No Regrets

I am one of the few women who never wanted children.  I adore my nephews, but even as a young adult I had no intentions of having any of my own. 

But then I met a handsome fella and we got married, bought a house and joined our 'families'.  He had 2 children already (who were teenagers when we met), but I started to want my own. 

Due to the fact that my husband is a paraplegic and I had had cervical cancer, we decided to see a specialist to discuss our options.  Soon after that appointment, the so-called "urge" was gone, so we decided not to move forward.  I enjoy our life and for many reasons I don't care to discuss here, we cancelled all future doctor appointments and have never really discussed the topic since.

But, every year around Christmas I get a little depressed.  I tend to think of all the things I won't be doing this year.  I won't attend any Christmas programs at school, I won't make anything awesome from Pinterest for my child's teacher, I won't be able to play Santa, and most of all, I can't pass along the Christmas family traditions that I grew up knowing and loving.

I've learned that the best way to cure this feeling is for me to spend some extra special time with all the little ones around me.  I've got a special date with one of my nephews tonight and I can't wait!

I don't regret the decision my husband and I made, but that doesn't mean I can't dream every now and again of what it would be like to some day be called "mommy"!

Anniversary #2

Tuesday, July 10 was my 2nd wedding anniversary.  I was more than happy to celebrate, seeing that our 2nd year of being married, was so much better than our first. We are truly falling into our husband/wife roles and life is so good!

I did a lot of reminiscing about our wedding day....and 2 years later I still smile ear to ear with the memories of the love I felt that day.  I can honestly say that my wedding day was one of the BEST days of my life so far.

I can remember being on cloud nine...all day....all night!  I've never smiled so hard in one day in all of my life.  I couldn't help it!  Love oozed out of every corner of that tent and I never expected to feel that.

I'm so glad everybody came...I'm so glad my DIY projects were a success...I'm so glad we composed our own ceremony...I'm so glad we didn't elope...But, most of all, I'm so glad ALL of my siblings were able to surround me with their love and support.

There are 2 sisters missing from this photo
(note:  I lost my brother Chris last year...he's the tall one on the left...so I will always cherish my wedding
as being the last "family" event for us all to celebrate together as ONE)

The night was spent laughing, catching up with old friends, screaming with joy, cheering and dancing.  I felt gorgeous and was making a life-altering promise to the man I love and nothing else mattered.

And....did I mention dancing?  Oh boy, did we ever dance!

I will always cherish these memories and I look forward to reminiscing about our wedding day for many, many more years to come!

I hate Valentine's Day

I was going to write a whole post about why I hate Valentine's Day, but then I read this article on CNN and it sums up all my feelings!

Why I hate Valentine's Day

And, on a personal note....My hubby and I got into a huge fight yesterday!  Ughhh!  Our Valentine's Day was awful.  Do you wanna know what the fight was about?  Tator-tot casserole.  Yes, my friends....tator-tot casserole!  Evidently my husband doesn't like cream of mushroom soup used in recipes AND I DIDN'T KNOW THAT! 

Thank God that stupid "day of love" is over!

Baby Sister got Hitched

My baby sister got married on New Years Eve.  It was by far the most beautiful, most formal wedding I have ever been to.

But, best of all....they had a photo booth!  I'm venturing to guess that my siblings and I probably used it the most. 

Here are some of the pics we took:

Of course, hubby and I got in on the action too.....

Here are a few other family pics. 
(my sister, the bride, is not in any of these pics because she is on her honeymoon and none are being posted until she returns and gives the ok)

Hubby and I

Dad, Me, Sister Rachel, Grandma, Brother Chad

And here we are in "birth order"...it's a family joke!

Some of the cousins....good genes sure do run in the family!

Sister and I

And, before I forget.....I have to give credit to my sister Rachel for all of these pics.  I forgot my camera as we were rushing out the door. (typical Amy style)

One Year

Today is my wedding anniversary! It's been a long year full of ups and downs (definitely more downs). But, we made it through and have come out on the other side happier and more in love than ever.


Happy Anniversary babe...I love you!

Remember 2010

I saw this on another blog and thought it was a neat idea!

Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes.  Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010

I want to remember my trip to Panama City Beach, Florida with one of my good friends.  We were chaperone's for her step-daughter and a friend for Spring Break.  It might have been the first time I was truly willing to admit that I "am getting older".  But the time I spent with my girlfriend was unforgettable.

I want to remember the excitement I felt when one of my lifelong best friends told me she and her husband were finally pregnant after 4 long years of infertility issues.

I want to remember how proud I was of my oldest nephew when he was chosen to participate in the Youth National Leadership Conference in Washington, DC. The joy of knowing he is going to grow up to "be somebody and make a difference" is unbearable.  My cheeks hurt from smiling just thinking about it.

I want to remember my bridal shower, bachelorette party and most of all my wedding day.  These events were truly magical.  The laughing hysterically and being surrounded by the people I love most in the world...oh, what a feeling.

I want to remember the hard work and dedication that my sister has put into her weight loss journey.  The smile on her face and excitement in her voice when she hits a new milestone is unforgettable.

I want to remember being alone and crying after enduring the worst thing that has ever happened to me.  And knowing that I can come back out on top.

I want to remember the phone call I received from my step-daughter asking if she could be a part of our lives again (she did not speak to her dad for over 3 years).  Watching my husbands face light up as I told him about this phone call was priceless.

I want to remember watching my hometown high school football team win the State Championship. 

I want to remember Thanksgiving spent at my sisters house and how a last minute change in plans ended up being a memory of a lifetime.

I want to remember time spent with my girlfriends and family dinners on the weekends.  I want to remember the love I have for my husband, family and friends.  I want to remember the joy, the sorrow, the laughter and the tears of 2010.

Life

Life has taken over....Let's just say so much has happened in the past couple weeks that there are days I can barely form words to speak.

To make a long story short, my husband is having some medical problems and it's scaring the living daylights out of me!!  I always knew in the back of my mind that there would come a day that my husbands spinal cord injury would cause him some issues.  I was thinking more like 30 years down the road, not less than 2 months after getting hitched!

The main problem at this point is that there are SO many different things going on, that the doctors can't pinpoint a diagnosis to fit all the symptoms.  Seriously people...it's been over 2 weeks of hospital visits and trips to the ER.  Can't someone please tell us what is going on?  The cat scan of his brain didn't show anything disturbing, we are meeting with a neurologist tomorrow, and driving to University of Michigan hospital on Monday to meet with some specialists and have an MRI done.

As much as I "don't" want them to find anything wrong, it would actually be nice at this point if they "did" find something wrong.  Then we would have some answers and be able to move forward.  At this point we are at a stand-still and in the meantime, my husband is not getting any better.  There are days where he is actually getting worse.

Please send your prayers our way because we could surely use them!

Life is Like a Roller Coaster

There has been an update in my earlier post.  My stepson will no longer be coming to live with us.  I can't get into the details here, but know that we are all crushed and heartbroken!  The past couple days have definitely been a roller coaster of emotions.

But, as my sister told me this morning "everything happens for a reason and if he is meant to live with us then it will happen".

Things are about to change.....

The husband and I made a HUGE family decision last night.  My 15 year old stepson is going to live with us full time.  This is something we've been throwing around for well over a year now, but the time just never seemed right.  Finally, all the pieces are falling into place.  This is going to require him starting off Highschool in a different school, but he is more than ready for a change and we (as parents) are more than ready to get him into a different environment.

I'm looking forward to this and know in my heart that this is the best thing for him.  Not to mention, this is a dream come true for my husband.

Picture Overload

The wedding day was nothing short of amazing!  I've never smiled so hard in one day in my whole life.  I couldn't help myself.

I felt stunning and gorgeous, but most importantly I felt loved.  The entire wedding party radiated from the joy and excitement of the day.

I was on a high that lasted the entire weekend.  It was a dream come true to see all of our family and friends in one place.

It was a perfect wedding!  Literally, the best day of my life.  And to be honest, I wasn't shooting for perfection...it just happened that way!

I was making big, life-altering promises to the man I love and I was surrounded by the most important people in my life.

I danced like a mad woman and laughed and screamed with joy!

I'm so glad that that everybody came...I'm so glad that we didn't take on anymore DIY projects...I'm so glad I have such amazing women in my life...I'm so glad we composed our own ceremony and vows...

I'M SO GLAD WE DIDN'T ELOPE!!!

If I had known the wedding would be so amazing and that marriage would be this good, I would have had a MUCH shorter engagement.

To watch our families intertwine to a degree that they appeared as one made my heart melt.

Pro Pics

I received the link from our photographer to see ALL the pics she took of our wedding.  It took me about an hour to look at them all because of the sheer volume of pictures.  Well, that and I couldn't stop crying so I had to keep pausing the slideshow.  One word.....BEAUTIFUL!!

I can't wait to get the disc from her so I can start posting my favs. 

Warning:  I have a lot of favs!!

18 Days of Marriage

(I'm taking a small break in my wedding recaps while I patiently wait for our professional pictures to arrive.)

We've officially been married for 18 days.  In these 2-1/2 weeks as husband and wife I've learned a few things.

• Marriage is WAY better than I ever hoped and dreamed it would be.  The fact that every day you wake up and choose to love this person 'till death do us part' is an unbelievable feeling.

• Marriage is about growing together as much as it is about growing as an individual

• Marriage is about compromise.  I knew when I married Don that he would always be late, he's got a "truckers mouth" and he whole-heartedly believes that ketchup makes any food taste better.   I, on the other hand, will always arrive early, I will not touch raw meat, and I'm a sucker for bad reality television.  You find ways to make each others quirks work instead of trying to change each other into who you want them to be.  We knew who we married and love each other anyways.

• Getting a surprise text in the middle of the day from your husband is lovely.  It's great to know that someone is thinking about you, especially when it's your other half.

• And lastly....If you are a bride who chose to take your husband's name, it will take longer than 18 days before you get used to the change.  I see my new name show up on emails, mail, etc. and for a brief second I still wonder who this person is!