Posts Tagged ‘anniversary’

This is my fourth Valentine’s Day with my husband, Daniel.  We were married May of 2006, and dated off an on since November 2004.  I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge this man and how much I love him.

He went from having one child and a quaint life to being the head of a household of then 4 kids, his – the youngest.  He went through the trials of me and my daughter before she moved out.  He went through the trials of one of my son’s just not truly engaging in school and feeling lost.  He continues to go through my youngest’s mental health issues.  Although sometimes he says it’s about all he can take – he continues on.  I respect and admire this man who took on so much when he had the slow and calm life before.

With all of the issues my husband has dealt with by marrying me, I’ve given him the three most important *beings* in my life.  My children.  It’s a gift I would not have given to just anyone.  Although there is drama – there is more love than someone could ever imagine if they were not living it.

He has provided for us, loved us, and generally put up with us.  That’s quite amazing.  On the other side… I’ve put up with him as well.  That’s marriage and it’s what we signed up for.  I’ve been so busy with work, sleep (boy I’m tired!) and Stephen – that I haven’t had much time for my hubby.  We are making time tomorrow which will be wonderful, even though it’s storming.  Hey, storms are romantic.

While we venture closer to our wedding anniversary I can honestly say it’s been a wonderful ride.  I love him very much and thought I’d tell him here as well as together tomorrow for Valentines Day.

He sent me flowers to my job today.  I got to put the beautiful roses in my cubbie and feel loved publicly.  Very nice indeed.

I love you Daniel, thank you for taking on this adventure with me.  Happy Valentines Day.

Love,

Monnie

According to Wikipedia marriage is:

“Marriage is a personal union of individuals. This union may also be called matrimony, while the ceremony that marks its beginning is called a wedding and the status created is sometimes called wedlock.”

According to Monica, marriage is:

“An agreement by two people (no, I DON’T care if it’s same sex fer cryin’ out loud!  that dispute is getting old to me… sheesh):

• combine assets,
• allow the other full access to your heart (yes, even the potential to hurt one another),
• publicly announce you are taken (jeeze, this one was like putting out an announcement in the paper – or maybe we should have),
• to love the other one – even when you are angrier than a bull getting messed with by a guy with a red blanket,
• to not leave or announce DIVORCE ’cause you just can’t take it anymore
• to respect eachother’s lives (yes, we actually DO still have our own lives)
• to deal with the other’s families, even if you aren’t sure why they do what they do (not my hubbies family ofcourse)

to learn, to love, through sickness and health – ’till death do us part kinda thing”

So, after having our 2 year wedding anniversary I can say we’ve done all of the above.

What is a marriage that works?  To me, it’s one you keep working on.

I was married once before, so was he.  His lasted longer than mine… mine lasted all of 6 years.  Enough time to have my beautiful children and thank my ex-husband for the time I had with him.  It wasn’t a pretty breakup, but very quiet – we just gave up.

Daniel and I work hard sometimes on our marriage.  He came in to a family – me and three children.  I took on him and his son.  He is a neat freak, I’m messier than all heck.  He is a perfectionist with money… me?  Well… I have some and my kids are fed and I was always able to pay the bills and keep what I had, that’s all that mattered to me.

We are so different in so many ways.  SO many ways.  I talk to my ex-boyfriend once in awhile, he talks to his ex-wife almost daily.  His ex-girlfriend reads my blog, my ex-boyfriend reads my MySpace.

He is a great provider, a wonderful step-father, and great other things. 

So what do I feel today that’s different than when he and I first started this relationship?  I feel secure, happy, and at peace.

There are days when both of us wonder “what next?”.

Today we just get to *be*.

I love my husband and am glad we fought so hard to be together.  We each left people with broken hearts to come together.  They just weren’t the ones we were to share our lives with.

According to Monica ~ Marriage:  A Union of Two Spirits that Chose to Come Together In This Life to Learn with Eachother

~Monica~

Although we’ve been "with" eachother since 11/2004 – we were married on 5/20/2006!  So, ’tis our one year anniversary!  Oh my gosh we had a blast.  Daniel told me we were going for a drive.  A drive we did up to Napa Valley and into Calistoga California.

We walked around Lincoln Ave in Calistoga and had some fun sites!  There was the "wind fun" guy, the old cars AND the beautiful architecture. 

But his surprise was when we walked into the Lavender Hills Spa!  We had a seaweed bath, facial of sorts, and an hour massage.  Hello?!  What a guy!

I love you honey, and happy first anniversary and looking forward to many many more.

Love and Light,

Mon (enjoy the pics!)

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The Wind Things Man

He was a very colorful guy and very happy!  I just had to put this pic in here. 

The Price of Living There (well, nice parcel!)

The price on this is $2,850,000USD.  Daniel and I were talking about retiring there – but um, the businesses will need to pick up a bit. 

The downtown

The Architecture

 The 1906 Quake, must have been quite a roller coaster.  But the fires got poor San Francisco after the shaking….

I can say I sure wasn’t around for that one.  So without stumbling upon the information on the web reminding me, there was really no thought of it.

I remember my Great Aunt telling me about what she remembered when it happened.  She lived in Oakland and was about 10 years old when it hit. 

My "little" brother was a San Francisco Police Officer (now protecting another city) for quite a few years and when I did a ride-along with him, he pointed out history to me when we drove through the streets.  Where they "held the line" and made a stand to stop the raging fires.  It’s amazing to see the architectural differences just on each side of the street.  One side old, the other newer because it was rebuilt after burning down.

The complete history of it is amazing.  I’m a proud Californian, born and raised… and this Earthquake stuff was always the making of bad dreams for the children.  Still is I suppose.  I remember the fire and earthquake drills we had in school.  I think we had nightmares for days after just wondering if the roof above us was going to crumble. 

Some photos from the California 100th year Page:

It’s amazing what a city, community, area goes through to rebuild from any tragedy.  Emotional and otherwise.  San Francisco is built up again, and hopefully in better shape for the next quake.

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1989 Loma Prieta – Some Pics from SFGate (Chronicals Newspaper, see citation)

Love and Shaking Light,

Monica (who wasn’t around in 1906, but was for the 1989 one)