10 years

So, I made a list ...

Own a business.  Have a child.  Out of debt.  Own a dog.  Own a home. 

So, I had a list ... but I had no plan.

I was 21.  The fun was over.  Time to decide ... What do I want to be when I grow up?  I had a degree in Business ... but no job (and nothing on the horizon.)

I had a list ... but absolutely no idea how to go about accomplishing anything on it.

In a time in my life when all seemed gray and hazy, one thing was clear ... whatever was to come, be it greatness or failure, pleasant or somber, simple or foreboding ... I needed Julie by my side, in my corner, cheering me on, each step of the way.   

I have a hard time putting into words exactly what makes Julie unique to me.  I think the answer lies in our differences.  Julie loves to be with people, to talk to them and hear their stories.  I tend to hide in the crowd.  She listens and reacts to people with true empathy. That is something that has always escaped me.  She makes an impression and leaves a mark with many that she meets.  I can typically fade off without a trace.  Being a person who tends to be very private and introverted, I am left in awe at how Julie can draw people close to her and really make an impact on them.

It is a cliche, I know, but it is so true that opposites attract.  I think that it can be a truly uniting relationship when two people, who are seemingly so different, use those differences to become "whole".  "AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh." (Mark 10:8)

Julie and I hold common values; respect, caring, compassion.  I think you need to have core values in common with someone to use as a base when trying to navigate through your differences.  Now, not to mislead you, it has not been all candy canes and lolly pops.  We have had to work really hard to keep things moving in the right direction over the years.  We have maneuvered past college (where we dated for 3 years), the loss of a parent, the birth of a child at a relatively early age, crazy work schedules, moving to a new and unfamiliar city, opening a business, twins, closing a business.  But through all of that I think we are as strong a couple as ever.

Our pastor put it best when speaking about his marriage, that no matter what happens (with certain and obvious exceptions), or how bad things might be right now, you can't have an exit sign hanging over your marriage.  If you love and respect each other, and you were sincere when you spoke 'till death do part, then you should be able to handle just about anything.  I think that it helps our marriage to have this mentality.  We know we are here for the long haul.

So what else can I say?

I love my wife.  I love how she laughs.  I love how beautiful she is.  She is a wonderful mother.  She is my best friend and I can't begin to describe what that means to me.

It continues to amaze me, no matter how I may mess up, she continues to show me love and grace.  She continues to be my greatest fan and number one cheerleader.

So, I had a list ... 11years ago ... and today, 10 years since our wedding day, I still need Julie by my side, in my corner, cheering me on each step of the way.

Snow Days

It is so quiet when it snows.  It is so quiet, that if you listen real carefully, you can here the snow landing on the snow that has fallen before it.  It is so peaceful.

A lot of people believe that if you cover an alligators head with a bag or a blanket that they go to sleep.  Turns out that this is just a myth, but it does calm them down, lowers their heart rate and minimizes the amount of adrenaline that is released into their bodies.

I think a "blanket" of freshly fallen snow is God's way of calming us down, lowering our heart rate and minimizing the flow of adrenaline into our bodies.

Studies have shown that the holiday season, which we are just coming out of, for a number of reasons, is the time of year when a lot of heart attacks occur.  And also, surprisingly (or not so much, when you think about it) heart attacks occur 20% more on Mondays than any other day of the week.

So to have a Monday without the sounds of school buses, cars horns, phones ringing, text messages and e-mail chimes, but instead the sounds of children laughing, sleds sliding, and hot chocolate percolating, leads me to believe that someone dropped a blanket over the world in a way to say, relax, enjoy, no need to rush today.

Blogging

To tell you the truth, I really have no idea what is about to come out of my head and into the computer, but I felt the need to write.  This time last year was when I really started blogging heavily and I miss it.  Now being a stay at home dad gave me a lot of inspiration, while working outside the home in a small office really doesn't provide all that much material (at least the type of material you could share on a blog that could easily accessed by your boss and coworker).

So here I am writing with no clear direction.  I remember in high school I had an English class that the teacher would require us to write for 10 minutes with out stopping.  There was no topic given, so we were to write whatever comes to mind.  I really liked that, so I am going to try it once again.  Here goes...

It is 2:09 pm and I am basically ignoring my children right now.  Zadie is napping and Zoe and Zane are slowly closing in on me.  They do this when they are being ignored.  They find something to do but do it right next ot you and ask lots of questions about it.

They are now asking me to go to church.  A couple of problems with this.  It is now 2:11 pm and the last service ended at 12:30.  Zane has been throwing up for the past 3 days and the church has a policy that symptoms can not be present for at least 24 hours to be allowed into the childrens program.

I just took away a toy camera from Zoe and Zane because they were fighting over it when I expressly told them to share nicely. I put the camera on the fridge and they are devising a way to get to the camera.  Zane has now come over to me and asked in a very annoyed voice," why did you put that camera on the fridge?  Momma is going to be very mad at you!"  As he said the last line, Zoe put her hands on hips, looked at me angrily and sighed.  Then she said to Zane, "we can figure this out, come on."

I don't know why Zane is still sick.  Usually a stomach virus in a 24 and done type of thing, but it has been 3 days.  I do have to say, he is the best vomiter that I have ever seen.  It just comes out, he gets cleaned up and he is off again.  The other night, we were at the table.  He ran to the bathroom, threw-up, washed his face and hands and came back to the table and asked for cookies and milk.

I guess Zoe could not come up with anything to get her camera down, so she resorted to standing a couple feet from me, putting her hands on her hips, stomping her foot and demanding, "Daddy, get my camera down right now!"  It didn't work.

That's ten minutes.  That was fun.