This. Is. Us.

Love the show and stole the name but its perfect.  Everyone and every family has their US...here is ours.

About last night.  So today is our 14th wedding anniversary.  We couldn't do much today because of Joe's schedule so we kind of celebrated last night.  And by kind of I mean kind of.  Our lives are crazy and Joe is not a planner so between 4 kids, work, and my take-it-hour-by-hour schedule at 5:30pm I told him we had cans of tuna and boxes of au gratin potatoes that I would fix for supper.  I was later then I thought getting home...so I walk in the door at 7:30 thinking we were having sandwiches...my plan B...and Joe had the potatoes in the oven and was crumbling toasted bread for the tuna patties.  Awesome!  So I jump right in.  Well that in itself was fun because he's a smoker and a griller not a kitchen cook.  Dinner was delicious and it describes us perfectly.  He loaded the dishwasher and washed all the dishes.  Its how he says I love you.  And I love it.

So fast forward to 10pm.  Yep our kids are having a great summer...even the 2 year old stays up.  Whatever.  I go lay down in Kate's room (5 yr old) with the 2 yr old.  Kate in her bed and me on the floor mattress with the 2 year old.  Kate is whining about wanting to lay with me and this and that (more than usual) so I tell her fine go lay with daddy.  He's in our king size bed.  I am not jealous at all.  He's sleeping alone in our king size bed...I am on a bunky mattress on the floor with a still awake 2 year old.  Whatever.  Anywho.  Kate walks into his our room.  Here is where it gets CraZy.  4 kids.  Anything goes.  So apparently she leans into his face to tell him to scoot over.  And then she barfs.  In his face.  And then because that's not good enough.  She starts walking/running somewhere and continues to throw up on the bedroom floor and the bathroom rug.  What the heck.  After the dust settled I had a stern convo with her about how you throw up.  She's 5.  She can do better.  I said please just stay on the hard floor away from beds and rugs and puke.  Right there.  In a pile.  We went over this a few more times because the nights still young and I have no idea if it will happen again.  Joe and I both jumped into action (I heard commotion and ran into the room) cleaning up all the puke...putting stuff in the washer with so much bleach and ALL THE FUN THINGS married couples do on anniversary eve.

We always say we should write a book.  All.  The.  Things.  Honestly I am so thankful I get to do life and family with Joe.  There is just something so magical about raising a family with your husband who is more than your best friend...he's like a mirror image of you.  You feel the same things as you go through the same things and no one else quite understands exactly what the both of you are feeling while going through the things.

Joe was engaged before and I was engaged before.  I had a dream.  Like I HAD A DREAM.  No really it was a turning point for sure.  At 21 in college.  I dreamed I was getting married, wedding day getting married, walking down the aisle getting married.  It was so vivid.  In our big catholic church.  As I started walking down the long aisle I quickly realized the person I was walking to was not my current significant other.  Whoa.  So in my dream my head is scrambling trying to figure out who this boy is.  Hmmm.  He kind of looked like a classmate of mine but it wasn't that person.  Very vivid.  Very real.  As I past the 3rd row from the front there sat my current significant other.  What.  Most of the dream was me trying to figure out this boy I was walking towards.  Woke up the next morning in shock and the biggest gut feeling ever.  Broke off the engagement.  Just like that.  And started hanging out with some hometown friends.

A few months later I met a guy.  Neither of us were crazy about settling down.  Over the next year we had more fun than ever.  We were dating but we did more hanging out with mutual friends, his brothers, their girlfriends, etc all in our hometown.  Everyone started getting engaged and married.  I think we went to, or were in, 50 weddings in the course of a year.  But nothing for us.  We talked marriage but he never pushed go.  I got frustrated feeling left out.  Finally once I just started being patient he proposed.  A year and two weeks later we were married.  July 12, 2003.  Walking up the aisle.  It was my dream and my dream guy.  Not joking.  He has all the vivid features from my past dream.  I can still picture the dream.  And its Joe.  Crazy!  And some divine intervention for sure.

One of Joe's best friends told me one time that he is the "salt of the earth' kind of guy.  (salt of the earth definition, an individual or group considered as representative of the best or noblest elements of society. )
Not that I think I married a king or anything but I sure got a good one.  He is the guy I hope my daughters marry and the guy that I want my sons to be.

This would probably embarrass him so I kept it much shorter than the words in my head.  We all have good guys.  He is def not the only one.  I am just happy I get to do this with him.

I came home this morning from taking the oldest to camp to this.  I know it sounds so cliche BUT this is exactly all the things with us.  Thoughtfulness goes such a long way.  Evidently he went flowering picking this morning.  At our home.  On our land.  You can't buy that.

Here are some pictures of my dress.  I LOVED my dress.  I cried when I took it off after wearing it maybe 11 hours.  I want to wear it again.  IS that weird??
These 3 were taken by my FRIEND Jami at the Cathedral in downtown Dallas.
Side note:  We were a year shy of the digital age so these are pictures of pictures I snapped in the album with my iPhone.

Best day ever...(photos Morgan Photography)

Best wedding party ever!

And we had so much fun!
He had me at our first dance years before this...

This was not the original plan.  And it was the only thing that didn't go exactly as I had pictured.  We were supposed to ride away into the sunset (or 11pm...we were having so much fun and didn't want to leave!!) in a vintage Rolls Royce.  But I missed the confirmation voicemail from the car company the day before on my parents home phone so they cancelled our order...ugh.  Whatever.

When.  Yes, when we do our anniversary party we will try it again!

Thanks to my BFF's dad for coming thru with a really cool getaway car!

Off to our honeymoon...

That was us and THIS IS US.