Today marks a very special occasion.....my 10 year wedding anniversary to Johnathan. I dedicate this day to him and to our past, present and future lives as husband and wife. We have been through so much as a couple. A couple who met on the Internet, that is.
For those of you who don't know my husband all that well, let me take a few moments to tell you about him. He is the kind of Daddy any little girl would love to have. He takes her to the park, they play in her room, they go shopping together, and he is always eager to provide ample hugs, kisses and tickles. She absolutely adores him. I know one day he will have her fluent in Spanish and they will plot behind my back regularly. : ) Now, you have not had your heart melted until you have heard he and Olivia singing "Beautiful Girl" at bedtime. (He adapted John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy."
Close your eyes, Have no fear, The monsters gone, He's on the run and your daddy's here,
Beautiful, Beautiful, beautiful. Beautiful Girl,
Before you go to sleep, Say a little prayer, Every day in every way, It's getting better and better,
Beautiful, Beautiful, beautiful. Beautiful Girl
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When it comes to having a best friend, I hit the jackpot. We are that annoying couple that can finish each other's sentences. We have little excerpts from movies that we quote and laugh at and sometimes others feel a little left out. We love having fun together. In fact, I have never had more fun in my life than I have had with my husband...he cracks me up! He has helped me to become a very outgoing person. I used to be the kind of girl who would not want to attend events because I didn't know anyone. I'd sit by myself as he mingled and would be bored and look unapproachable. Over years of watching him, I have learned how to talk to people. I am no longer afraid that they will give me a dirty look and walk away. Some people even come up and start talking to me and I no longer panic. He has helped me be a better me.
Being a military couple, we have learned that calendar dates don't mean a thing in the grand scheme of things. As far as we are concerned, Christmas is on December 23rd...or whatever day he was able to get off work. Our anniversary has been celebrated on just about every day in the first week of June. We don't let the little things stop us from being happy. It actually works out quite well. The wait at a nice restaurant on Feb 15th is nothing!
The worst part is this....my husband is very romantic....yes, I said worst part. I am not one of those girls that loves getting sappy cards and notes or flowers. It really is quite a waste of a perfectly great talent I must admit. This will be more completely illustrated when I post the blog detailing my 4 year wedding anniversary surprise that he planned and executed without me knowing. You will be impressed.
Through all the good times and the very few hard times, I can honestly say that I am so very blessed. My husband is my protector...just check his holster! : ) Although it is hard being the wife of a police officer and constantly having dinner plans ruined or cut short; I can say that I am so very proud of all he has accomplished. He is a hard working, honest man with exceptional integrity, faith and is a great judge of character. He has had to deal with a lot during our marriage. I have been in poor health throughout most of our time together in one way or another. When my hair started getting really thin and I just didn't know what to do; it was his idea for me to just shave it all off. I was so worried he wouldn't find me attractive anymore, but he told me I would always be beautiful to him.
I love you, Johnathan! Happy Anniversary and I look forward to many more years of love, laughs and inside jokes.
How We Met
I got a medical discharge from the US Navy in February 1997. I moved back to the town where I attended and graduated high school, Lincoln, NE. I moved in with one of my best friends, Julie. We were both 2 single gals loving life and looking to the future. Julie was a CNA and I was working at a grocery store bakery pulling the 12am to 9am shift. Someone has to have those doughnuts and bagels ready at 5am when the folks start rolling in! I had been a medical lab tech in the Navy, but could not do that job in the civilian world. I did not have a certification required and the light from the microscope had begun triggering my migraines. The only thing else I knew was food service.
Before going in to work, I would get on the computer and try to find some other military folks to chat with. After having a lifestyle for 7 years it is hard to leave it without a sense of loss. I was looking to reconnect with some of those folks, perhaps finding a like minded person nearby. It was in a chat room that I met "DaHickster." He was giving some guy grief and it was quite amusing to read. The speed at which he typed was uncanny. The positively perfect grammar, punctuation and spelling peaked my interest immediately. Who was this guy? He seemed great so far. Especially for me....someone who used to return notes friends passed to me that has misspellings and corrections needed. I always has a red pencil at the ready!
We struck up a conversation that quickly led to the usual...what do you look like. This is where most folks lied...I did not. Evidently, he was refreshed to find that one woman out there in cyberspace that wasn't a petite blond with green eyes...imagine that! We soon got into more interest related questions and that fateful question I asked........Do you enjoy killing Bambi? Now, don't get me wrong. I am not against hunting, but I didn't want to get involved with someone who made it a large part of their lifestyle. Being from Nebraska, I didn't want to have one of those houses where you might come home to see a deer being bled out in a tree in our front yard. His careful response was , "Danger Will Robinson!" I cracked up! All that and a great sense of humor. We decided to exchange pictures. Oddly enough, we both had the same thought....send the worst photo possible to see if the interest is still there. When his photo arrived Julie took one look and wrinkled up her nose. It was a photocopy of a hometown newspaper article talking about how a local guy had lost a bunch of weight to join the Corps and worked to keep it off . It had a pretty bad before picture and the after photo had him in his BCG's. That is military talk for Birth Control glasses. They make anyone so ugly that no other form of birth control is required. She responded with something like, "Not much of a looker is he? You still gonna chat with him?" I said I would, I mean a girl can never have too many friends...especially a Marine. I don't recall what his thoughts were in regards to my photo, but I would imagine it was as benign as mine. Feel free to add your 2 cents worth, hon. Now, the second photo....there's where we each felt we hit the proverbial lottery. His photo was of him in his uniform, without the BCGs, but with these gorgeous twinkling baby blue eyes and a smile to die for. Now, that's a picture a girl puts by her bedside table to dream about! Hubba hubba! I can say that his reaction to my second photo was as positive.
Over the next 4 months we exchanged a gazillion internet chats and several thousands of dollars worth of long distance...yes I did say thousands. (He was stationed in Cuba with the Marines at the time and it was mega expensive to talk on the phone to Cuba back then. I think my average phone bill was about $500-$600 and he spent a similar amount calling me.) All that talking really made us come to the same solution. We need to meet in person.
He arrived at the airport in late May and he was soo cute. He looked just like his photo and as he had described himself...5'10" - a blond teddy bear with muscles. Totally NOT my type. : ) I like the tall, dark and brooding types. The kind of guys that looked a little dangerous. Pretty much the complete opposite of Johnathan. We had a great time talking and getting to know one another and we each realized that what we had was far more than just a casual interest developing. I was "the one" and he was "the one."
5 days pass since we met face to face. Johnathan decides we need to have photos taken together to commemorate our time together. Seems like a harmless bit of fun, so I agree. And while we are all dressed up he thinks we should go out to dinner...maybe Olive Garden. Again, rational thinking. Anyone who knows me knows I am all about being rational. : ) We get to OG and evidently I mess up his well laid plans by not ordering wine with dinner. I had to work and wine makes me sleepy, so I opt out. Soon after our order is placed and my Diet Coke arrives, I am greeted by flowers that wait staff has been asked to bring me with my wine...see the problem....no wine...when do we bring the flowers? I accept the flowers and turn to place them on the table and when I look up, Johnathan is in the middle of the aisle of the middle of Olive Garden on one knee...what the...! Yup, you guessed it. He was proposing.....in the swirl of delight and unexpected madness of the moment I accepted and the ring ended up on my hand, but I don't actually recall the moment. I think I actually muttered, "Uh-huh" to the proposal and just thrust forth the appropriate hand. Well, the whole place clapped and cheered and that is why we now celebrate our anniversary at OG.
Johnathan had to return to Cuba to finish out his tour, but he moved to Nebraska on October 31, 2007. We were married the following June on D-Day near his hometown outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. We honeymooned at Kings Island, a local amusement park. I think it should have been a sign of things to come in our lives and God's special sense of humor when we showed up for a day of fun to find that it was "Gay Day" at the park. Well, we were as jolly as we could be and Johnathan was certainly glad to be "spoken for."
Now, you can well imagine how long this post would be if I illustrated our last 10 years that same way I did our meeting and engagement, so I'll leave that to another post on another day....we all have lives to get back to!
