8 years!

Well, Today marks Chris and my 8 year Anniversary. Seeing that my 7 year post last year didn't go over that great, I thought I would take a different approach this year! I figured I would tell our "story" since there might be one person who really doesn't know "our story".

Chris and I have known each other since Kindergarten. Yes, that's right, Kindergarten. We actually had the same teacher, but I was AM and he was PM. Of course, in my brain, how they decided who went to AM and who went to PM was to do with their height. All short kids went to AM and all tall kids went to PM. Anyways, since Chris was tall, he was PM, and since I was a midget, I was AM. We never really had a class together in elementary school, which seems unreal to me, but we became friends in sixth grade when we both decided to join the band. We played the same instrument and amazingly enough, in all our years of band we sat side-by-side. I can probably count the number of times on one hand (probably on a few fingers) that someone separated us in a "chair test". (Chair tests were when you played a certain piece of music for the director and they decided what order you sat in by how well you played the music.) Usually Chris was 1st chair and I was 2nd (as much as it PAINS me to say it.... but, he was a natural, and I just had pure competitiveness running through me...). Through those 7 years of sitting next to each other every day, we had good times and times where we were both annoyed with each other. I don't know how he put up with all my mood swings throughout those years, maybe it was survival mode and he knew that he still had to sit by me, so he better be nice. We had some FUNNY moments in our years in band together, but I won't go through all of them, mostly because I was the one being ridiculous and I don't want to embarrass myself, after all, it IS my blog! I do remember one time during a contest HE (although he swears it was me) forgot to bring the music, so we had NO music and had to play everything by memory.. which, when you are like me and get the giggles easily, that's NOT good... especially when it's a UIL contest...

These aren't the best pictures, because I did it with the Webcam

but you get the point. This was us when we graduated from High School.. awe!

This was us at our Senior Year Band Banquet ('97).. again, terrible quality

but you get the point...

Anyways, after graduation, we tried to get together once in a while and "keep tabs" on each other. We would go out and have dinner and then that was it. As God would orchestrate, we both stayed here and went to local colleges. Eventually the "groups" we ran around with meshed together somehow (still don't know how that happened) and we started hanging out a lot more. I finally realized that I was tired of him dating other girls and the "stupid boy" needed to know it was time to date me. He agreed, and the rest is history. We have been together 11 years and married for 8. I can't believe we have come SO far and have 3 beautiful kids out of our journey. As I told him once before, "Chris, I'm right, I've always been right, and I'll always BE right" -- I told him this BEFORE we started dating... and the boy STILL agreed to date me?? good boy!

Oh, one funny thing. Before we were dating and we went out one night, we went to see EVER AFTER (great movie). Apparently this was the night he was going to tell me he kind of "liked" me, but I called him, "buddy" in the parking lot and punched his arm... oops! So, where did we go for our first date?? Joe's Crabshack, and to go see the movie THE MATRIX.. so "romantic", but so me!

This was us when around the first year of dating.. Gosh, look how YOUNG we look!!!

Chris is so going to kill me! But, really, I'm the one looking goofy!

Thanks for being married to me for 8 years and putting up with me for 11!

This is when he realized I wore tennis shoes on our wedding day!

Lighting the unity candle... oh, so serious!