Half

With the help of a date calculator, I found that at this point in my life, I have known my husband half of the days I have breathed.  Every day after this is more--we will have spent most of my days together.  Admittedly it took a few more days to become 'us.'  But 6,885 days ago, I met the man to share my dreams, father my children, and love me.

Here's to another 6,885 days!

 Engaged (1998)

 Wedding (1999)

 My graduation from college (2001)

 friend's wedding (2002)

 Baby Katie (2005)

 Little Gabby (2008)

 Welcome home Nate (2009)

(Feb. 2010)

(July 2010)

4th of July (2011)

 Baby Ellie (2013)

Vacation (2015)

(2016)

Kristy

15

 5479 dinners--almost everyone of them together (our first Thanksgiving)

 

48 (immediate) family birthday celebrations

 dozens of road trips 

15 years ago we said, "I do."

 

14 trips back and forth to Kansas (our last night in Kansas)

 

13 home improvement projects (the bathroom in our first house...mid demo.)

12 weddings attended

 

11 years of yard work

 

10 car seats/booster seats (!)

 

9 jobs

8 cities

 

7 hospital visits (4 babies, 1 set of stitches, and twice for Kate's arm)

 6 leases

 

5 vehicle purchases (van not in motion--I promise!)

4 children, 4 states

3 degrees, 3 home purchases

 

2 hearts

1 family

Thanks for being my best friend and partner on this crazy ride.  I love you!

Happy Anniversary!

Thirteen Years

Happy anniversary to my husband of THIRTEEN years!

The girlies have gymnastics tonight and the babysitter we've used a grand total of once since we moved to Tennessee (almost 2 years ago!) is out of state for the summer, so we will just have dinner at home once the littles are in bed.  I did manage to snag a Groupon for $5 for a restaurant in my home town so we can get dinner the next time we're there, while the kiddos hang out with their grandparents.

Wild and crazy, we are not, but we are blessed!

Twelve Days

I read a post over at Passionate Home Making that I was really drawn to. I love presents and giving them. Justin and I are on a fairly tight budget so that I can stay home, so there aren't a lot of frivolous purchases made. I saw the 12 days of Christmas idea and really thought it would be impractical, but then I started thinking about how to pull it off. After all, there are things I buy anyway that fit some of those, and some inexpensive extras that could stand in for some of the others.

Unlike the original Twelve Days, I am not repeating so we won't have 12 partridges, or 40 golden rings, or the like. And I'm also sure my sister is laughing because I can not stand the song, but it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up!

I haven't finished this little activity yet, so here's what I done so far...let me know if you plan to do this for someone in your life too. Justin isn't usually all that interested in gifts, but he has gotten excited to see what I have waiting for him each afternoon, so it has been a lot of fun for us both. Some of the things are very practical every day things or even things I have coupons for, but it makes sure he knows he was thought of, and that's the point, after all.

1 Sugar Free Coffee Creamer,

2 Bags of Popcorn,

3 Cans of Low Sodium Soup,

4 Razor Refills,

5 T-shirts,

And 6 Diet Root Beers (in the glass bottles)

* It can be hard to find items sold in groups of 7, 9, and 11, so you might want to save some homemade or creative ideas for those days!

A Dozen

Happy Dozenth Anniversary to my wonderful husband!

I'm thankful for you and I love you so much.

P.S. And thank you for the flowers!

Happy Anniversary

We spent our anniversary packing up a bunch of boxes this morning, this is just a portion of them. Justin did get me an anniversary card.

Take a good look at it and then go here.

Yep, the same card three years running. At least this time he knew it. It did make me laugh.

We had Kate take some pictures of us before we all went out to dinner. A lovely friend offered to watch the kiddos, but we decided to take them with us. We ate at a Chinese buffet that we used to visit on occasion, but we haven't been there since Justin was diagnosed as a diabetic. It's kind of hard to guess carbs there, but we decided to try it. We knew the girls would eat there and it's not too pricey.

Ever After...

Happy Eleven-teenth Anniversary (as Gabby would say)!

What a year we've had--a new baby, diabetes, a new job, and packing to move!

From this:


To this:


I am thankful for another year with you as my husband and father of our children.