"I DO!"

38 years ago today I said "I do" and changed my life forever more.  Honestly I cannot believe it has been that long!  Almost 2/3 of my life has been spent married to this man of mine.   ; )

I have told the story of how we got together more than once, so I guess I won't repeat it again.  But who would have ever believed that a blind date and less than 6 months of dating could ever lead to the life we have managed to share, but that would be the facts.  I have gone on and on about the wonderfulness of the man the Lord has blessed me with (just recently too I think) so I will not go there with this post either.  I have decided to share just a random story about us.  I guess in some ways there have never been two people so much alike in soo many ways.  We share the same love of our God, love of our children and grandchildren, same sense of humor, same love of movies and food, same love of the beach and amusement parks, and just soo many of life's biggest perspectives.  But another thing we share is our abilities to "fly by the seat of our pants" and make quick and life changing decisions without a lot of time.  We have bought WAY MORE THAN ONE thing over the years somewhat impulsively I guess is the only way to put it. (including our two most recent, the Kirby vacuum, and my new camera).   Now granted there has been a few we have regretted over the years, but not as many as you might think.    But for our kids and grandkids who might read these blog/journal books some day, you really have to hear about how we came to buy the home we lived in for 25 years!  Now we had been looking and hoping to buy a new home for a while.  We were serious about WANTING to buy, but not really serious in that we knew it was HIGHLY unlikely we would find ALL the requirements that would have to be met in order for us to do so.  We knew both the size of the home we wanted/needed it to be, and what city we wanted it to be in.  We also knew the kind of financing we wanted, (which would have to be somewhat unusual) and that we wanted a swimming pool.  We knew it couldn't necessitate me having to go back to work as I was pregnant with Melody and already had my hands full with our 3 sons.  We wanted a fire place and a BIG family room for our BIG family.  We didn't want to have to sell the house we owned at the time, but instead wanted to rent it out.   We knew the possibility of finding all of this in a price range we could afford was really pretty slim, but it didn't stop us from diligently praying about this every night together.   OK.....so one Sat. morning as the kids were outside playing and we were sitting around having coffee and reading the paper, (shows you how long ago this was!) I was doing what I ALWAYS did (while he concentrated on the sports page) which was reading aloud every add I could find that sounded like something we might want to check out for a home.  Finding such things online didn't exist then, and like I said we weren't serious enough to actually be using a Realtor.  I remember this like it was yesterday.  I began reading of the description of the house... swimming pool, fireplace, 4 bedrooms including a large master bedroom and family room, 3 bathrooms, formal dining room, quiet cul-de-sac ~  I was intrigued, but then when I went on to read of it's location, it's price and financing available, I became somewhat hysterical.  It was EVERYTHING we had been looking for!  I told my hubby, "Get up!  Get the kids in the car!  We are going right now!"   He had an equally frantic look on his face and we began running around to get out of the door.  "Put the checkbook in your purse" he hollered at me, so of course I did.  30 minutes later we pulled up in the driveway of the house (we didn't even call the number listed in our haste to SEE IT!) and began running around the outside of the home looking in the windows etc.  From what we could see through the windows we LOVED it.  We immediately drove to a pay phone (no cell phones in those days ~ at least for us!) and called the number listed and made arrangements to meet with the people in another city where they were, which was quite a little drive away for us.  Neither one of us even considered not doing it.  We loaded the kids in the car and skidded out.  They met us at a restaurant and we began discussing some of the particulars of the house and the financing we had in mind.  An hour later we made out a check and escrow began the next Monday.  Yes, we bought that house having NEVER even set  a foot in it!  WHO I ask you does such a thing?  Apparently this couple!  Less than 30 days later we were moving in, with me in my 8th month of pregnancy, and we began our years in this wonderful house.  Oh the memories we made there!

I can remember telling everyone of my kids when they were dating to look for a mate who THINKS like they do.  Who loves God first, and keeps their priorities in line.  Who shares the biggest of life's prospectives with them, and at the end of the day is their best friend, one they can count on no matter what, and they will find a happy life.  This has certainly been the case for me, and I will never stop thanking the Lord for bringing this man into my world.  How blessed I have been!  Happy Anniversary to my sweet guy, and may the Lord bless us with MANY, MANY, more!

 I wish I could scan a bunch of pics of us through the years as we grew from young 20 year olds to the couple we are today, but here are a few I do have...some you might have seen, but you get the idea.

AT OUR DAUGHTER'S WEDDING 4 YEARS AGO!

AT JESSIE'S ENGAGEMENT PARTY!

WITH GRANDBABIES ON OUR LAPS 3 YEARS AGO!

OUT TO DINNER WITH MELODY ON JEFF'S BIRTHDAY 4 YEARS AGO

OUR LAST CHRISTMAS IN OUR OLD HOUSE

OUR ANNIVERSARY 3 YEARS AGO!