with Swee'Pea at night so that I can sleep.

7. He is always appreciative when I clean the house.

8. He works his tail off to provide for our family now and for our future.

9. He cleans the house, takes care of the yard, does the dishes, and changes diapers without any prompting.

10. He always buys me amazing gifts that are both unexpected and undeserved.

11. He dreams with me about our future and our plans for retirement.

12. He helps me make our house a beautiful home.

13. He loves watching ridiculous amounts of "Seinfeld" just as much as I do.

14. He adores me.  Simply adores me.

15. He tells me I am hot... even when I am so apparently not.

16. He looks at my blog daily, even though he swears he hates blogging and begs me to quit.

17. He took it upon himself to make me the most spectacular herb and vegetable garden ever, giving up several weekends and endless nights rest just to get it done.  

18. He loves office supplies just about as much as I do.

19. He goes car shopping trips with me... and travel trailer shopping... and other kinds of ridiculous shopping that we know will not end in actual purchasing, but is fun none the less...

20. He is gung-ho about us being 100% debt free using Dave Ramsey... even though he does complain a bit about his lack of lunch money.

21. He lets me organize our bills and budget, because he knows how giddy it makes me.

22. He would be content if all I ever cooked for the rest of our lives was spaghetti and tacos.

23. He doesn't complain too terribly often that my favorite outfit in the whole world is old sweat pants and a Harvard sweatshirt.

24. He loves the smell of a bleachy-clean house just as much as I do.

25. He goes to get me Dewar's ice cream and Fresh and Easy yogurt late at night when I'm craving it desperately.

26. He likes to clean and organize the garage on a regular basis.

27. He always puts the toilet seat down, never leaves dirty underwear or clothes on the floor, and (almost) always puts his dishes in the dishwasher.

28. He makes radical videos of every little trip that we go on.

29. He changes the background on the computer screen almost daily to reflect what is going on that day or something funny we had been talking about.

30. He text messages me even though he detests it.

31. He loves coming home to our humble home and our little family each evening more than anything else in the world.

32. He looks smokin' hot in his uniform.

33. He can protect me with his bare hands with his mad cop skills.

34. He loves stupid movies like "Hot Rod" just as much as I do.

35. He has inside jokes with me that may be ridiculously stupid to anyone who hears them, but make me laugh all the same every time we say them.

36. He knew me when I was a total dork with ginormous coke-bottle glasses.  And he loves me just the same.

I love you, my hunky-hunky man-o-love!  I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with your and find a zillion more things to adore about you!!!