Four Years Later.....

July 10, 2010.  Right after saying "I Do."

Our wedding day was July 10, 2010 and Two years later....

We're enjoying our first home together that we moved into just 1 1/2 months before our wedding.
I still feel honored to be his wife and call him my husband.
I am still dazzled by my three ring bling and catch myself staring down at them.  
My heart still swells when I recall our wonderful wedding day filled with friends, family and celebration.  I'll always remember it as one of the happiest days of my life.
I still remember that magical feeling of being a princess Queen for a day.
I know I picked the right wedding recessional song because it still brings tears to my eyes when I hear it and reminds me of how lucky I am to have found him.
I still love my wedding dress and know it was perfect for me.
I still plan on preserving said wedding dress (still hanging in my closet) in a box so it'll take up less space and I can have it to look at it forever.
I'm still wearing my wedding shoes.  Silver gladiator flats from Macy's for only $32 bucks thank you very much!
I'm still obsessed with my wedding pictures.  I love, love, LOVE them!
I've finally accepted the passing of my joyful and exciting bride to be days and no longer ache with a yearning to do it all over again.
I still can't believe that I managed to pull off such an awesome wedding for only $11,275.
We still have not popped open that bottle of Dom Perignon.  I'm still waiting for the perfect time...yes, two years later.  It's expensive stuff!
I still feel so fortunate that I got to have a wedding at all.  It truly was a fairytale moment for me.
I have the best memories of our perfect Oahu honeymoon and am looking forward to our next big vacation later this year.

A wedding gift not yet opened

Vegas 2008

Vegas 2008

We met on March 15, 2008 and Four years later......

He still makes my heart happy.
I'm still excited to see him when I get home.
We're still dating and the romance is alive and well.
He is still the most handsome man in the world.
I still crave his touch, hugs and kisses.
I still look at him with love in my eyes.
He still means the world to me.
I still miss him when we are apart.
I still think of him randomly throughout the day and it makes me smile.
He is still my best friend and we have so much fun together.
He still makes me want to be a better person.
I am still amazed by his overall awesomeness and thrilled that I managed to snag such a good guy.
I finally believe that I deserve this love and that I give to him almost as much as I get back.

Wedding Day Recaps & Pics

40 Years

Me and the rents on my wedding day

I don't know the origins of it but there are designated traditional wedding gifts for every anniversary year from 1-75.  I don't think I'll live long enough to be with my husband for 75 years but if by some miracle I did, then I know that our gift to each other that year is supposed to be diamonds.  Year 3 is leather, year 6 is candy, year 15 is crystal and year 30 is pearls.  According to the list year 40 is a Ruby.  My parents just celebrated their 40th anniversary and a month ago my mom was thisclose to giving my dad a kidney.  Now that is off the charts awesome in terms of a gift right?  An organ from your very own body is way more precious then diamonds.  It is the ultimate gift of life and health.  My mom was a match and right in the middle of the testing process.  It turns out she didn't have to donate but she was willing and ready to do it.  

On October 24th they got the call.  My mom picked up the phone and the lady said, "Does your husband still want a kidney?"  My mom said, "YES."  A donor kidney had finally became available and by 7:00am they were at the hospital and my dad was getting tested and prepped for transplant surgery.  It took longer then we thought it would; about 5 hours.  My dad pulled through with flying colors.  He was in ICU for a day then got moved to his regular room.  Just one week after surgery he got to go home.  The doctors said the kidney was "lazy."  My dad was really disappointed to still have to do dialysis even after the long awaited healthy kidney but we hoped that it would start doing it's job very soon and it did.  On November 9th he was taken off of dialysis.  No more would he have to spent 4 hours a day 3 days a week hooked up to a machine to do what his kidneys no longer would.  He actually has three kidneys now.  Turns out they actually leave the non working ones in and just add the new one. 

Now there are doctors appointments several days a week and a stock pile of pills that need to be taken in addition to his insulin.  My mom took off work and has been right there by his side taking care of him and helping him manage just as she has been through this entire process.  Just as she has been for the last 40 years.  In sickness and in health, through good times and bad.  I can't count how many times I shook my head in anger over things that were going on in that relationship but my mom's love for him has never wavered; and despite actions that may speak to the contrary neither has his for her.  My mom is as forgiving as she is generous and my dad is as loveable as he is stubborn.  When you love someone like that you will do anything to save their life.  You are selfless if a little selfish because not only will you do what it takes to make sure that person is okay but you also can't bear to imagine a world in which they do not exist and want to keep them with you.  My dad feels healthier and more energetic then he has in a long while.  He needs to keep up the exercise and eating right.  This is a new lease on life and he need not waste it.  Not only for himself but for the people who love him.  I don't like to think of my parents getting older.  For my whole life they've just always been there and that's how I want it to stay.   I'd like to think that they will be here forever.  Just as I'd like to think that my husband and my sisters and anybody else I care about will be too.   

Forty years with Mj.  I'm all signed up...I just don't want it to fly by too fast.  The 40 year anniversary traditional gift is Ruby, the modern day gift is a Garnet and if he needed an organ I would give it to him.  What will we look like in 40 years?  What kind of twists and turns will our relationship have taken?  How many date nights, weekend getaways and movie nights will there have been?  How many disagreements?  Life is just so precious.  And so is love.  We are not promised tomorrow so while we are here we need to be thankful for what we have, live and love as hard as we can, while we still can.  

1 Year Wedding Anniversary

Husband and wife

Enjoying the festivities

July 10th, 2010 was one of the happiest days of my life. We booked the date about seven months out and from that moment on everything leading up to and including our wedding day was a whirlwind of fun, excitement and adventure.  We'd fallen in love and eight months after meeting we had to spend eleven months apart while he was out of the country.  He came back and we immediately threw ourselves into house hunting and wedding planning.   Sure, there were stressful times and I had more then a few mini nervous breakdowns along the way but it was all worth it and I loved having this big special day to look forward to.  The only thing I loved more then the planning process was the day itself.  Our reward for all that we had gone through was this magical fun day where we had a blast and got to celebrate our love with family and friends.  Yes, it just so happens to have cost more then any one day ever will but you can't really put a price tag on the joy we got out of it.  I felt more beautiful then I've ever felt in my life.  I was the star of my own fairy tale.  I was a princess being escorted to the ball that would forever change my life by my handsome prince all the while surrounded by people who love us.  There will never ever be another day like that one special day.  The groom forgot his tux, there were a few uninvited guests, our cake was the wrong color and it went by way too fast but I will always remember it as a perfect day that I enjoyed from the moment I woke up until I went to bed that night.  I danced, I ate and drank, I mingled and totally lost myself in the wonder of the day.  I feel so lucky and fortunate that I got to experience that.

It's no surprise that I felt a tremendous sense of loss when it was over.  I gained a handsome wonderful man that I could now call my husband but I lost the whole wedding planning spectacle I had so enjoyed.  We were properly installed in our house and my wedding was now behind me so I didn't know what to do with myself.  I relived that day over and over in blog recap after blog recap, photo sharing, conversations and in my mind.  I just wanted to do it all over again!  Funny as it sounds I really mourned the passing of my wedding day.  I became envious of brides who were still in the planning phase and it actually took a good few months...or four but I finally got over it and moved on.  I've since settled happily into married life, look fondly back at our gorgeous wedding pictures and still well up with happy tears when I hear our recessional song.  It was truly a day that I will never, ever, EVER forget and will live on for all eternity as one of the best and happiest days of my life.

There was plenty of kissing that night!!

Sheer Joy

We had a nice fancy dinner out Saturday night where I got buzzed on wine and we both left with very full satisfied stomachs.  Sunday, on the afternoon of our 1 year wedding anniversary he took off for Australia.  I couldn't take my eyes off of him.  He showered, did his last minute packing and ate all the while my eyes followed him wherever he went.  I'm often guilty of staring at him like some deranged stalker but it's just 'cause I think he's the cutest thing ever and I'm his wife.  It's my right!  He's come and gone many times already this year but this is the 3rd (and last) long trip.  The first time I said, "OK see ya later" but this time around I cried.  I probably won't even be able to talk to him while he's gone.  It's just not the same when he's not here.  Time apart has only strengthened us in the past and reunions are the best so there is always that to look forward to.  In the meantime, I'll just get on with my day to day routine, get out and do something fun with friends to pass the time.  Then when he gets back we can continue on our merry way to celebrating our next anniversary.

Wedding Day Recaps & Pics
Wedding Sticker Shock
Why have a wedding at all?
Wedding advice from a budget bride
Our Honeymoon

2 Amazing Years

Yesterday Mj and I had a wonderful day together. Nothing big. Sleeping in. Lounging around in pajamas for a bit. Catching a matinee [Shutter Island] and running a few errands. Cooking tostadas together and eating dinner and beer in front of the TV while watching a DVD. The sun was shining, the day was relaxed and I was happy. Just happy to be in that moment. Ordinary day or not it was perfect. I'd look at Mj and think to myself "Oh my god, how I love that man." This amazing feeling of love sometimes just overwhelms me. I look at him and I cannot believe that this amazing person is mine to have and to hold. He has gotten used to me just sort of staring at him for no apparent reason with this [hopefully] dreamy look on my face by now.

Like life a relationship is composed of moments. Snapshots in time. Not always perfect or ideal and often times pretty ordinary, but snapshots just the same that create the continuum of what we do and who we are. That moment that I met Mj was life changing for me. I certainly didn't know it at the time but I was meeting the man I always wanted and needed. He completes me. How corny is that? I mean, it is best known as a Jerry McGuire quote but corny or not it is so true. There aren't better words to describe it. I cannot imagine a world in which he does not exist. I don't want to.

Sometimes I get annoyed at him when he leaves his socks on the floor, his clothes hanging haphazardly over the couch or he looses something else. There has to be a laundry list of ways that I probably annoy him with my neat freak tendencies, pessimism, and being so darn picky when it comes to food just to name a few. He is not perfect. I am not perfect. We are not perfect. But that does not matter. We are perfect together and any imperfections he may have are drowned in the love that I feel for him. Sometimes I do not feel worthy, but he loves me despite all of my flaws. There is this level of comfort in the knowledge that simply being me is enough.

2 years ago today we had our first date on a rainy Saturday night. We got set up by my friend. They were both in Arizona for some Military schooling and at a get together and she had the bright idea after meeting him that we should meet up. And meet we did. Fall in love we did. And now I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I was working a promo job that night. I was downtown and when I saw a silver SUV pull up to the designated spot outside the convention center I walked right up to it and got in. I suppose he could've been a psycho or another guy who's calls I would have to dodge but instead he turned out to be my future husband. We ate dinner at Friday's. I was dating just for the hell of it but this one stood out for me because I genuinely laughed like I had not on any other date. It wasn't that ha, ha polite kind of laugh but one from the heart. This one was different.

One date led to another. I could only describe it as a whirlwind of fun, romantic dream dates and getting to know each other better. I would tell myself one day that this guy better not expect me to spend every weekend with him and then the next thing I knew that was all I wanted. I was reluctant to take this journey because of my issues, my fears and because of my past. My sometimes very depressed and often isolated lifestyle was not healthy and often unhappy but to change anything about it would mean to lose control and that terrified me. When it was just me I could and did neglect my own emotional well being but having him in my life meant I could no longer do that. I could no longer wallow in misery. It meant I needed to do better. Not just for me but for him too. Finally, I could no longer ignore what my heart was telling me and I chose happiness. It was really hard for me to let go and let love in but when I did I fell head over heels. We missed out on eleven months of our 2 years together when he was deployed but we quickly picked up where we left off and have made up for lost time. It was a tough time for me but he was well worth the wait.

I am sitting at my desk at work when I hear a man say he is looking for me. He walks back to my desk with a package from Edible Arrangements. I am puzzled and completely surprised. This day never actually became our official anniversary because we became engaged the same year that we met and changed it to that instead for the following year. Inside are chocolate & peanut butter covered apples and a note that says "Do you remember what day today is?...I do." And of course I remember. It was only one of the best days of my life. And I smile because I am lucky and happy. And because I remember all the times it felt like there was nothing worth living for and thanks to Mj I now know without a doubt that there is.

Night Out On The Town VIP Style

Wine Tasting In The City

It's Sunday night and we have just spent a nice evening together watching football and making pizza which rivaled any that I've ever had in a restaurant. I turn around and see him sleeping peacefully on the bed behind me and I can hardly believe that he is here. When he wraps his strong warm arms around me I close my eyes and sigh thinking that it just doesn't get much better then this. This is what I've been missing all of these months. This is what I needed to help put myself back together again. He's been home for exactly one week and I have truly enjoyed each and every day.

Last night the limo came to pick us up at 5 pm on the dot. I knew that it was coming because I have been planning this for quite a while but he didn't realize it until the limo driver called to tell me he had arrived. We climbed into our black chariot for the night and immediately popped open the bottle of wine chilling in the fully stocked limousine bar. Off we went. Where to, only I and the limo driver knew!

First stop was wine tasting in the city at a very quaint and homey Wine and Culinary Arts Center downtown. We each had 3 tastes of wine lined up in front of us along with a meat and cheese platter. We took our time sampling the the various cheeses and wines. My favorite was the white but Mj liked one of the reds. When we were ready to go we called our driver. I like the way that sounds!! And we were off to dinner at another location carefully selected by me. I considered numerous restaurants for our dinner. I checked out menus online. I read reviews-which hardly ever helps because there are always conflicting ones. I had chosen a place downtown but he had just went out there the night before so I wanted us to go somewhere different. A co worker had given me a pack of cards with restaurant coupons and I looked through the stack one more time just hours before we left and decided that one of those looked perfect.


I was immediately pleased when we walked into the cozy restaurant which was a cross between a swanky downtown lounge and a sports bar. We were seated right away at a white leather booth by the window facing about 3 flat screen TV's. Mj immediately found a crab cake appetizer and a seafood pasta dish he liked and it didn't take me long to settle on a cheeseburger and fries-calories be damned. The combination of feeling like a VIP seeing as how I have a driver and all, being deliriously happy to be out with my man, and being more then half way to buzzed apparently went straight to my head. Despite the fact that I can't remember the last time I ordered a burger or fries in a restaurant I knew right away that it's exactly what I needed to really live it up. We both enjoyed our meal but there were doggy bags for both of us on the way out. Oh, and did I mention dessert? Only my favorite chocolate molten lava cake with vanilla ice cream. I'd gone off to the ladies room and came back to find out that Mj knew just what to order. We each grabbed a spoon and dug in. It couldn't have been a more perfect meal. Go me for picking what turned out to be the perfect restaurant.


To cap off the night I had the driver take us to the beach which was about 15 minutes from the restaurant. We held hands as we walked along the sidewalk over looking the water and watched the white waves stand out against the black night as they crashed against the dark shadowy rocks that we could barely make out. The otters on the beach looked more like clumps of seaweed against the sand until Mj pointed out to me one that was moving. Inching it's way slowly across the sand as all of the others slept. I wondered if that one had insomnia! We have been there twice for daytime picnics but it was something different to be there at night.


We made our way back to the limo and enjoyed a mixed drink on the ride back home. Mj is such an amazing guy and he is so good to me. He told me what a great time he had and that I did a great job of planning our night out and that is exactly what I was hoping for. I really wanted to wine and dine him as he has so often done for me. I've been agonizing over money lately, but once we were on our way out that night none of that mattered to me. I was so glad to be there with him and I just wanted us to have a good time. It made me happy that I could do something special for him and for us. We have waited a long time to be together and it's been one year since we decided that we wanted to be together forever. This was a great way to celebrate. Cheers to us....and to more fun times ahead of us.