The Story of Us.

Tomorrow is our ninth wedding anniversary. I can hardly believe it. Sometimes, it seems like it's all gone by in the blink of an eye. Sometimes, it seems like hubs and I have been loving each other forever. Life is weird that way, isn't it?

Since we began dating when I was a senior in high school, we have a long shared history together. I was looking through some old albums the other day (having your sweet little baby grow up on you will get you to doing that), and it kinda amazed me how long we've been in each other's lives. A quick photo depiction:

This is us shortly after we started dating. What babies we were! We took this at the photo booth in the mall. I'm sure that I used every ounce of girlish charm I had to convince hubs to wear an outfit that matched mine. We have a whole bunch of photos taken at this session, and I really cherish them.

This is us at my senior prom. I was wearing three-inch heels that night, which is why I'm almost as tall as him in the picture! We had a great time that night. He sang "Lady in Red" into my ear while we were dancing, and I nearly melted then and there.

We dated off and on through college (long distance - yuck). We decided to get married sometime during college, but we waited to make it official until we'd both graduated. I LOVE this shot of us at our wedding reception. I think it captures our relationship, and our personalities, really well.

We took a honeymoon cruise. This is us somewhere in the Carribbean, back when I had enough positive body image to bare my midriff. (Boy, THOSE were the days!) Hubs looks like a total All-American dreamboat in this pic.

Nerds in love!! A couple of years later, we went to Paris, mostly because I figured that Paris was where you went when you were young and smitten. Hubs had never ridden in a plane before this trip, and it definitely took some coaxing to get him on board. (Especially considering we went on this trip the March after the Sept. 11 attacks, which completely freaked hubs out. I had to promise him that we'd pack a pork sandwich in the carry-on and sling it in the face of any would-be terrorists. The idea here was that the terrorist, having now been defiled by forbidden meat, would then not be able to go straight to Allah after death. Now, what we would have done if any potential terrorists had NOT been Muslim? I don't know. Feed them lunch, I guess.)

This is us in Hawaii in late 2004. What I love about this pic is the story behind it. We'd had a LONG day that day. Our flight in had been delayed for several hours in L.A., and we were tired. But I'm the kind of traveler that doesn't want to spend a minute longer than I have to in my hotel room. Somehow, I talked hubs into going out for a quick bite to eat and a drink before turning in. Even though he didn't really WANT to, he came for me. And I think that this picture, snapped by a random waiter in the bar, is one of the best ones from our trip.

This is us in Arizona in late 2005, I think. (Are you noticing a pattern here? As I was looking back over the albums, I noticed that most of the pics of just the two of us were taken while on vacation. All the others have tons of folks in them - family, friends, etc. It seems that holidays and special occasions are crowded events in the Bradshaw household!) This was part of a vacation that took us to Phoenix, Sedona, and the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is a wonderful place to go with someone you love. We stayed at one of the smaller lodges outside of the main village, and it was so peaceful and quiet there. In the evenings, we'd take little walks on the rim trail and see all kinds of wildlife. We'd sit at the lookouts out there and have the canyon all to ourselves at sunset, watching the condors twirl through the air below us.

Which brings us to today! I look at Clay all the time and notice how he's a perfect little combination of the two of us. I am positive that we are not the best parents around. We make mistakes all the time, get lazy, or just don't do as much as we could/should. But on the upside, we keep smiling and we keep enjoying one another and the life we've built together. And I don't guess anyone can ask for any more than that, can they?

Happy anniversary, sweetie!

P.S. I've already promised that for next year - the big 1-0 - we'll go to Vegas and renew our vows in a trashy ceremony officiated by a Star Trek character. And maybe witnessed by Elvis. I'm already practicing that Spock hand thing! Hee hee!