14 years baby!

Jarrett,

So here it is the eve of our anniversary, 14 years can you believe it?  How can we be married for 14 years?  The time is flying by.  And that’s not even counting all those years we dated.  Lord all mighty, now THAT’S a long time!

I know we promised each other we weren’t going to do anything even down to not getting each other a card but I thought writing a blog post really isn’t much right? 

I just wanted to take few minutes to say thanks for being the best partner one could ask for.  Thanks for always being there, for all the hard work you put in for our family, for putting out the trash, taking care of the dog at night, paying the bills, taking care of the cars, for pulling back in the trash and for the million other things you do which I never say thanks for.  Can you tell I really appreciate you taking care of the trash? J

As crazy as our life is, and our life is definitely that, I can’t imaging sharing this chaos with anyone else.  I was just thinking back the other day to one of the first dances we went to together in high school and how we were just babies (BABIES I TELL YOU!) and now here we are flying through our 30’s on our way to the top of the big 40 hill.  How can we slow down that train?  That’s another post for another day.

When I lay down my head at night and pray for a night with as minimal amount of interruptions as possible, I say my prayers and give thanks that the person lying beside me (well actually besides Madelyn since she sleeps in the middle of us) is you. I think it’s funny that each morning we get up and compare stories about who got less sleep, between the dog wanting to eat at midnight and then pee at 3 am or Isabelle coming to visit us at 2 to ask if she can sleep with us too, or Madelyn and her unpredictable routine of “party at night- sleep during the day” and Michael’s sleepwalking.  It’s just one of the many bonds and connections we get to share together in this life we’ve created.

When you were 16 and crushing on a girl with curly (mostly frizzy) hair who wore sweatpants every day, did you think fast forward 20 years that you’d be married to that girl, a dad to 5 kiddos, a divo dog, a business owner and have more responsibilities than you can count?

I always envisioned us together but I never thought it would be like it is.  In the last 14 years (well actually 21 years together if you consider how long we dated) we’ve weathered some pretty hard times.  Some moments that I didn’t know how we’d ever get through, now looking back I see I couldn’t have gotten through them without you.  You have been a rock for me through every valley and a source of strength as we climb every hill.

I used to wonder how my grandma and grandpa could finish each other’s sentences and correctly respond to each other’s questions that were never vocalized, and now we do the same for each other.  I love that after all this time our minds seem to switch topics and land on the same one without even as a hint to what the other is thinking.  I hope we never stop being surprised when that happens because you know what, I think it’s a part of this special thing we’ve got going on. 

As hard as the hard times have been to face, I look back now and realize it was in those times that we grew the most, not only as individuals but in our relationship too.  I don’t know if I would have survived losing Noah if it wasn’t for you by my side, making me walk forward each day and carrying me on the days when I just couldn’t put my one foot in front of the other.  Thank you for saving me.

Thank you for showing me the beauty and blessings that are still abundant in life, even after such heartbreaking loss.  I smile each day now knowing that our life is so wonderful because of the four actively wild and crazy (healthy) kiddos we get to parent here in this life, now.

Thank you for building this life together with me.  Thank you for being willing to journey on a path of unknown for riding alongside of me with my crazy and adamant ways.  Thanks for saying yes when I know you want to say no.  Thank you for always calming my fears, my silly worries and for telling me it’s all going to be alright, even when you’re unsure yourself.

The past 14 years have truly been a journey.  A journey we promised to take together, through good times and bad, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer…. we’ve experienced them all.  And boy haven’t they been great?  You’re still my best friend I married 14 years ago and I’m even more in love with you today than back then. 

Thanks for being my everything and giving me everything I wanted out of life.  You made me a wife, partnered with me to become a mother, supported my personal goals and  continue to stand by me through it all.  I love you Jarrett and wish you a very special anniversary.  Our wedding 14 years ago was sure a lot of fun and while tonight we won’t be doing anything like the dancing and celebration we did back then, I’ll still enjoy sitting around the full table with you and our four kiddos who will no doubt be trying to talk at the same time and fighting when they’re not talking.  Let’s promise to just sit back and take it all in for a moment.  For we’ve come a long way baby to get to this point and as busy and hectic and overwhelming as it sometimes is, I wouldn’t trade it for a second.

Love you always

Happy Anniversary,

-Your-middle-aged, still frizzy hair-sweatpants-wearing-wife

Angie