Once Upon A Time...

I thought that I would grow up and marry an independently wealthy, handsome man. A man who would love horses and whales and living in a mountainous area. He would make me breakfast in bed and share my quirk of occasionally indulging in a cathartic cry over a ridiculously dramatic movie. (Like Armaggedon, for example...or the end of Moulin Rouge).

Once Upon a Time, I did marry a handsome man. He is not independently wealthy, nor does he love horses, certainly not whales, but, he does love the Lord. He is more of a beach/lake type of guy. He has never brought me a meal in bed and does not cry over movies...EVER. Over time, he has begun to anticipate the point in a movie at which I am most likely to be crying and he sweetly puts his arm around me or holds my hand. He has even watched Moulin Rouge and That Thing You Do, A Roman Holiday, and One Fine Day.

He loves me!  We began dating in 1997, between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So, eleven years ago, about this time, we were starting to make goo goo eyes at each other.

We dated for two years and then married in November 1999. In fact, in an extreme display of devotion, Larry married me on OPENING DAY OF DEER SEASON. This may not mean anything to some of you or your guys, but this was a big deal to him. (Not to me...but definitely to him).

We lived in an apartment, bought a house near by, sold that house, lived in a pool house far away, rented a HUGE house, lived in a tiny duplex, bought another house, sold that house, came back to the same area and rented a darling house until we bought the home that we live in right now. *** How is that for a run-on*** This house my favorite! (In fact, I think that I am going to borrow an idea from a friend and do a series of blogs with a tour-of-the-house theme!)

We have had four little boys along the way! Joseph arrive first, just two months before our 3rd anniversary. Gideon came when we had been married 4 1/2 years. Jeremiah followed close behind, making his advent five days before our 6th anniversary. We were done! Wait! No, we weren't! And, we thank God for overriding our decision! Caleb came into the picture after we had celebrated 9 years of marriage.

I wouldn't have ever been able to imagine this as my life. I have exceedingly abundantly more than I could ever think of or imagine!

This past weekend, we had our 11th anniversary. It was a non-event...no special dinner, no dressing up and getting out. Larry had the junior high guys on a camp out. I was at a ladies retreat. Jeremiah was overcome by our stomach bug, so I got back just 18 hours after leaving. When Larry got home, we spent the rest of our anniversary evening cleaning the carpet and washing sheets and towels. But, praise God, we were happy doing it together.

Is every day happy? Heck, No! Have there been rough patches? Many! Would we change a thing? I don't think so!

I love you, Larry. You are my pumpkin!