Where do the years go?

Married Nov 6, 1992 in Chicago, IL

Spouse: someone who'll stand by you through all the trouble you wouldn't have had if you'd stayed single. Anonymous

We were so young and in love. This is my favorite photo from our wedding, probably because it's the only one we got. It's actually not even from our wedding either. We were so young and poor and what did we know back then? My mom asked someone she thought was a photographer to take pictures for us and then they couldn't, so she found someone else last minute who did a really lousy job. Seriously, they were horrible! My mom and father in law attempted to get a few, but none were all that great. So a couple days after the reception we got back in our clothes and went to Olan Mills, of all places. I think my mother in law had a coupon. Anyhow, this is what we got. Sad, I know. Maybe the fact that I have so few from my childhood or wedding has put me into crazed over drive lately. I keep trying to convince my children that one day they'll thank me, but with my luck they'll probably just be traumatized and need massive therapy. If I could do one thing over I'd definitely go into debt to get a photographer. One day you will never get back and it should be recorded, big hair and all! Thanks Olan Mills for this one sweet photo.

So, I've been trying to figure out what to get hubs for our anniversary. Someone on Facebook gave me a great suggestion, which actually proved to be quite challenging- and a very good reason to keep a great journal!

17 memories for 17 years

1. We moved to Orlando, FL together after our wedding so hubs could continue his Nuclear Navy career. We had no furniture and all we could afford was a waterbed. We attempted to assemble it together without any power tools and got into our first fight. ('92-'93)

2. Hub's Chevelle Malibu's engine blew up in the middle of nowhere while moving to WA. ('93-'94)

3. Bought our 1st house together, all 880 sq ft, in Bremerton, WA- miscarried our first child there, sent hubs on 2+ yrs worth of deployments, and got a dog, Sisco. ('94-'95)

4. I was alone a lot! I worked full time at the pharmacy, went to school, had several church commitments, and held down the fort in Hub's absense. Used all of those family grams and constantly had a count down going to the time of his return. I also totally screwed up our SC taxes. ('95-'96)

5. Hubs wrecked the Mazda RX7 on his way to bring me lunch at work, then my Hyundai Elantra wouldn't start to drive him to the hospital. (Turned out the timing belt snapped and seized the engine.) Spent thousands of dollars to repair the exterior of the Mazda only to have the transmission go out. We bought a Nissan Wagon and 2 hrs later it caught fire. ('96-'97)

6. Hubs took job at Duane Arnold Energy Center in Palo, IA. We drove all 40 hours in U-haul while I was pregnant and I still can't eat crab meat to this day because of the smell of the imitation crab he brought with him. Arrived at the new apartment to pot smoking, party crazed kids next door. We had to hire an attorney to get out of our lease. ('97-'98)

7. Little Man was born Aug 1999 after 24+ hours of labor, seizure, and code blue. After one week in NICU he got to come home with us. ('98-'99)

8. We enjoyed the ups and downs of Little Man together: colic, lot's of amazing milestones, RSV, and falling out of shopping cart on his head at Menards. He changed our lives completely. ('99-'00)

9. Pokey came into our lives Aug 2001. Her and I both cried for 4 months until we could get her to take a bottle. (Indicative of her stubborn personality- she was stubborn even at birth!) ('00-'01)

10. Hubs brought home 10 dozen roses (for 10 years) to a puking wife; 3 months later we went to Mexico to celebrate. ('01-'02)

11. Little Man had to have surgery at age 3. I was a mess! Hubs was poised and calm and kept it together for the both of us. ('02-'03)

12. Moved to a new house and just a couple weeks later... Little Man and Pokey escaped while I was showering and went to a neighbor's. The neighbor guy brought them home and stood in the kitchen near the back entry until I had figured out what had happened and came out in my bra to carry Pokey to her room for a time out. Very embarrassing! ('03-'04)

13. Hubs bought me a new diamond ring for our anniversary. Love the cut! He also got me a new, beautiful piano for an early Mother's Day present. ('04-'05)

14. Little Man started kindergarten. It was a hard decision for us because he was so young, but we finally decided even though he was immature behaviorally he could really benefit from having more intellectually. He became a regular with the principal that year, but the principal and teacher both worked well with him and he made gradual improvements all year. ('05-'06)

15. We went as a family to the commemorative pioneer fireside in Iowa City to see President Hinckley. ('06-'07)

16. Hubs and Little Man went to Boundary Waters for 10 days. While they were gone sewage backed up in my basement. Hubs was unreachable by phone. ('07-'08)

17. Had an amazing "Search for Sun" Adventure as a family after the long SRO program was finally completed. ('08-'09)

Thanks for standing beside me thru both the marvelous and the muck for 17 years and for helping me be a better person. I love you.