June 28, 1997

Today is my tenth wedding anniversary.

Yikes - where did the time go? It doesn't seem possible that an entire decade has gone by. Nope. Not possible at all.

It was a beautiful Saturday - the heat wave from earlier in the week had broken, leaving the skies clear blue, the air warm (but not humid), and a light breeze blew.

It was the picture perfect wedding day.

It's so hard to believe it was that long ago, and how much things have changed since then.

When DH and I moved into our townhouse (about three weeks before our wedding) we literally had nothing. Our living room furniture consisted of an old nightstand and a straight-backed desk chair. Fortunately, at the time, he was working nights, I was working days, so there weren't any arguments over who got to sit in the chair! The 19" television that had been mine sat atop the nightstand in the living room. Charming, wouldn't you say?

Our kitchen set was a small card table and two chairs that scratched the dickens out of the floor. The scuff marks are still there.

We had dishes and pots and pans (thank God for bridal showers!), but the fridge always looked as though we'd abandoned the place.

We've come a long way since then.

Now we have furniture (and I shudder to think of what it will be like to move it. Eeek - moving is sooo much easier when you have one chair to move.) Actually, that same little 19" Goldstar is in the basement - which doubles as the Girl's playroom. It had been up in the closet, but one of the other televisions died and we played musical sets. We just haven't gotten around to replacing the dead one yet. No hurry. One less thing to move.

Friends have gotten married since our wedding. Some have gotten divorced. Some have kids. Some have moved several times. Friendships have changed right along with everything else - instead of hanging out at local watering hole, we get together for dinner now. Potlucks at a chosen house are very popular - and all of our kids play together perfectly.

I had a dog when DH and I first got married - Bear. He was like a four-legged tumbleweed - a mix of German shepherd and border collie. I got him from our regional animal shelter when I was nineteen. He died in 2002. Now we have Cisco - only 4 and still thinks she's a puppy.

We adopted the cat from hell a month after our wedding. Casey despises everyone but me and she will be 19 sometime this year.

We went from having nothing, with nothing-type jobs, to a lot more. We have two beautiful children (the Boy and the Girl). DH graduated from his apprenticeship program and is now a pipefitter journeyman with a great future. I've published two books. We're looking at buying a house in the coming months.

There have been ups and downs, but they keep life interesting. He's my best friend and he knows this. Vice versa as well. I think that's what's helped us through the years. No one on this planet makes me laugh harder than my husband, and there isn't anyone out there who could ever do that. He has provided me with plenty of traits to bestow upon my heroes, who in turn make my heroines' lives that much brighter. The heroines do the same in return, and I like to think that I can claim that as well.

Yep - hard to believe ten years have gone by. But I am looking forward to the next ten as well.