Nine Years Ago Today...

...I married my best friend.

We met at Harmonious Monks, a restaurant where the waitstaff put on shows every night.  I was a hostess; he was the sous chef. 

Yes.  I married a chef.  I am smart.

Our first "date" was at Fazoli's.  How romantic is that?!

We got engaged at Manuel's on the 28th (which has since closed) on my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary.  That's a bit more romantic than the Fazoli's story, huh?

He made a grand attempt to ask my father before proposing, but that didn't quite work out.  Every time he tried, my parents ended up not being home (he called, he went to the house...he did try!).  So when we came back to my house after dinner, I went into my bedroom to get changed (we had a birthday party to go to at Harmonious Monks) and waited for him to tell my parents before coming out.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

He took so long to get up the courage to tell them that my father started to wonder why I was taking so long just to get changed.

Finally he told them...and their first response was, "Well, that was quick."  Yeah, it was. We wanted to get married in about nine months, I wanted the year to be 2000 so that our first anniversary would be 2001 and we'd always remember how long we'd been married.  Seemed smart, right? That didn't happen either.  My parents wanted us to have a longer engagement to make sure we were sure we wanted to get married. 

Our engagement lasted about a year and a half and we were married on March 3, 2001.  I woke up at 4:30AM that day.  The wedding was at 10AM.  Listen, I just didn't want to spend my entire wedding day full of jitters and nerves.  I figured we should do it first thing in the morning and have the rest of our wedding day together, not avoiding each other for the sake of tradition (can't see the bride before the wedding = GRRR). 

We stayed at the Disney All-Star Music Resort that night and boarded the Disney Wonder cruise ship the next day for our honeymoon.  AWESOME.  We need to do another Disney cruise; that was so much fun!

The past nine years have been full of laughter, tears, anger, smiles, laundry, cleaning, job changes, bills, homes, foreclosures and moving.

But the best part of our marriage is our little girl.  She is the light of our lives and proof that we are a great team, capable of creating beauty and warmth. 

I've learned that my husband really does want to help me...but I need to ask.  He is most definitely not a mind reader.

I've learned that no matter how many times I do ask and he forgets, he's not forgetting on purpose...he's simply forgetting and that's not a reason for me to get angry.

I've learned that my husband is one of the most caring people I've ever met and THE best dad to our baby girl. 

I've learned that sometimes I need to just let things go...and not always feel like I have to be right. I've learned this, but it's still hard to practice it!

I've learned that it's important to focus on what my husband is telling me, to tune everything else out and really pay attention to what he's saying and feeling.  Sometimes my daughter has to come second to what my husband needs.

I've learned that submission is an act of a Godly, strong woman - not a weak one.

I've learned that our marriage is worth fighting for and when the going gets tough, we get tough together. We will fight FOR each other and not with each other. 

Happy anniversary, Pat. I love you!