Twelve.

Today is our twelfth wedding anniversary.

We were just kids when we first met. So very young.

But there was something different about this boy. I just knew he was the ONE.

And now, nineteen years later, I am still just as intrigued, just as drawn to him.

My husband is such an amazing man.  And I am so very very proud of him!!

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

1. Humor. Oh my! He is just.so.funny. He has this way of perfect timing and subtle sarcasm that will have you laughing, tears and all.

2. Kindness. He has this natural instinct to help. To act instantly in a time of need.

3. Inner strength. He has this amazing ability to pull strength from deep within when a job needs 

done. Even when he's exhausted or hurting.

4. Gentleness. This man can go from hard and stern to gentle and loving in a moment. This makes him an AMAZING dad, by the way. 

5. Devotion. He has clearly devoted himself to his wife and sons.

6. Playful. Okay, sometimes, this gets on my nerves. He's a boy. He loves to romp around. But, mostly, it's adorable. And fun.

7. Giving. The man will give you the shirt off his back, if you need it. And to his family? He gives EVERYTHING. Actually, he spoils us.

8. He loves the Lord. This has come with time.  And it's probably been the most special privilege I have ever had; witnessing a man come to know God, learning to give his life over to the Savior, walking with Jesus. He has this quiet, natural way of sharing his faith and when he prays it is so honest and real.

9. Brave. He keeps us safe. He does hard things. And without hesitating.  

10. Entertaining. He loves to make people laugh. And that in itself can be so funny.

11. Creative. BJ has always been an artist and a builder. He has created some beautiful things with his hands over the years. Just another part of what makes him, him. 

12. Us. It's always been us. BJ and Kim. Kim and BJ.

I am incredibly blessed by this man. And so thankful for this day 12 years ago when love and life only got better, stronger.

Eleven Years; The Man Sums It Up.

"When I look in his eyes, I don't see perfection. I don't see a love story that someone would watch on a big screen and dream about. 

I see someone who will fight for me and protect me

 and love me in spite of all the ways I'm still a wreck.

I see home."

                                                  ~Melanie Shankle

This past September, my husband and I celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary.  
Immediately, I wanted to write a sweet mushy post about love and marriage and how much I love this man.
And then I had a thought.
I should get his perspective on this 11 years of wedded bliss.
 

"Uh-oh. What if he has nothing nice to say?"
I asked anyway.
As soon as I brought him a pen and paper (3 days later), the man whipped out a list quick.  

 [his words verbatim]

_______________________________

Help making decisions

Sex=great sex

Unconditional love

Support 

Getting through tough times together

A warm bed

Someone to watch my back

Someone who knows me

Help accomplishing goals

Understanding without words

A reason to put the toilet seat down 

________________________________

There you have it folks, eleven years of wedded bliss from his perspective.
Maybe he should start a blog.

Love away.

Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away
If you can use some exotic booze
There's a bar in far Bombay
Come on and fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away

Come fly with me, let's float down to Peru
In llama land there's a one-man band
And he'll toot his flute for you
Come on fly with me, let's take off in the blue

Once I get you up there where the air is rarified
We'll just glide, starry-eyed
Once I get you up there I'll be holding you so near
You may hear all the angels cheer 'cause we're together

Weather-wise it's such a lovely day
Just say the words and we'll beat the birds
Down to Acapulco Bay
It's perfect for a flying honeymoon, they say
Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away 

~Frank Sinatra, Come Fly With Me 

On September twentieth, my husband and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. Ten! I have been anticipating this month all.year.long. We really didn't have a honeymoon after our wedding, sooooo my precious man said that he would whisk me away to some exotic place on our tenth anniversary. After the arrival of our babies, I really didn't think it would happen, but sure enough, at the beginning of this year, he said, "Pick a place and book it." (With my momma in mind of course! Because this sweet lady would be the one keeping the kiddos!)
I did just that.

 

That's right. My man made it happen.

We were whisked away (my first plane ride(s) EVER) to the tropical

 and beautiful Dominican Republic.

 

 

It was awesome, people. If you've never been, you should go. Seriously, stop reading and go book your stay right now. It's that great! (Okay, so seriously, start a vacation savings and go. Soon.)

The people, the views, the weather, THE FOOD (except, don't drink the water!)....all perfect. Don't drive, pay a native to drive you. Because, it's crazy scary....they don't enforce driving rules or speed limits!  Many of the natives speak at least a little English, but learn a little Spanish; it shows respect.

It took us a total of 20 hours to get there. (flights, layovers, etc.) But, once we arrived at our resort, it was...perfect. We stayed at a quaint all-inclusive resort in Cabarete, DR. It was peaceful, beautiful and right on the beach.

 The resort had two pools; one in the courtyard and the other was an infinity pool overlooking the ocean. They had a restaurant where they served you all day and the food was made fresh when you ordered.


The food! Mwah! SIEMPRE DELICIOSO! (simply delicious!)
The service! Friendly, kind, and patient souls we call Mi Amigos. (my friends)
The views, weather and scent....perfect!! The air always smelled of fragrant floral and coconut!
It was VERY hot and humid! (perfect for swimming all day!)

It was so nice waking up to drink coffee in peace and watch the sunrise each day (except the couple of days we slept in simply because we could!) Then, we would meander down to the restaurant, enjoy a fresh, colorful breakfast and proceed to lounge at the pool and beach until lunchtime.

 

It was an AMAZING week just lounging, swimming, eating, and sleeping. It was such a blessing to have this time to ourselves.

Just me and the man. Just the man and me.

 

It was also a nice time to regain some clarity and perspective. We had time to think about what a great life we have and how blessed we are with these three beautiful babies (who just happen to no longer be babies).
It was lovely to celebrate our love for each other and talk (in peace) about our dreams for the future. (and mentally plan our future Caribbean trips! HA!)


I'm so thankful that God blessed us with this time away. How blessed we are with my mom, who has graced us with her love and time and stayed with our kiddos all week. Oh! How we missed them so! We got home Sunday afternoon and it was all I could do to not smother them with hugs and kisses! I missed their sweet little faces so much!

Honestly, it's been tough re-adjusting to "normal" life, but I am still so grateful, still thanking God for the time with my husband and the memories made.

 

 "Always and forever, each moment with you
Is just like a dream to met that somehow came true
And I know tomorrow will still be the same
'Cause we've got a life of love that won't ever change"

~Heatwave, Always and Forever

 

 

It's been an amazing ten years. I love us and I love our life.

I can't wait to see what adventures await us! 

 

Love & Marriage.

This month, my husband and I will celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary. Many of you know our "love story" began way before that. (you can read about our beginning here)

Marriage.
The butt of so many jokes. So much negativity. So many fairy tales. What's real, what isn't...

I don't know about you, but I want REAL.

...Marriage is like a triangle. Want to grow close to your man? Grow closer to God. As both of you reach upward you’ll not only come close to God, you’ll grow closer to each other. And if you are in a marriage where your husband doesn’t want to draw near to the Lord, you keep on anyhow. In Him, you’ll find the support, love and hope your heart desires.
Marriage can be hard, but it’s easier when we spend more time focusing on God’s encouraging truths and less time concentrating on each other's faults. ...

Mark 10:6-9, “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Ten years.
We're still young. We've got lots to learn of life and each other. And we're not the same people who fell in love all those years ago. We're not the same people who stood on that alter and spoke those vows all those years ago. We carried baggage into the relationship. We carried baggage into our marriage.

It was only after salvation and experiencing God's amazing grace that we let that baggage go. That we shed those former selves like a snake sheds and leaves behind it's old skin. And with God's consistent grace and mercies, we've never looked back.

Over the years.
We've had a wild ride.
High school. Well, that was just fun.
Graduation and moving out. That was fun, too. For awhile.
Careers, buying a house at twenty years of age. Again, fun, but only for awhile. Then came the bills, home repairs, job-changing, life-changes, you know all that "grown-up" stuff.
Then came marriage. That's right. B and I didn't get married until later. Statistically, our marriage will not survive because of this fact.
And we almost didn't.

“‘Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold I will do something new, now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.’” Isaiah 43:18-19 (NAS)

But, God.
God cut right in and reigned our parade.
Ahh, the sweet sound of salvation.
And you know what? The real fun begin.
When you can love without limits. When you can truly give your heart to someone without worry. Because God is the One who truly holds your heart. Because God oversees all that happens, all that you go through.
When you can let go of unrealistic expectations because He frees you from all that junk.
Forgiveness. Grace. Mercy.
Then, and only then, can marital love be pure, true.

Becoming Parents.
Well, this changes EVERYTHING. Again.
We prayed for babies for so many years. And through those waiting years, we learned so much about each other, God's faithfulness and our own strength through Him. God fulfilled His promise when he blessed us with not one, but three beautiful, healthy boys.
He is constantly growing us and teaching us through these precious lives.
Patience. Humble-ness. Trust. Self-control. Compassion. Empathy.
Grace. Lots and lots of grace.




And when things get rough? Because we're human and we mess up?

What works. Every time.
"I'm sorry"
"I was wrong."

"I forgive you."
"I love you."

"Let's make up."


“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Romans 12:10 (NIV)

.....

Best Ever.

My oh-so-amazing-handsome-sweet-loveuswithhiswholeheart-husband swept us off to the ocean last week. Last minute. Two days to plan and pack and be oh-so-very excited. My parents graciously accepted the invitation. We took off Saturday; our family of five (remember, three kiddo under 3) for the (very very) long road trip to the Southeast border. I must go into bragging momma mode for just a moment; my boys are AWESOME. Such troopers. They handled the road trip very well. Yes, we had to make several stops to eat, for potty breaks, to stretch and let off steam, but they were great. Our trip down took thirteen hours. We were ECSTATIC to see our beach condo, homesweethomefortheweek.

The weather was just lovely. Even the rain day in the middle of the week was fine. That gave us a day to see some indoor sites without the guilt of missing the sunshine. We hung at the beach almost every day. It was...therapeutic. Even when one of the twins melted down because "the water is too loud!" Neither big boy liked the water, but they loved the sand. Baby boy, on the other hand, seemed to love it all, just like momma. We visited the aquarium and even that did not go as expected (big boy meltdown when the pirate ship horn kept going off.) No matter, we still found fun. The fact that we were all together, no schedule, no looming deadlines, no "work" to do, no cleaning, was joy enough. It was mellow.  It was just what we all needed. To GETAWAY.

My parents, my wonderful, loving, parents went too. THANK GOODNESS! They provided breathing space for us all, a way to break out when we each needed our space.

We celebrated my mom's birthday on Monday. The boys were so excited to buy and cake and blow out candles with Grammy while on vacation. We sure do LOVE her!

B and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary on Thursday. What a wonderful day of reflecting and remembering. We took a long walk on the beach late afternoon and spent that evening out, all kiddo-free. It was a date to remember for always...

 

 

We hated leaving. But reality beckoned. Friday night, we drove through the night and arrived home Saturday morning. Leaving sunny, beautiful 80degrees SC and arriving to grey, misty, 50degrees OH was tough. Needless to say, we spent the entire week adjusting.