12 years.

12 years. Yep. We've managed to do a lot in 12 years, that is for sure. I think it's pretty safe to say that if a marriage can survive 8 moves, we are doing pretty well. I'm also not naive that marriages in today's society don't last too long. The divorce rate is higher than the marriage success rate. Scary. We don't by any means have the "perfect" marriage, and who really does? We have what I lovingly call a "seasoned" marriage. Every year we add a little more of some seasonings and add a little less of others. We are on our way to trying to create the recipe that works for us. Some things we add and right away know we shouldn't have, others we add and know we need to keep adding more. Our marriage is a work in progress. When I think back to 12 years ago, it's hard to believe we were those 2 people. A little naive about marriage....let's be honest. But we are definately hitting our stride and know each other pretty well. A little too well. :)

I'm thankful for this man. Thankful for the parents that raised him and gave him a solid foundation that we are now doing our best to lay for our children, thankful he is an amazing father to our children, thankful he works so hard to support this family so that I can stay home with the kids, thankful he still finds humor in all my car "issues" (although by year 20 the humor may be all dried up), thankful he takes his time getting out of the house some mornings so I can get a quick run in before he goes, and most of all I am thankful that God brought him into my life 14 years ago. Thankful he knew I needed someone like my husband to help fill some of the voids in my life. Thankful that along with my husband came the pretty amazing little family that he spent the first half of his life with.

Although today we had a sitter lined-up, reservations at a super cute little restaurant, and an new outfit ready to go......we now have tropical storm Lee, flash flood warnings, tornado warnings, and probably a power outage in our near future. We will most likely be eating pizza by candle light with our 3 little chicklets, playing Connect Four, and thinking about which seasonings we need to add for next year. Wouldn't have it any other way. Expensive dinners are overrated anyway.......love you schnooky!!