I will preface this by saying that Mark is a much more private person than I am. Big shock. It was ten years ago today that Mark asked me to be his wife. We were young, I was 20 and he was 19, and we were in love. You know what I am talking about? The "I can't stand to be away from you because it hurts too much" kind of in love. Three months later we got married. Fast yes. To this day though, I will tell anyone that it felt right. I was not nervous or scared. It just seemed like the most natural thing to do. That was ten years, two kids, and two dogs ago. We have weathered many storms. Ones that threatened to take it all down. It has not been easy. At times it has felt like it would not make it. We somehow muddled our way through life and here we are today. I would not change a thing. Today Mark sent me this verse: Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him ...

We went to Steak and Shake today for lunch. The kids were at my mom's, so it was just Mark and I. We were waiting for our food and a server walked by with some shakes. Mark said they looked so good but he wondered what kind they were since they were yellow. I offered banana. He then looked at me, smiled, and said, "Do you like banana shakes?" To which I replied, "Only with chocolate." And Mark came back with an even better reply, "So, you like chocolate banana cream shakes?" I decided that is the worst pick up line I have ever heard.

Seems there is a Blog Phenomenon. Love Thursday. I found this out from Amanda . Wondering what it was about, I l clicked on her Love Thursday link to read up on it. I have to admit, at first I thought it as like another Valentine's Day type deal. You know. We NEED a day to tell people we love them and all of that. Things we should be saying all the time. Then after a few moments I thought maybe this was trying to get at that. With all the crap in this world this was a way to take a day and just be thankful and think of all the good around us. And with that in mind, I could get on board Love Thursday. This lead to what I thought of for Love Thursday. I could go on about how great my husband is. Or how great my kids are. Or how great life is. And while all those things are true, it just seemed too contrived. Too forced and not genuine. Next I thought I could go on about something totally off the wall. Like how much I love Hello Kitty. And how in Chicago there was a whole store of He...

Today my parents are celebrating thirty seven years of marital bliss. Congratulations mom and dad! Thank you for being my parents too. I love you all with all my heart.

It was actually ten years ago yesterday that my husband and I had our first date. I like to tell the story this way.... Mark and I were both servers at Applebee's. We spent most of the summer hating one another. He thought I was a stuck up bitch. I thought he was a pathetic loser. Sometime around August, we both started to change our opinions. Mark began asking me out every time he saw me. I never said no; I never said yes. We spent a few nights talking after work. We both were in Theater class in college. I had to go see a play and write a paper on it. I bought tickets to UMKC's production of The Misanthrope. I purchased two tickets. About two days before the show, I had not asked or found anyone to go with me. I simply told Mark he needed that Tuesday, September 10, off . He took the night off and picked me up at my house to go to the show. We ate at Houlihan's on the Plaza afterward for dinner. It was what I began calling our "unofficial, official first date....

I have a hot date for Friday night. And I am bloated and have nothing to wear. Great. About this hot date... Mark has a thing for Kevin Smith movies. Much like his fetish for Quentin Tarantino. So Kevin Smith's newest movie, Clerks II hits theaters Friday and that is my hot date. Going to see this movie with my husband. Reminds me of when we were dating. Only back then a movie only cost about five dollars. And I did not have mommy tummy and wrinkles around my eyes. But I have to admit, I still get a little excited, some butterflies going when I am getting ready for one of our dates. Something about going out together reminds me of all our hopes and dreams we had all those years ago. And how we have watched our lives come together and our dreams become reality over the years. So much had changed since our first date, yet some things are very much the same. I will find something to wear, spend more time than usual getting ready and spend some time alone with the one man who can stil...