17 Memories of 17 Amazing Years

Seventeen years ago, on October 15 1994, I was a new bride, freshly married to my Prince Charming and ready to embark on a wild ride.  We had no idea the twists and turns, victories and disappointments we would encounter, but we were committed to walk together through whatever God brought our way.  To mark our 17th wedding anniversary, here are 17 memories of our 17 amazing years together as Mr. & Mrs.

1.  Walking down the aisle I was TERRIFIED of commitment.  I clung onto my Dad's sleeve with a death grip, while thoughts of becoming the "Runaway Bride" raced through my mind... UNTIL... I took my Groom's hand and then all the fear vanished and it was like nothing else mattered.  I was "home".  As we stood together at the altar it was as if no one else was in the sanctuary except Hubby, me and the pastor marrying us.  Our ceremony was beautiful and we had a stand-up reception immediately after the ceremony where we cut the delicious cake my Mom had made for us.  After this reception we went for pictures and then had a sit-down dinner for 150 later that evening.

2.  I was a missionary when we married and because a lot of my support at that time came from friends of my parents (and dancing was taboo at Christian weddings "in those days"), we weren't able to celebrate with a dance at our reception.  That didn't stop Hubby and I though.  When our best man & his wife (Hubby's twin sister) and another groomsman and his wife (friends of ours) drove us (and our gifts) home, we enjoyed a glass of wine and a first dance with them.  Our song was Celine Dion's The Color of My Love.

3.  Because we live so close to the airport (and had an early morning flight) we chose to spend our first night as Husband and Wife in our own home. It was special to us to spend our first night in our own bed.

4.  Hubby surprised me with our honeymoon.  He told me to pack for warm weather and then on the way to the airport the morning after the wedding he told me our destination - Aruba!  It was GORGEOUS... breathtakingly beautiful.  One day I hope we can return!

5.  On our honeymoon, I shocked Hubby that first day when I abruptly told him "I can't commit to you FOREVER.  That's too scary for me.  But... I'll commit to you today & then tomorrow I'll commit to  you for that day."  Poor guy.  What ran through his head at that moment was WHAT HAVE I DONE?.  Fortunately, by the end of the week I was 100% committed!  Phew!

6.  Another honeymoon memory - Hubby came down with a severe case of hives from something he ate.  Mid-week he took off into no-man's land in Aruba in search of a pharmacy.  Luckily he returned safely and by week's end the hives were gone.  I'm sure the housekeeping wondered though what we were up to.  Every morning his side of the sheets were pink from the calamine lotion I'd administered all over him the night before.

7.  A few months after the wedding, Hubby and I adopted two 8 week old kittens, Meg and Sydney.  We had to put down my first cat, Samantha, two days before the wedding because she... um... had gone a little psycho from me moving so much prior to meeting Hubby.  Meg and Sydney were ADORABLE and grew into lovely (and sometimes annoying) housemates for the next 14-15 years.  Sydney got sick suddenly September 2008 and had to be put down and Meg followed 8 months later.  They are still missed... but not enough to get new pets!

8.  Right from the start of our marriage, Hubby and I have LOVED to travel together and we travel well together.  Often times on long car rides through the Eastern States (usually to my sister's place in NC or the ocean in SC), we will sing together, listen to sermons from our favorite preachers, and sometimes I'll read an entire novel to Hubby while he drives.  We've seen so many places that we'd only dreamed of seeing and made incredible memories in the process.

9.  Not all of our memories have been super happy ones.  Hubby and I have endured our share of trials.  One memory that falls into this category is the stresses and strains of trying to start a family.  In hindsight, we barely remember how intense the pain of infertility was, but I do remember the roller-coaster of emotions, particularly the six months of fertility treatments we endured.  For two weeks of every month I was closely monitored at the fertility clinic and for a week of that time Hubby would inject me in the thigh before he left for work with a Gonal-F shot, trying to boost my egg count for a better chance at conception during the IUI treatments.  It was grueling to say the least and heartbreaking when the pregnancy tests would come back negative but... we worked as a team and didn't let infertility rip our marriage apart.

10.  Another memory I have of this chapter in our lives was that Sunday in mid November 1999 when we got a call from the clinic saying my pregnancy test was positive.  We were shocked and elated.  We told a couple of friends that morning at church and called our family that afternoon to share in the joyous event.  We knew it was ridiculously early to share such news, but after 4 years of everyone praying and weeping with us, we wanted them to share in the joy of the moment.  Unfortunately two days later the clinic called back after my follow up blood test on the Monday to say my HCG levels were dropping and it wasn't a viable pregnancy.  Tears flowed as disappointment flooded our hearts but even today, 12 years later, I don't regret telling people about that positive test.  I treasure the memory of my friend's face and the joy she shared with me, if even for a fleeting moment.  I didn't know that Sunday morning that it would be the ONLY time I'd utter those words "It's positive!"

11.  Another not-so-happy memory that actually is one of my favorite memories is a time when Hubby was fired (and then reinstated 3 months later at his job).  This was a time in our marriage when we had to completely trust in God's provision as I wasn't working and Hubby had no income coming in.  It was one of those moments when the "rubber hits the road" and you see what "for better or for worse, for richer for poorer" really means in the wedding vows.  God did provide a part-time job for Hubby, delivering flowers to grocery stores, and I was able to join him sometimes which was really fun as we worked together as a team.  I cherish this time as God showed us His faithfulness and His grace, especially when Hubby returned to his position after the 3 months.

12. Hubby has been an amazing rock and comforter when my heart has been broken.  When my Grandma and Mom passed away during our years together, Hubby has been a wonderful comfort to me and my family.  He has stood by me through so many ups and downs of emotional heartache.  He truly is that soft place to fall!

13.  Hubby would have been an amazing Dad but obviously God had other plans.  That hasn't stopped my Hubby from being an amazing Uncle and Friend to many of my niblings and his own niece and nephew.  When the majority of my niblings were young we would have them over 8 at a time for a sleepover, Hubby with the boys and me with the girls.  I remember one time in particular we had the kids over and we got them all in our car (this was before seatbelt laws changed) and took them to glow in the dark bowling late one Friday night.  We had a blast!  So much laughter!  This was the beginning of beautiful friendships with our niblings and allowed us to team together in helping to mold these young lives.

14.  Many of our memories involve Hubby's work, particularly in the past few years as he's gotten more overloaded at his job.  A lot of these memories involve travel with him on his work trips.  Together we've explored Boston, Nashville, San Francisco and Southern California, in between Hubby's business and have been able to make some incredible vacation memories out of these business trips and made some very neat relationships with some of his clients.

15.  Hubby is the definition of "Phlegmatic" and by nature is not a risk taker.  A funny (and exhilarating) memory I have of one vacation we took to Myrtle Beach totally shocked me when Hubby stepped out of character and suggested we go parasailing.  We were on a morning stroll down the beach around 9:30am when Hubby turned to me and said, "Let's go parasailing!"  Stunned (and admittedly frightened at the prospect) I agreed and we ran back to the condo to get Hubby's credit card to pay for this exhilarating adventure.  It was kinda scary being that high up over the water, but it was also an amazing experience and I'm glad Hubby stepped out of his "norm" to suggest it!  He's learning to embrace life and do those "bucket list" type things

16.  My Hubby is a wonderful spiritual leader of our family and when I think of the spiritual aspect of our marriage I am reminded of his leadership in prayer.  Rarely a day goes by in our 17 years that Hubby doesn't lead us in prayer, either before he leaves for work in the morning, or on the phone before we head to sleep while he's away.  We have gone through many marriage devotionals during our married life and these are treasured memories as we've grown together spiritually over the years and solidified our foundation in God.

17.  Every day I spend with my precious Hubby is a treasured Memory.  Yesterday for our 17th anniversary we invited some of our family members to join us for a wine tour & tasting that we had won back in June at my nephew & new niece-in-law's "stag and doe" party.  Eleven of us piled into two vehicles for a fun afternoon of wine and cheese.  By the time Hubby and I got home it was evening and instead of rushing dinner and a movie, we decided to just do the movie & postpone our celebratory dinner until today.  We saw the new Footloose (eh... it was okay) and then today after church we had our celebration meal.  We considered going out to a nice dinner but instead chose to make a new memory and opened one of our California bottles of Chardonnay and made a delicious spread of cheeses, meats and bread.  Together we sat on the floor in our family room, watching Andy Stanley's sermon from this morning online and discussing what cheeses went with which wine (we were sampling a French red wine too).  Not our average anniversary meal but just as special... maybe even more!  Here's a pic of our spread:

I am beyond grateful for the man God surprised me with back in 1993 and gave me as my husband in 1994.  He truly has been a dream come true and I have enjoyed the opportunities we've had together to watch so many of our joint dreams come true.  Thanks for walking down memory lane with me today!