my best friend

i am so lucky to be married to my best friend,
and today, on our anniversary, i wanted to take a few minutes
to express my gratitude and my love for the man who chose me
and who i chose to share my life with.

i am grateful to be sharing my life with my love and my best friend.
.

you and me...everyday

so it's not gonna be easy.
it's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this everyday,
but I want to do that because i want you. i want all of you, forever, everyday.
you and me... everyday.”
- nicholas sparks, the notebook 





ahh, i just love this quote and yes, this movie.
i'm sure i've posted that i adore this movie sometime in the past in the life of this blog.
it's a favorite of many females - it's got gorgeous ryan gosling and a beautiful love
story. even though i've seen it a few times, i still get goosebumps.





when i watch this movie, i think of both young and older love,
my parents marriage and of course, mine, and all those newlyweds out there.
i think love at any age is exciting, but i think it's more hopeful when we are young.


young love is eager, adaptable, honest and so full of promise. 
it's quite beautiful and why i gush {like so many others} at weddings.
i've been asked a few times over my married life if I'd marry young
again and my answer is always the same, YES. 


sure it hasn't always been easy, and we had to live in college apartments for
years, but that was all part of the fun...saving up together and working to
save for a condo and then later a house. 


gush at when i think about marrying young, i have never regretted it.
would i want my boys to marry at 21. no, I'd prefer they wait until after col

  

our journey

this past sunday c and i had an anniversary - 22 years!
when i've been still, i've been reflecting on our  journey together -
on all the things we've done together before children
and what our life is like now as parents to two sweet boys.

our journey over the years has taken us to so many places,
and the ride hasn't always been smooth, but it's been an adventure
and one i wouldn't trade for anything. i love the life we've created together.

ok, enough sappy stuff.

so how did we spend our anniversary day?
we spent the day scraping popcorn from ceilings and demo-ing various
things in the new {old} home.  it was all very romantic.

we decided to celebrate this past tuesday night.
we got a sitter and had a nice dinner at jai.
from there, we walked to the ljpl and saw a musical.
it was called yoshimi battles the pink robots - and was a collaboration
between the director and the lead singer from the band, the flaming lips.
the entire musical is music from the same titled album.

it was wonderful!!  i haven't seen anything quite like that show.
the lighting and set design had me eyes bugging out of my head,
and the music was pretty cool too. i'm now a fan of the flaming lips.
{two ladies in my bookclub will be happy to hear it - they are HUGE fans}.

~ tonight jen and finn went to see it.  they got a sweet deal and a free ticket
{using a gift card}.  i was SO excited for them to see it,
and look forward to hearing their feedback.  jen discovered the flaming lips
during her college days and should enjoy the music.  finn will enjoy the uber
cool ROBOTS in it.  that kid still has robot fever... it hasn't faded since his 5th bday.

20 years today

love does not consist in gazing at each other,
but in looking outward together in the same direction.
~ antoine de saint-exupery

today c and i are celebrating a very special occasion...
our 20th year wedding anniversary!

how can that be when we are still so young you ask? *grin*
well back on november 11, 1991,
two young kids met, fell madly in love
and decided to share the rest of their lives together.
the rest is history.

i could write a hundred wonderful things about why i love christopher,
and why i still get butterflies in my stomach when i'm holding his hand,
but the quote above i think sums up what love is really about,
and how we were able to make it to this milestone.

simply said, we are partners, moving ahead together in the same direction.
with this in the back of our minds, we've been able to weather some storms,
and hopefully will be able to weather the ones yet to come.

i look forward to at least another 20 years with this man by my side.
love love love him!!

me and my baby
{bubba-loo photography)

~ auntie jen is watching the boys overnight tonight while c and i
sneak off for a romantic dinner and evening all to ourselves.
i'm excited {and very grateful}

when all is said and done

today christopher and i are celebrating our anniversary - 18 years!

i know i know, how can that be possible?
i certainly can't believe it.
we were just youngin's when we tied the knot -
 young, carefree, spontaneous, adventurous and madly in love.

we first met on the sands of new smyrna beach, fl through mutual friends.

we were both attached at the time, but we did leave an impression on each other.
but months later we met up again and this time we were unattached.

the rest is history.

the picture i posted today seemed fitting as we spent many lazy days
together on the beaches of florida and later here in california.
with little ones, our beach outings are no longer lazy days but we still enjoy them.

i am grateful and so blessed to have c in my life,

to have this wonderful man to walk through this world with.
he is my rock, a person i respect and look up to, and my friend.

when all is said and done, i am a better person knowing him.

this song is one i love and when i hear it, i think of us and smile.

happy anniversary christopher.

hand in hand

love at first sight is easy to understand;
it’s when two people have been looking at each
other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle.
- amy bloom




today is my parent's 48th anniversary.

yes - they are almost to their 'golden' (50th) anniversary.
i type with a smile on my face as this is truly something to celebrate.

finding couples who make it that far in a marriage is rare anymore.
most statistics show that about 50% of marriages in america will end in divorce.
it's a sobering statistic and makes me sad.

when i see those rare couples who have been married for many years,
it makes me happy and hopeful.
my parents are one of these couples.

i'm not so naive to know that every marriage has it's difficulties,
and i know my parent's have certainly had their share of tough times - sicknesses,
a job loss, a career change, retirement, and raising 7 kids was no small feat either.
mom has said that raising teenagers was one of the toughest challenges in their marriage.
i believe this and apologized.

fortunately, those days are long gone and they are enjoying being grandparents which is certainly
just as much fun and maybe even more. no my parents marriage isn't perfect, but they have made
a beautiful life together and have mastered the art of companionship.

some of the things i've noticed they do well - not sweating the small stuff, they forgive,
show tolerance, keep a sense of humor, support each other yet still give each other their space.
these are things they've worked on over the years and have got nailed down well.

my mom and dad's marriage is my real life example of what a good marriage is and should be.
i've been lucky that way.

happy anniversary mom and dad.
thanks for showing us how it's done! *wink*