100th Post!

So in honor of the blog's 100th post, you get to hear from both Andrew and I. We were trying to decide what seemed worthy to put in the 100th post, and we finally decide to take a long walk down memory lane....

Andrew and I got engaged at this time of the year. Since that was before our blog's time, I'll catch you up on the details in case you weren't there for the events...
Andrew and I like to start things off in a really rocky manner. You've seen how we've started off the whole parenting idea right? (Hey, if you don't occasionally laugh, you just cry all the time....laugh with me people...) So things in college were rocky between us. Finally, Andrew's senior year was coming to a close and we started "officially" dating. We had been dating for exactly one year (to the end of my senior year) when Andrew proposed.

Let it be known that the way to my heart is through cake.

Notice the missing ring from the ring box. I wasn't takin' that thing off even for a picture. Forget about it.

My senior year came to a close and I graduated and headed off immediately to grad school.
(I know, isn't my dad cute!?...He's probably offended now that I called him cute. Sorry Dad!)

I dreamed of finishing grad school and a summer wedding. Andrew was reporting to Camp Lejeune in the fall and we knew that there would be changes to our lives, but we had no idea the events that would unfold next. Here they are (in a neat fast forward style..).....I went to grad school, Andrew reported to Camp Lejeune in the fall, discovered that he would deploy the first week of January, we decided to get married in December (sure, we can plan a wedding in 4 months, no problem), Ace deployed, I bought a house and graduated while he was gone, he came back and we actually started married life. Are you exhausted and confused? Because we were.

When I look back I laugh about:
-I thought we'd live in our first house for at LEAST three years. (Ha!)
-I thought Andrew's comics (the printed ones AND the online ones) were really silly and wondered why anyone would read them.. (Yes, I did bring HIM a comic from the newspaper the other day saying, "No really, read this one...it's soooo funny.")
-I thought it was a long drive to my parent's house in Raleigh. I thought that when I lived in Greenville (an hour and a half) and in Jacksonville (two and a half hours)....(We're now three and a half hours away.)
-When going from Chapel Hill to Raleigh in college, I thought traffic was AWFUL. I also thought this on Western Blvd. in Jacksonville. (HA! If I'd only known what bad traffic looked like.)
-We debated for months about when to come off of birth control to "time" getting pregnant, because we were so sure we'd get pregnant right away. (Um, yeah. Sure.)

And now a word or 100 from Andrew :-)

Ok so it's been a while since I've posted so I'm not sure that I'm in "posting" shape. Let me.... just.... stretch............. ok I think I'm ready:

So the last 4 years have had it's share of pits and peaks. But as I look back, I can honestly say I've learned so much from the wonderful woman who said yes under the Chapel Hill Bell Tower.

-I'm allowed to watch shows like Glee, Biggest Loser, and So You Think You Can Dance without fear because my wife is more than willing to be my excuse.

-Working in the yard can be more than just mowing the grass, and it IS satisfying to see the plants grow and flowers bloom (like those on our azaleas... that's right I know what an azalea is.... WHAT!?)
-Even someone who isn't a "dog person" can fall for a four legged friend (especially when he's as crazy as nutty).

-Just because someone else is right doesn't mean you are wrong and doesn't mean that you somehow "lose". Admitting that was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

-Doing things for the person you love is about making them happy, not keeping score.

-There is a certain joy to making a meal, and having someone else enjoy it with you. Better yet making a meal with someone and enjoying it together.

-The beach is a sort of paradise that is best experienced with good food, good books, and good friends and family.

-Country music is the funnest music there is.

-The best kind of wife is the one who not only lets you enjoy your crazy, spontaneous hobbies. She actually supports and enables you to have them.

-There is no experience in this world that cannot be enhanced a thousand times by just having the one you love there to enjoy it with you.

Ok.... that was really, really sappy so I'll finish up with a less sappy one

-Sometimes you just have to accept that when you wife is a 2nd grade teacher, she may (from time to time) scold you for "acting like one of her kids" and possibly send you to time out.