Seven years, seven chapters

John and I celebrated seven years of marriage on July 14th. Every year we celebrate differently but we always watch our wedding video with Martinellis and chocolate dipped strawberries. This year we skipped the strawberries since we ate at the Melting Pot and had the whole dessert platter to dip in chocolate instead.

7 Reasons why I'm glad I married John:

1) He always is getting treats for me. Whether he brings home a chocolate creation from one of his events or rounds up the fam to go to Cold Stone, he always takes care of my sweet tooth.

Even when I beg him not too.

Honey, I'm really trying to be good and eat healthy.
To which is says, "One bite is not going to hurt."
You're right.

Ten bites later or 5 cookies later I tell him to take it away and hide it somewhere, preferably some high shelf in our house. Out of sight. Out of mind.

An hour later I pull out the stool in search of the hidden treasure.

Secretly I love it. So honey thanks to you I am always happy and will always be "bootylicious".

2) He loves the water as much as I do. One of our common interests when we first met was surfing. We aren't even good but we try really hard. I even got into a fight with a wave our second year of marriage and the wave won with 8 stitches later on my chin.






3) He's an instigator of fun. Those who don't know John think he's quiet and shy. Those who do know him well, know that's he's the first one to get the party started. Whether it's game night, water balloon launching attacks in the middle of the night, hot dog eating contest, or sneaking into the Grand Wailea, he's the mastermind behind it all. I tend to be a rule abider and over analyze everything so I need John to balance me out.
John eating hot dogs. Bryan eating hotdogs. Bryan puking hotdogs. So maybe it's not always fun for everyone.




4) He's my best friend. Okay, a give in. If your husband isn't your best friend that's kind of sad. I love having him as my sounding board. I love being with him. We have our disagreements. But we work through them.

5) He's thorough. Sometimes our biggest strengths are our biggest weaknesses. I think I'm really good at multitasking. Our friend's call and say they'll be over in a half hour so I lightly clean the whole house, fix some food, and entertain the kids in the meantime. So maybe the house isn't deeply cleaned, but it's presentable. John would probably get started dusting the entertainment center and a half hour later all the shelves would be immaculately organized and clean but the rest of the things to be done haven't been started. I lack in my thoroughness when it comes to assembling things, etc. I'm a skimmer when it comes to directions and that can be a recipe for disaster. He does it right the first time. My kids, their toys, and their well assembled bunkbeds thank you.

6) He's sends me on shopping sprees. Sometimes I get all grumpy and tell John I want to go shopping. To which he responds, "Pleeeeease," since I'm always complaining I have nothing to wear. To most men, this would financial suicide but John says that you can't actually call what I do shopping. He says it's more like "wasting 2 hours of my life" since I never buy anything when I go. I'm really picky about what I spend money on but I still like knowing what's out there. Knowing all this, he is still happy to let me go. Thank you.

7) We're gamers. Doesn't matter if it's miniature golf or tennis, the competition is ON! I didn't say any of the games are close but if and when I do win (which is rare), I celebrate with a booty dance and several, "Oh yeah, WHO just won?"

So I'm not a modest winner. Our latest craze...Mario Kart for the Wii. If you have it let me know so we can play you online.

Chapters
I feel like each year together has added a chapter to the book of our lives together. Our first year we learned a lot about each other. Early on we learned that we are both NOT morning people. Our resolution...avoid talking as much as we can in the morning and everybody is happier.

After 4 years of marriage we had Austin. KIDS...definitely a different chapter not only in life but in your marriage. Not necessarily bad, but different. The focus shifts. I have a whole new love for the great father John is. I'm glad we had the alone time that we did to just PLAY. To jump in a car and go to Vegas spontaneously stay up until the wee hours of the morning having our huge HALO tournaments (if you can't beat 'em, join 'em).

Our move to Florida: BIG chapter. I'll never forget surviving on Uncrustables for a week after being hit by the hurricane and playing cards by candlelight while listening to our only lifeline, a small radio. We've experienced so much and have had to lean on each other being away from all our family.

So many adventures, so many chapters to come.

I can't wait.