Eleven years and counting..............

Just wanted to do a little tribute to my honey today since it is our 11th wedding anniversary. There is so much I could say about that day and so much I could write about how we've grown and changed over the last eleven years so I'll try to keep it concise.

The Happy (YOUNG) couple

I was twenty-one and Gus was twenty-two when we got married which was TOO YOUNG!!! Even though we had been dating since I was 16 and he was 17, we still had alot to learn about ourselves and life. I would not recommend my kids getting married that young and hopefully they'll listen to me when that time comes. (Probably not, but I can hope, can't I?) Anyway, we did have a beautiful wedding and reception. Looking back, I would not have spent so much money on that one day, but that was just a young girl living out a dream. We did have a wonderful time although I didn't see Gus very much at the reception - he was too busy "working the crowd" and "running for Mayor" as I like to call it. Well, at least I had him all to myself for a week in Gatlinburg, TN for our honeymoon which was great. We stayed most of that week at a beautiful B & B.

Just as we were settling into married life (eight months exactly), we found out that we were going to be PARENTS!! It came as quite a surprise, but we embraced it and got ready the best we knew how. Again, I would not recommend having children that early on in your marriage, but looking back I can see why God chose that for us. What I mean by that is that those first few years were HARD and it would have been pretty easy to just walk away had it not been for the "glue" we had in the form of our precious oldest daughter. Not that we just "stayed together for our child", but we chose to make it work and make our marriage better because we had a stronger commitment to our family. That is a decision we have all benefited from. Not to say that it's not still work because it is. Our marriage ebbs and flows as I think all do, but we are committed to one another and our family. And I can honestly say that I love him more than I did the day I married him.

Now onto our Anniversary celebration. Since I have to work all weekend and Gus had a three day weekend ahead, he and the kids are over at the camp at the river with his Mom. So we went out to Carrabba's (our favorite) on Thursday night and had a wonderful dinner. We were seriously overdue for some time together so it was such a treat. We even stuck to our weight loss goals and did not even get any bread!! Now that took some willpower, people! After our dinner, we went over to Target and got ourselves an anniversary present.............. a NEW coffee maker!!! I know, I know - how romantic, right? Well, we have had the same basic coffee maker since we were married and we thought it was time for an upgrade. In our defense, we did have some more romantic gifts for each other, too. I bought Gus an new wedding band (since he LOST his!) and I took my engagement ring to the jewelers to get repaired so I could wear it again.

Our new purchase - we were so excited!

Still looking pretty good eleven years later - at least that's what my hubby says! I swear he looks at me with a different set of eyes and I love that about him!

Here's to many more Happy Anniversaries together!