I'm errant in posting this....but I wanted to shout from the rooftops how much I love my hubby!!! Yesterday was our 10 year anniversary! Did we do anything special? Um, no. Well, we went out to a chinese buffet w/our good friends, Sam and Maria and their kids. I don't even have a picture from the day! Oh well...but - I thought I should post a top 10 about being married so long...
1) It's unbelievable that I could spend so much time w/someone and not get sick of him. I mean that in a nice way of course...Dave and I are really blessed as to how much time we get to be together. When we were dating we had a bunch of college classes together and that continued after we were married and finished up schooling. Being teachers, we get to spend every night and weekend together and I'm sure you know about our summers! There's no extra shifts, except maybe conferences or something, but it's not like we have to work every 3rd weekend or whatever...Dave still knows how to make me laugh and he still knows how to turn me to mush. I could talk to him for hours. I do. Even after all the hours, he still listens.
2) Dave is the kind of guy that always asks people how they met. I get to hear so many stories and see so many people grin from ear to ear when they talk about the person they love, even though I am too shy or just plain didn't think of it. So many people have really cool stories of how they got together and fell in love. God is so good to us, and to others, in the way he finds us helpmates, best friends and in-sickness-and-in-health people!
3) Sharing adventures is amazing. I know a lot of people enjoy time to themselves and stuff, but nothing beats taking risks and leaps of faith w/the man of your dreams. Some of my favorite adventures were our month long honeymoon, the drive through the AZ desert w/no AC, the sub-zero crane camping weekend, buying a house, the kitchen remodel, having a baby, and becoming foster parents!
4) I don't why, but sometimes Dave is my fashion consultant. I am unfortunately quite obsessive about not repeating what I wore to things like church or functions w/friends w/in at least the last month and Dave is good at helping me decide if a new outfit is ok. Like today. I wanted to wear something different to church and what I put together he nixed. He said it looked like underwear! That's not good...so needless to say I cruised through the closet and found something more acceptable and not recently worn for church. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this is a need I have that Dave fulfills, among thousands of others. There's a reason God put us together and that might be a trivial one, but it seems important to me! I asked Dave and he said he has a need for companionship that I fulfill. Oh great, now my story sounds dumb! Whatever...um, yeah, ditto, what he said...
5) Dave knows a lot about me, even my flaws, faults and past mistakes. He loves me still. That's a love that is only 2nd to that of Jesus. I don't know how people survive the 'junk' of relationships if they don't have God at the center. I pray that all the people getting married this summer ('wedding season') will know such a love and commit to God before their spouse.
6) Another really awesome thing about being married for 10 years is that you can hold each other. Dave held me when my Grandma passed away and I held him when his Dad passed away. We hold each other a lot when we deal w/some of the stuff we've encountered as foster parents. We love holding our kids and we love group hugs!
7) Even though we've been married 10 years, we still have a lot to learn about each other! We're not bored and we don't have it down to an exact science (we'd be rich if we did!). Learning new stuff about Dave is fun! I like hearing stories from B.B.G. (Before Beautiful Girl) b/c it helps me learn about who he is now. (Side note, if you have a story you think I haven't heard about my hunk, please feel free to leave a comment or write me an email...=)!)
8) Being with the same person for 10 years is kind of inspiring. I feel like God is always developing our roles within the boundaries of our marriage. I see Dave working on becoming a better husband and I want to be a better wife. The love, respect and loyalty I receive makes me want to give that and more! On a less serious note, I think I inspire Dave to be more eco-conscious and eat healthier. He inspires me to pay attention to politics. (I try. I really do!)
9) After 10 years of knowing each other, there's a certain sense of tele-kinesis. I think that's the right word...we can read each other's minds, in a way! If I'm not there, Dave still knows how I would feel about certain stuff. He knows I don't want the kids eating a bunch of junk food or he knows that I don't like going to functions w/a gaggle of women. (He's been pretty good at turning down invitations outright so I don't have to squirm and explain...!) I know that if Dave's not there I should always accept free food. I know he likes going to sporing events so if anyone has tickets, I should get the info and money ready b/c he will 9 times out of 10 say yes. He is not fond of conflict, so if there's a problem w/a product we bought or a service done poorly, I am the one to make the call demanding our money back w/o even bothering to ask if he will. I know what he wants to say, but is too nice to say.
10) The best part about being married for 10 years is knowing there is an infinite number of years we will be together. Only death can separate us, but that's just temporary! When people say that they have the rest of their lives together, mostly they mean the rest of their life here on Earth. I know Dave and I have that and more - we have the rest of our lives in heaven, too! I am thankful every day for the security of my relationship w/Dave!
Well, that's a rather rambling list. I realize now that when I said top ten, maybe some of you were thinking of a top ten of events or something other than what I wrote....I'm sorry! It wasn't meant to be quite like it turned out, but as you know, I tend to write like I talk. I love Dave and sometimes I can't believe it's been 10 years already! Here's to many more!
...vacuuming and talking on the cordless phone! This cracked me up b/c I never vacuum and as a teacher, I could hear myself thinking that this kid's mom must spend all day on the phone! Which I don't, by the way, but it just goes to show that kids model things for no apparent reason. Mo promptly told me that it was Al (guy from our church who used to lead worship) and I should talk to him. I talked to Al for a bit and I left. When I returned, he was holding his paper kiss. I flung my arms around him and we prayed and talked. He was ready to leave, which didn't seem like a good sign...but the teacher said he didn't cry. She said he almost did and she was getting a little worried, but he didn't. She told me that when the kids needed to get paint on their hands to make prints for a project, it was funny b/c the two boys didn't want to get dirty! LOL - picky kid. Just like me...Mo only goes to the program 2 days a week, but by the end of the week he was asking to go every day! Such an improvement since last fall...here's hoping this fall will be just as successful!
