I already know that this post won’t even come close to conveying my gratitude for us having crossed paths in life, but it only seems appropriate to write to you on our 10th anniversary since so much of our younger years we spent passing endless letters back and forth. I look back on the past 10 years, and honestly it’s hard to remember much past that because we have created such a beautiful life together and it’s so real and tangible and full that it’s kind of hard to wrap my mind around. I know I’ve said this before to you, but so often I just feel like crying when I step back and look at our life. I feel completely overwhelmed with joy and gratitude and just realize how completely blessed we are. Something I know we have both figured out along the way together is to really step back and appreciate our life. I love that we have those moments where one of us will nudge the other and smile, and we don’t have to say a word… we just share a moment of taking it all in together and realizing how beautiful our day to day is.
In thinking about what I wanted to say to you on our 10 anniversary, it really just comes down to saying “thank you.” I remember a long (very long) time ago back when we were young and naive and still dating, you told me that you knew you would become the person you wanted to be (and I wanted you to be) if we were together. That sounds kind of funny saying that now, but this was back when our young selves were in a more tumultuous relationship and still trying to figure it all out. The point is…that YES, you are everything I have truly ever hoped for in a person to share my life with. Your 22 year old self (or somewhere around there!) knew what he was talking about. From the moment I met you when we were teenagers, I knew that you and I were kindred spirits and I am so thankful that you chose me to be by your side. I’ve been able to watch you evolve into this person who is such a strong, solid, supportive, and loving force to everyone who is lucky enough to know you. I am thankful for the man you are, and feel like I have everything in you. And, you always manage to inspire me to continuously evolve alongside you.
Thank you for the endless nights of “treatment,” listening to me sort through my feelings on every topic known to man, making many yummy meals, encouraging me to go out with friends, being my sounding board for everything. Thank you for the nights we spend together just relaxing and listening to music after the kids go to bed…for the weekends we spend as a family just hanging out or trying a new adventure.
THANK YOU FOR BEING THE BEST DAD to our three beautiful children who we adore to pieces. I love watching you with them, and I love seeing how much they look up to you and go to you for a helping hand and crazy fun. Thank you for being my partner in parenting these babies of ours…for our weekly (and sometimes daily) check ins to make sure we are handling things in a conscientious way.
Thank you for working so hard together to find a balance in our lives. Figuring out how to squeeze in everything like family time, rowing, social outings, visiting with our parents, home projects, kids activities, etc etc…it’s taken us a while, but we have been able to strike the right balance (at least for now!)
Thank you for all of the rich memories…too many to list, but here are a few:
*Going shopping one day…going into a pet store..and somehow coming home with two kitties! What??!! Who does that? We do, and aren’t we glad for that. Our first babies will always be Petey and Ellie.
*Buying our first place in Fairlingon together! It’s funny how we totally stumbled on it when we got lost going to Shirlington one day. I remember us talking about how it would be awesome to live there one day! Go us–we made it happen! And what a charming little condo it is…and also where we brought Laina and Elijah home from the hospital 🙂
*Our trips to Austin and the Northwest. Though we’ve been many other places together, those are the trips that I really treasure the most. The dueling piano bar, that really funky recycled glass place, sunset on Lake Travis, and kayaking at Zilker Park were some of my favorite things in Austin. There are way too many from the Northwest…but I think we both know that nothing tops our time in Lincoln City and how we made friends with all of the seals.:)
*Going to concerts together–I hope that never changes! Sweetlife Festival, Mumford and Sons, Carbon Leaf, etc—we still need to see RHCP!!!!
*Stalking Del Ray for 3 years before we (you!) finally found our quaint blue house with the red door (can we please paint it yellow at some point?!) I love how we research everything like crazy and have a million conversations before we are ready to make a decision. I know it drives us crazy, too…but I think that’s why we usually end up making decisions that are happy about. I love that we have immersed ourselves into our community…and I appreciate that we both enjoy having an open door policy with our neighbors (most of the time!)–except when Mommy needs some quiet 🙂
*Bringing our three children into the world. Wow. Three kids. Each with their own unique personalities (and each with their own unique challenges ;). They have completed our family and filled our lives with so much love and fun and chaos…it all just makes me smile. Could we love them any more?!?
*Our family favorites like Sushi and Smoothie Sundays, walking down to the Avenue for playground time & dinner, farmer’s market runs, art and music festivals, strawberry picking, checking out new parks, Ticonderoga at Christmastime, dance parties before bedtime, weekend brunches, Los Tios & Taqeuira Poblano, and did I mention playgrounds, playground and more playgrounds?
*Making our house a home. The house projects, the decorative ideas..it’s all been fun doing it together! It is our 6th family member after all.
*Hosting our first annual “We Survived the Holidays” party. So fun! Can’t wait to do this every year with you!
*There are so many more, and I feel like every day there are wonderful memories being created in our lives. Whether it’s that Laina is finally getting her front teeth..or Elijah is flashing us his huge smile after he did something ornery..or Austin is having his own private party…or we have another birthday celebration with family….or we attend another Thursday wine night…they are all wonderful because they belong to us.
Thank you for being you, for loving me, for letting me love you, and for our beautiful life. Would not change a thing about it. Happy 10th…I’m thinking we’ll make it at least another 10, right? 🙂
♥♥♥
