Eight is Not Enough

Eight years ago on this hot July day I said the words, I do.  Never would I have guessed that those two little words would have taken me on this crazy adventure...

I would have never known the glamourous and fast paced lifestyle of Yuma, Arizona.

I would have never experienced discovering the beauty and wonders the Grand Canyon State has to offer with my hubs. (including the Grand Canyon itself)

I would have never known the joys of parenting our sweet boy together.

I would have never known what it's like to be a hunting or shooting widow for days on end.

I would have never seen a large dead elk in the bed of a truck, or it's meaty treasures frozen in my freezer.

I would not have a javelina skull adorning a wall in my bedroom.

I would never have tasted cream cheese stuffed, bacon wrapped jalapenos.  Yum.

I would never have laughed as you try to be in charge.  We know who really runs things 'round here.

And, I would never change any of it.

Thanks for the adventure.  I love you something fierce, Andrew Gross.  Here's to many, many more....

Lucky Number 7

It was 7 years ago today. We were outside. It was at least 110 degrees, even at 7:00pm, but we never felt the heat. My dress was white, strapless, and beautiful. The song "She" by Elvis Costello played as I made my way to Andrew. He stood there smiling, wearing black Chuck Taylors with his black suit and red tie. Later, he would admit that he was fighting back tears as he stood there watching me. My parents walked with me. His parents watched us. We served them communion. Our sisters, brother, and friends stood in witness. Others that we loved, and who loved us were also present. The officiant shared words of hope and love. We took our turns repeating after him and placing rings on each other's fingers. We were married. Lyrics from Dave Matthews Band played:

Celebrate we will
Because life is short but sweet for certain
We're climbing two by two
To be sure these days continue
These things we cannot change

The summer sun was just setting. The lights of Las Vegas could begin to be seen twinkling in the almost night sky from atop the foothills where we were gathered. Nightfall brought cool breezes that blew towards us up the hill and across the damp grass of the golf course below us. We celebrated. We danced to "Fools Rush In" sang by Eddie Vedder. We ate cupcakes. We celebrated some more. We danced some more.

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That night was beautiful, wonderful, and magical. The last 7 years have been unforgettable. Happy anniversary, Andrew. I love you.

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"You and Me"

Dave Matthews Band

Wanna pack your bags, Something small

Take what you need and we disappear

Without a trace we'll be gone, gone

The moon and the stars can follow the car

And then when we get to the ocean

We gonna take a boat to the end of the world

All the way to the end of the world

Oh, and when the kids are old enough

We're gonna teach them to fly

You and me together, we could do anything, Baby

You and me together yes, yes

You and me together yes, yes

You and I, we're not tied to the ground

Not falling but rising like rolling around

Eyes closed above the rooftops

Eyes closed, we're gonna spin through the stars

Our arms wide as the sky

We gonna ride the blue all the way to the end of the world

To the end of the world

Oh, and when the kids are old enough

We're gonna teach them to fly

You and me together, we could do anything, Baby

You and me together yes, yes

We can always look back at what we did

All these memories of you and me baby

But right now it's you and me forever girl

And you know we could do better than anything that we did

You know that you and me, we could do anything

You and me together, we could do anything, Baby

You and me together yeah, yeah

Two of us together, we could do anything, baby

You and me together yeah, yeah

Two of us together yeah, yeah

Two of us together, we could do anything, baby

To reach the end of the world

When Mommy's Away....

It has been one of those weeks. A week in which there is something to do, someplace to be, or someone to see everday, even after working all day long. Thursday was the climax of it all. It was Open House night at school. I taught all day and made sure my classroom was visitor ready, then I had time to go home for a quick outfit change, grab a sandwich, and head back to school to smile and tell parents about all the wonderful things we are learning in 3rd and 4th grade until almost 9pm. Needless to say by the time I got home I was exhausted.

I arrived home expecting to find the same dirty dishes in the sink, laundry on the floor, and toys in the living room that had been quickly piling up all week long. On the contrary, and to my surprise and utter dismay, what I did find was a neatly folded pile of freshly laundered clothes, dishes cleaned, dried and put away, toys put in their rightful place, and even the large and ominous pile of mail and papers and junk had been sorted through. It was the most wonderful gift! My husband, who had worked all day himself, and actually returned to work after I got home had done all that before I got home. And with a toddler running around to boot. Andrew gave me a synopsis of how it all went down: He told me how David had gotten into the toliet (literally), poured a jug of water into the dog's kennel, and how Andrew stepped in dog poop and tracked it through the house.

I'm not exactly sure how he got it all done amidst that chaos, but I am glad it got done. I had no words except for a humble "thank you" and a hug for my wonderful husband.

I am truly blessed. And I should leave home more often.

Birthday Boy

It was birthday time for a special boy in our house. No, not David. Today is Andrew's 34th birthday. Even as I type it, I can't believe it. We are now in our mid-thirties. We were just babies at 26 years old when we met. How time flies!

Now Andrew is not the birthday celebrating type like his dear wife. He likes very low key, no fuss, no muss, kind of birthdays. So, to respect his wishes I did not plan a surprise party or arrange for an airplane to write a message across the sky. He even declined a cake. I finally got him to agree to homemade chocolate chip-oatmeal cookies. Though, he did make a request for homemade pizza for his birthday dinner. However, since I'm a working mom, I'm a procrastinator, and it rained cats and dogs on Sunday, I failed to acquire the necessary ingredients for cookie baking until late Monday afternoon. I was also picking up his card and present at that time. Ooops.

Needless to say, by the time I got home and began to get the cookie dough going, it was clear that homemade pizza was not going to happen in a timely manner. Not to mention it might have caused me to lose my mind! My dear husband saw that I was in over my head and suggested that we just order a pizza for dinner rather than me go nuts in the kitchen. You would have thought it was my birthday. Such a sweet guy!

So, that was his 34th birthday...some Pizza Hut and chocolate chip cookies at home. He was happy. He's a simple man. That's my birthday boy.















The Birthday Cookies

Oops!

Andrew: I made a little boo-boo.

Me: Yeessss??

Andrew: Well, I thought that my hunting trip was next weekend, but it's really this weekend. I leave Thursday morning.

Me: Not such a LITTLE boo-boo. Thanks for the notice.

:(