9 years

Monday, July 7, 2008
Matt and I have been married for 9 years.
NINE years!
Seems like forever.
I mean that in the best possible way, of course.

Every year on our anniversary morning I think to myself "wow, __ years..."
and then I remember all our past anniversaries. Nine years ago today I was getting ready to get married. I was nervous and giddy and impatient...
Eight years ago...seven years ago...six years ago we had a brand new baby girl - Tessa was just 6 weeks old and I was so happy to be our own little family unit...five years ago...four years ago...three years ago...two years ago I was so pregnant, so huge and so uncomfortable and being on bedrest for so long. We celebrated our anniversary with a couples massage as Sanctuary Day Spa and then went home to a house that was completely torn apart in preparation for our move...one year ago I started talking about celebrating our 10th Anniversary by taking a trip to Hawaii, and then Matt suprised me with a trip for Christmas instead!
Every year it's more unbelievable that we've been together for so long, yet I can barely remember being without him...it's like my memory begins with him. I can't imagine being without him.

Honestly, who would have thought it would be this good?
Obviously we expected to be happy together, otherwise we never would have gotten married, but to be so happy - every day - is just so much more than I imagined.
I'm sure much of that came from the negativity of so many around us...
but that negativity has never been something I've wanted to dwell on - and it's no different today.
It's far more enjoyable to focus on how happy we are, instead!

Matt's a good husband. The best, really. He works so hard for us, and he loves us so much. I love him more every day, and certainly more every year.
Here's my top 10 list of reasons why I love Matt (I may be watching E! too much on those nights Matt's in school...I can't think of where else the idea of a top 10 list would have come from...)
10. He works hard every day - he puts in more hours at a more physical job than anyone I know. Plus he goes to school. And he does it for us.
9. He indulges me. He never says a word about how much money I spend on clothes or entertainment. His answer is always "Whatever you want, baby"
8. He babies me. Lets me sleep in on weekends, takes care of me when I'm sick, rubs my shoulders and back when I whine about how they hurt.
7. He listens to me, values my opinion, and tries new things at my recomendation. He's a Democrat, he listens to pop music (occasionally) and he reads "girl" books...all because I forced him to listen, examine, think and try new things...he made his own decisions, but the fact that he let me influence him is important to me.
6. He's opened my eyes to so many new books, movies, ideas...I love science, science fiction and fantasy almost as much as he does now. And I love that I have a whole new genre of entertainment (and thought!) to explore because of him.
5. He helps out at home, washing dishes, changing diapers - like it's part of life, not a favor to me.
4. He still leers at me, spanks me, grabs me...generally molests me in any way he can and makes me feel sexy.
3. He makes me feel safe.
2. He's a great dad.
1. He's grown and changed and become more and better...but managed to stay the exact same person I married 9 years ago.

I don't know that they're all in the correct order, but they're all true, and they're all things that I'm grateful for.

Happy Anniversary to us.