Wednesday June 5th was our 9th wedding anniversary. I can't believe that we are approaching being married for a decade. And everything we've been through, and all the changes we have made, it just puts a smile on my face. I thought I would read some of the notes that Parker and I wrote to each other while we were dating, and maybe add a few quotes onto this blog post. Bah. Maybe another year. They are JUST SO SAPPY. It's embarrassing for Parker.....and for me sometimes. They're cute, but I'd have to read through almost all of them (and there are A LOT) to find a few quotable lines that could make you go "awww how cute" and honestly.....I've got enough blogging to do without adding a project on top of it. Lets just say, 9 years ago we were young, and in love, and we were together ALL THE TIME. And if we weren't, it's cuz we were in class. In which case we were writing love notes to eachother. :) Good times.
Over the past 9 hears, I have learned so much though. And I have nobody to thank but my amazing husband. One of the biggest lessons he's taught me is patience. And of course I'm still learning. And lets not think that he doesn't have his moments where he loses his patience either (like when he's trying to fix something and it's just not working).....however when it comes to the kids at least, Parker is almost always the patient one. And he definitely has taught me how to take it easy, and to try to be happy through those little trying moments that I THINK I just can't take it anymore.....when really it's not that big of a deal. 9 years of marriage has taught me that we are not perfect. And that over all this time, love changes. And not at all in a bad way. But so different. After 9 years you don't care as much about spending every SECOND together, but making the most with the moments that you HAVE together. And that a genuine hug after a full day of work is just as heart-warming as it was when we were dating. He's the one I want to share things with. Small things and big things. I seek for his approval for my thoughts and ideas. I've learned that we can still hurt each other when we are careless with our words. And we've both been guilty. But 9 years has taught me that the best time to solve a conflict is after we've had a few moments to process and cool down. When you're newlyweds they always say don't ever go to bed mad. I truly don't believe this. I've found that sometimes the best time to resolve your conflicts is after you've had a good long while (even if it is the next day) to think about it. And to calm down.
My husband is persistent and works very hard at work and on our home. I am so proud of his continued effort with school. After this long it's a wonder he's still able to put up with it. Especially with full-time work and a family. I love him so much, and I'm grateful for all the gifts in my life that have happened because of him.
Forgive me.....I know not many people have seen these photos. They are from our wedding album that really doesn't get out much. And since they are real photographs....I had to scan them. So the quality is not great. But weren't we cute? And so young?! I was 19, and Parker was 22. HAH!
Ok. My plans for our anniversary weren't too crazy. It was after all on a week day. I figured I'd leave work an hour early and make a nice dinner. Then we'd go see a movie over the weekend. Well at lunch time, Parker strolled into the office. I was so surprised! Incase you forgot...he works in Jackpot. He NEVER shows up for lunch. So we went to Maxie's pizza and then he went home and waited for me to work another 2 hours. Well. 4:00 finally arrived and I clocked out. Got in my car and.....it wouldn't start. What?! REALLY? On my ANNIVERSARY?! So I called Parker (who thankfully was home instead of 1 hour away at work like should have been) and he came to rescue me. The battery was covered in corrosion. We scraped what we could for a while and finally removed the battery and took it to O'Reilley's to have it tested. Apparently it was still good. Ok. So we went to Filer and got the kids and picked up some baking soda at the house. I walked in to find this:
I think it's the most beautiful bouquet I've ever seen! And yellow roses are my FAVORITE. I just loved it! He also gave me 2 CD's (Taylor Swift: RED, and Carrie Underwood: Blown Away) and a beautiful card. Ok. He always wins with the gifts. I ordered him a book on Mule Deer hunting from Eastman's.com but it wouldn't arrive for another week. And my gift (making a nice a dinner) for the day was blown out of the water when the car wouldn't start. So we went BACK to my work and poured baking soda water on the battery and cleaned it up.
I thought for sure it'd start.
It didn't.
The corrosion had traveled UP the battery cable. Thank goodness Parker knows how to cut wires. (no it's not rocket science....but it would have never crossed MY mind). He cut the cable wire just above where the corrosion ended and then he stripped the wire and re-attached the cables.
Now mind you....we did all this with the kids running around.
Caleb wanted to help so much. He wanted to hand his daddy the tools and have his head under the hood. He got greasy hands and face just like a regular mechanic.
Angie climbed on the cars, and was quite good actually.
She even entertained Garrett a little.
Ultimately cutting the cable and then re-attaching it worked. But it was still after 8:00 when we finished. The kids hadn't eaten anything, and so we finished the evening off with some dinner from Wendy's. I put Garrett straight to bed and then we stuffed the food down the kids's throats and hurried them off to bed. It was still a stressful evening for me. Along with this.....Garrett had an ear infection and I had been sick on Monday. My dishwasher had quit draining Sunday, so I already hadn't been using it all week. And the WORST thing of all that happened that week was that Caleb lost his upper denture on Monday night. It's been gone almost 2 weeks now and I still haven't found it. It's so weird! He NEVER takes it out. To eat or anything. He wears it all day, and takes it out and puts it in the case before he goes to bed. I've never had problems with him taking it out when he's not supposed to. Now all of the sudden, one evening I ask him to spit them out and he says, "They're already out." But he has NO memory of taking them out. WHAT?! After so many tears and prayers I can honestly say they have vanished. So. Happy June. I think it was one of the most emotionally trying weeks I've had in a long time (I know....my life is so hard....). But even though the week was crappy I couldn't be more grateful to have a husband to help me through it. I'm glad I have somebody to fix my car and buy me flowers. :)
Happy 9th Anniversary Parker!
