On Saturday, I told someone that it feels like we're been married for 20 years. She took it wrong....like I meant our marriage had been long and tedious, but that's not what I meant.
I feel like I've known Keith my entire life....like he's always been here holding my hand and snoring while we sleep. We know each other so well that we often are thinking the same thing and finish each other's sentences.
I think the real test of a marriage is how you handle crisis. I can tell you that the events of last week strengthened our already strong bond and we're more in love today than we've ever been before. I know our love will stand the test of time because we are a team and we support each other. Most importantly, we love like it could be our last day.
A last note about this photo. The person on the other side of the camera....was Robert. I wish I knew what he said to get this response from us....as you can see, it was hysterical!
I stood in the upstairs bathroom looking down into my backyard. I was holding a bouquet of flowers filled with red roses and yellow hydrangeas. The smell was more intoxicating than the glass of champange I was holding in my other hand.
My dearest friends and family were all sitting in my backyard facing a green metal arch adorned with more of the flowers that I held in my hand. It was possibly one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
The music started and instead of feeling nervous....I felt so excited!
The sight of Keith and our preacher friend walking down the grass....took my breath away. He looked so cute, but kind of pale. I laughed to myself that he was probably looking for an exit....this 40 year old virgin bachelor was marrying a girl he had met just 10.5 months before.
I might jump the fence.
My song began and I hurried down to the kitchen, exiting the door a few bars too early because I was so excited to get to my spot in the grass. To stand in front of my best friend and end this whirlwind romance and start our lives together.
I was so excited to marry my best friend....and have his babies.
I love you iKeith! You're the best husband I've ever had!
A few months after iKeith and I met and fell in love...we decided to buy a house together. Keith had always put off buying a house because he was waiting to meet someone that he wanted to marry.
The wait was over.
We found our dream house and Keith said he wanted to ask me to marry him but now he didn't have a lot of money left over for a ring. I told him a big ring wasn't important to me and that the house meant more of a commitment to me than anything.
We thought that we were going to live in his house for a very long time and grow old(er) there. Three years later we moved to Utah....I should have gotten a bigger ring.
While we were waiting for closing iKeith decided that we should go to Dallas so he could meet my parents. It was our first road trip together and we did great...no fighting or anything. Although there was an unfortunate Slim Jim incident.
It was early December, my Dad was away on business and got stuck in a snow storm and couldn't make it home so iKeith asked for my hand in marriage over the phone. We were touring the wax museum in Dallas with my Mom when iKeith dropped to one knee in front of Bill Clinton (i have a little crush on him) and asked me to be his wife.
At the end of the museum tour there was a store where you could have your picture taken and put into the bodies of other people.
This is us...engaged!
And a few months later....on a sunny July Day, my Dad gave me away for the last time and we were married in the backyard of our dream home.
As a wedding gift to iKeith I made a list of things that I promised to do as his wife. I came across it this week while I was packing and I'm going to give it to him again today.
I promise to be supportive.
I promise to make you laugh.
I promise to warm you when you're cold.
I promise to learn new things with you.
I promise to buy peanut butter and pickles.
I promise to be your best friend.
I promise to be naughty.
I promise to stand up for you and our marriage.
I promise to be a good mother to our children.
I promise to be dependable.
I promise to appreciate everything you do for our family.
I promise to be optimistic.
I promise to help make our dreams come true.
I promise to care for you when you are sick.
I promise to record Y&R every day.
I promise to honor you.
I promise to accept you as you are.
I promise to love you.
This was our first dance song....and I had Come What May inscribed inside iKeith's wedding ring. Funny how this is the perfect song for us.
Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary and to prove that the honeymoon is over...we will be spending this evening in the Super 8 in Rock Springs Wyoming. There will be no Sexy Time.
We have rented a house with my in-laws on Lake Okauchee in Wisconsin and will be there all week. If that isn't romantic...I don't know what is. And the good news is that the house has internet and I found a bar a short boat ride away with a $10 bottomless glass of wine.
By the way, my sister Bobbi is having a giveaway in honor of her 100 post. Stop by and say hi and enter to win!
I leave you with a post from last year...it is our love story.
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Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous. ~Albert Einstein
We met on eHarmony, in August 2003. Calvin was one of 10 guys that matched my personality profile. We emailed back and forth for a week or so and then we decided to meet at The Village Inn.
After three hours of drinking coffee and non-stop talking. I was smitten.
He called and asked me on a proper date. We met at Bennigans for drinks and the plan was to go to an Indian restaurant, then to a movie. We talked so long that we missed dinner and just headed to the movie. We saw the Kevin Costner blockbuster, Open Range...a romantic/drama/western. I kept wishing he would hold my hand. At the end of the night, he did kiss me goodnight and he asked if he could take me out for my birthday.
I said yes....
He took me to The Melting Pot and we had a great time! I was mesmerized by him and his stories. He looked so handsome and I thought to myself....I could listen to his man talk for the rest of my life. He came to my side of the booth for the dessert course and in between bites of melted chocolate and fruit....we made out like teenagers.
And then....
I didn't hear from him again. Days passed and he didn't call or email me. I became concerned because we had had such great times together and I really thought he liked me. I couldn't imagine that I was wrong.
He conveniently hadn't told me where he lived, so I couldn't stalk him. I finally sent him an email and asked him if he was dead. I had these visions in my head that he was laid up in a hospital bed somewhere and couldn't tell anyone how to contact me, since he didn't own a cell phone so he didn't have my number handy.
He was fine.
He told me that he was trying to decide between ME and two other women. I told him that was fine, figure it out, do what you need to do but I will warn you.....most men fall in love with me. Not to be narcissistic, but it is true. Men love me. I am a catch...that is why I have been caught so many times!
And then I still didn't hear from him and I started to get mad.
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My friend Misty and I were supposed to be going to our company picnic at Elitches. We both had worked that day and would just be going for a couple hours so we decided to bail on the picnic and do something else. We had a wild and crazy idea to go to a little mountain town called Evergreen (30 miles west of Denver). This is home to the world famous biker bar called The Little Bear !
Meanwhile.... back in Lakewood, Calvin was out to dinner, hoping to run into some old friends. Amazingly, he did run into these friends and also met a woman at the bar who was meeting a blind date. He told her that if things didn't work out to come back to talk to him. He was such a ladies man! She came by later and dropped a napkin in his lap....it said, meet me in 10 minutes.
He left with her. She said they were going dancing and she wouldn't tell him where. She started to drive up into the mountains.....
I had been at The Little Bear for about 20 minutes when Calvin walked in the door with his whore 'date'. I was facing the door and through the crowd, we immediately locked eyes. It was like a scene out of a movie! I could not believe that he was there. What was he doing here,...of all places. Misty and I checked out the woman. She was thin, but old looking. We decided I was way hotter than her.
His 'date' went to the bathroom and he came over to me. Trying to be all smooth and flirty. I was brushing him off and Misty was telling him to buzz off. He was putting his hands in my pockets and I accused him of trying to steal my money. Finally, he went away, and I started doing shots of tequila.
But he was back a short time later saying that he couldn't find his harlot 'date'. He said her VW Bug Mercedes Convertible was no longer in the parking lot. She must have seen him pawing me and left him there. Then he had the balls to ask for a ride back to Denver. I told him to take a hike.
Turns out Calvin didn't have much cash on him and used all of his change trying to call his brothers to come get him. With his last 50 cents he placed a call to his ex-girlfriend, who eventually got ahold of his brother and relayed the predicament that Calvin was in.
His brother came....with his parents and their dogs. They even stopped at Taco Bell on the way and made a road trip out of it. Calvin was mortified.
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I called him the next day to see if he made it home okay because I was genuinely concerned for him. We talked about just being friends and we decided to watch the tv show ED together the following Wednesday.....
We both realized that there was no way that we could be friends. Fate had brought us together in Evergreen and he began to fall in love with me....just like I told him he would.
On December 13, 2003....Calvin proposed to me at the House of Wax in Dallas Texas... in front of my Mom and President Clinton. He even asked my Dad for my hand in marriage!
I said yes.....
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On a bright and sunny day in July, four five years ago.....
We joined our lives together for all of eternity. My parents gave me away for the last time in our backyard with our families and a few friends present. It was the perfect wedding for us. We spent our wedding night at The Hotel Teatro in Downtown Denver. That hotel is special to us and it was magical. We ordered room service, almost got stuck in the tub together and passed out too exhausted to consummate our marriage!
The last four five years have been the most amazing of my life. I love this man more than I ever thought I could and I am happier than I have ever been. I have always believed in fate and that things happen for a reason and that true love is the most sensational feeling in the world. And that someday....all of my dreams would come true!
I finally found the man that I belong with and understand what love is really all about. Calvin and I are so good together, we come from similar backgrounds and have the same values and many of the same beliefs. Some of the things he does drive me bat-shit crazy! But he also makes me laugh so hard and I love talking and listening to what he has to say. I feel protected and loved beyond measure.
This is our song.
And then there are these two precious children that are here because fate brought us back to each other and we fell in love....
While the fates permit, live happily; life speeds on with hurried step, and with winged days the wheel of the headlong year is turned." - -- Lucius Annaeus Seneca
