13 years

I don’t really do much by way of “I have such an awesome husband” or “my marriage rocks” type of posts. For one, Joe never reads my blog. Two, it just seems too oddly personal for me throw a bunch of stuff out there about us and our relationship. And really, I wonder, does anyone care? I mean, by nature I’m a pretty humble person, so rattling on about how awesome things are just seems weird. Plus I would probably feel compelled to post when it sucks too because I’m just honest that way, and who wants to read that? Let’s just say this is way out of my comfort zone.

However…13 years ago on 6/27 we got married. I do believe there’s some truth to being older and wiser. I’ve learned a lot about myself and my marriage these last 13 years (more in the last 5 than the first 8). I wouldn’t trade what I’ve got for anything. There are times I look back and cringe. We are both strong willed, I wear my emotions on my sleeve and I have spent a lot of time wanting to always be right (need I say more?). What I've learned though is recognizing your faults is more than half the battle. Then working on you and taking ownership of your emotions and feelings and recognizing that nobody can "make you feel" a certain way is the rest of the battle.

Even though it’s against my nature, I feel a little compelled to proclaim our success. We have worked super hard at our marriage. Now that we’re putting in the effort though, reaping the rewards is the best thing. Today I’m really happy. Not everyday is perfect, but I know I'm truly a better me, and I feel more secure and at peace with myself and my relationship with my husband than I ever have. I feel blessed to have such wonderful kids and family and awesome friends.

So, happy anniversary to my husband that will probably never read this, and if he does, he’ll think I’m a huge dork for posting it. I am lucky and love him so much because he encourages me, makes me laugh, builds me cool stuff, never thinks anything is impossible, dreams big, is an awesome dad, kicks my ass when I need it, takes care of me when I need it, thinks of others before himself…because he’s just genuinely a good person. And for that, and about 1000 other reasons, I am thankful.

progress

Last July I posted the beginning of our remodel project as a 'one of many' post. HAHAHAHA Doing a project of this magnitude has put a whole new perspective on blogging for me. Clearly if I'm blogging, I have way too much time on my hands. I did take some pictures on my phone however, and I have about 2 extra minutes to post them. The photo quality is not great, but you get the idea. We are not done, but we're making progress.

Yes, I do now have 4 bathrooms to attempt to keep clean. Pure craziness since I never kept the first two clean.

Mud room lockers...my dream come true!

View of foyer from upstairs (sure I really call it a foyer, why not?!)


TA DA! This is truly where all our heart, soul, sweat and tears went. Agonizing over the layout of the kitchen, finding the 'right' cabinet maker, deciding on the wood, the color, the hardware, researching appliances and sinks and don't get me started on the counter tops (yes, they are concrete, yes Joe poured them himself, yes I spent hours sealing, waxing and buffing them and yes, they are gorgeous)

If things ever slow down I'll get back to blogging and post some better pictures of the completed project. But this is all I've got for now.

family picture accomplished

I have a lot of pictures. Mostly pictures without me in them. Something Gina said on her website got me to finally quit making excuses and get our family picture taken: "I believe that moms are not in pictures enough and that babies grow up way too fast. " My kids are 9 & 7. Before long they will quit changing so dramatically from year to year, and they will roll their eyes rather than laugh a lot during a photo shoot. We finally found a sort of warm May day where we could carve out a couple hours in our busy schedules to just be together. To laugh at and enjoy each other while Gina snapped away. We had so much fun, and I'm even a little inspired to get my camera out again. Thank you Gina, I'm so happy with the results!