It's our anniversary

Midnight, Jan 1, 2000

So today is our 10th anniversary. We'd been together about 6.5 years when we got married, raising the girls together and living together for about 5.5 of that. We were engaged almost a year, trying to plan a wedding for a huge family while being simultaneously dead ass broke. I was getting an ulcer. It was bad.

I was at work when I got the call. I worked in a lab and it was a big deal to get a personal call. He'd tripped on his shoelace in the kitchen and hit the stove face first. He needed dental work NOW. Guess who had dental insurance and who didn't? We said screw it. We'd wanted to be married for a long time and it was just enough already. The JOP came to our apartment that night and we just did it.

d'aaaaaaaaaawww we're getting married! Check out our entertainment center!

Later that year, since my MIL is a genius, we were able to have a nice reception with the extended family. She planned a lot of it and everyone pitched in one way or another to help. 

We started trying for a baby right away--I was pregnant by October. We lost that pregnancy the day after Christmas. It sucked, but going through that together was another layer of our cement. Tried again the next month and BAM!, M was born that November 2004. E went back to school in January and we did a lot of juggling and working opposite shifts and baby passing and breastpumping and exhaustion and trying to raise 3 kids and pay the bills. Around Christmas 2006 we thought the bottom was going to drop out--I was pregnant again. How were we going to do this? E never let on but he was scared shitless that he'd have to drop out and never be an engineer. 

Poor M, he was born before facebook and therefore I have no easy access to his newborn pics! I LOVE this pic though--I was so stoked. I'd just had my 4th natural childbirth LIKE A BOSS.

It timed out perfectly, though--X was born days before the fall semester started, so I was able to take FMLA and he could finally do the classes he had to have that were only offered in the daytime. This was huge. 

It still took years, since we both had to work and raise kids and live and all..but he didn't have to drop out. 

Then he was offered a fellowship to grad school--aww yeah! YAY we get to be super poor for another year! Wheee! But who can say no to that? Not us!

That beard gets a little whiter as we go! 

So here we are. We've raised 2 children to adulthood together. That's kind of huge, I think. Now, because we're crazy, we're doing it again. 

Me and my honey a few months ago at the fall fest

We're still besties. We still laugh our asses off pretty much constantly, which is basically what it's all about, right? I think I'll keep him!