12 Years

This picture was taken in 1996 - we had been dating for about a year, and weren't engaged yet (based on my ringless finger).  

And here we are...13 years from the time of that photo.  We've been together for 14 years, married for 12.  Wow!

I remember when we first started dating - I simply could NOT get enough of this guy.  We were together every single waking moment...and driving my friends positively BONKERS.

A couple of my friends even did a sort of "intervention"...

Daiquiri, you're spending way too much time with him.  He's going to get sick of you.  Play more hard to get.  Please...take a bit of a break from time to time!

Ha!  They had no idea what they were asking!  This man...he made me laugh.  I felt safe with him.  I loved talking with him.  I loved being quiet with him.  I loved the rhythm of his breathing and the way that tingly feeling raced up my arm when he grabbed my hand.

He wasn't just some guy.  He was the rest of ME.  

And twelve years and four babies later....he still is.  He still makes me laugh like no other.  I still feel impossibly safe with him.  I still love our talks, our quiet times.  He knows me even better than I do some days.  

 

He still asks me from time to time, "Will you marry me?"

And my answer is always the same, "A million times over."

And I mean it.