2,557 Days

Two thousand five-hundred and fifty-seven days ago I met a tall, dark and handsome man at a single event hosted by a local radio station in one of the scariest malls in Houston.  He was cute and smart and funny, and i couldn’t believe he was interested in me- even if it took him a few days to email me back.  We went on our first official date, to Mi Luna tapas bar in Rice Village, a week later.  He’d been secretly doing a little reconnaissance on me and I was certain that I was smitten with the next guy to break my heart.  But the dates continued- the Galveston for Mardi Gras, the Houston Rodeo Cook-off and so many more dinners filled with long conversations.  The photo above is our first together photos from about two months after we started dating in 2004 when Stephanie came to town.  He told me he was moving to Miami to go to law school & so I tried not to get too involved or care too much, but I failed miserably.

We spent the spring & summer falling in love, and even took our first trip together to Lake Tahoe.  Then the summer ended & I pretty much told him “Nice knowing ya!”.  I’d been involved in long-distance relationships for more years that my little heart could take any more, and I wanted no more of it.  I especially didn’t want to be in love with a guy who was spending the next three years living in Miami.   But somehow, I just couldn’t stop myself as easily as I thought I could ignore him.  I kept calling, I kept sending email, I started planning all these trips out to see him & before you knew it, we were still dating.  Luckily, right around our 1 year dating anniversary, I was able to spend a week in Miami for work training & we were able to hang out and do some tourist things in South Florida.

As life played out, H came home for the summer of 2005 & ended up not returning to law school.  Although that was a very though decision for him, I was more than thrilled that my love was back in town with me.  He bounced around a while, but finally found a job that has grown into something more amazing that he could have imagined in his wildest dreams.   The above photo is the night we wen out for dinner on our second dating anniversary & I was somehow convinced he was going to propose t me (silly girl!).  Either way, we got to talking & he didn’t seem too opposed to the idea of getting married.  I clearly took that as the green light to start planning a wedding!

We didn’t do the traditional proposal thing, and I got a million questions about an engagement ring when I started telling everybody that we were getting married in Mexico & to save the date in February of 2007.   The next year was filled with incessant planning, dozens of craft projects, wedding preparations, more travels together, bridal showers, dress fittings, pre-marital counseling at the church, a formal ring & proposal in the fall which all culminated in spending the most perfect weekend with 30 of our friends & family in Puerto Vallarta as they watched us exchange our vows 4 years ago today.

The first year of marriage was incredibly awesome.  We’d started living together about 8 months before we were married, so there wasn’t that transition.  H quickly found some hobbies for me (photography + blogging) to keep me occupied now that I wasn’t planning a wedding.  We started working around the house to spruce it up, still enjoyed our dinners out & dates around town on the weekend, and kept traveling.  For our first anniversary, we knew we wanted to travel  more & decided to visit Brazil & Argentina.  On our actual first anniversary glimpsing the awesomeness that is Iguazu Falls & even received a celebratory cake at the flamenco show dinner.

Our second year of marriage was full of more work (business for H & my professional license and papers for me), more travels to Detroit & Florida and more joy as we worked our way through our 1,001 thing we wanted to do in our marriage in 2008.  Since we were doing our big trip to South Africa in May, we decided on a mini-getaway to Cozumel for our 2nd anniversary in February, where we did our first dive together & explore the beautiful island in 2009.

The biggest change in our 3rd year of marriage was the addition of Ms. Mia to our family.  Our travel addiction continued as we explored cities near and far in 2009.  We really discovered our love for wine, as we could sit and talk for hour over a bottle & just take a break for the hecticness of our lives to connect over vino.  H’s business continued to grow at an unbelievable pace & we started to dream even bigger dreams each year.

Our forth year of marriage has by far been the most challenging as I sit here reflecting in Belize to celebrate 4 unbelievable years.  Returning from our 3rd anniversary trip, we quickly closed on our new home & started the stressful project of moving & getting settled into our new place with all the work we wanted to do.  The newness has worn off & life has gotten real, but our love has grown deeper and more tested, and for that I am thankful.  I’m still madly in love with my husband, but there are more real days & we are to that place where people tell you “marriage is work,” but it’s a work that we are both heavily invested in for our future.  I realize it’s totally normal & I am just thankful that marriage was so easy for 3 years.  We’re both still growing up, managing our work-personal life balance, looking to figure out where our path in life will take our family in the future.  (I don’t have any trip pictures uploaded yet, but I’ll come back and put an anniversary picture here when I get them- for  now a photo of us from last weekend).

Seven years ago, I met an adorably smart guy who turned into the  love of my life that I married on February 11, 2007 .  But over the past 2, 557 days, H has become my best friend, my confidant, my travel buddy, my sunshine in every day, my family man, my everything.  I can’t imagine life without him or that anybody could ever be a better man for me.  I love being his wife & hope that we will have many more thousands of days together filled with love, laughter, adventure and joy.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY:  We’re going to swim with the stingrays & sharks today.