8 years of wonderful!

On December 17, Tony and I celebrated 8 years of marriage.  The years have gone by so fast and are filled with so many wonderful memories.  We have such a blessed marriage.  God could not have matched us any more perfectly.  We are total opposites in so many ways and alike in others.  We truly bring out the best in one another.  We have several hobbies we enjoy together, but we also give each other the freedom to enjoy activities alone.  We put the kids to bed every night together, then we go downstairs and snuggle on the couch while we watch one of our shows and sometimes share a dessert or snack.  He is my biggest cheerleader and my biggest supporter.  So many times, I get the "you should go for it" speech when I'm contemplating something new. 

We never argue or fight, which I've come to realize, is a major blessing.  Someone recently asked us, "why do you think that is, that you never argue?" We just tell each other what we think, accept one another's responses, and RESPECT one another's responses if they differ from our own. We never make a big deal out of things.  If we are tight on money, it's not a big deal...we figure it out.  If I want to go for a run and he wants to hunt, we talk together to figure out how to make it work.  Neither of us care about what the grandparents do for the kids, such as experiencing "firsts" with them or what they buy them for Christmas.  And even though his work and extracurricular activities take a lot of time (much of my stuff works around my teacher schedule where he does not have that luxury), we both work hard to balance out our family time, husband/wife time, and our alone time.  He is very aware of my needs when it comes to time together or time by myself and he works so hard to provide for those needs.  His entire referee calendar last year was organized around my running schedule it seemed! 

I was raised by my parents with such a simple mentality....nothing was ever made into a big deal.  If mom's favorite piece of antique china (which she didn't have, but just to make a point!) was accidentally dropped and broken, her response would have been, "well getting upset isn't going to make it go back together, so might as well just accept it and move on.  Just be more careful next time." 

Tony, on the other hand, was raised in an environment where a lot of things WERE made into a big deal.  He told his sister one time several years ago that the most important thing I have taught him since we have been married is that there are few, if any, issues that are really a big deal. 

I've turned my hubby into a good ole' simple country boy in our eight years together.  Almost to the extreme...I've gotta talk him OUT of wanting a million acres in a town of 200 people.  :-)

For our anniversary this year, we went for a nice 5 mile run, then we had brick oven pizza and s'mores at one of our favorite little restaurants.  Nice way to eat back those calories!

12/17/13

12/17/05