20 years later....

Today is our 20 year wedding anniversary.  I'd love to say that we are jetting off on that honeymoon we never took but instead I'll be taking a kid to football practice while my husband teaches a night class.  We will see each other tonight around 8:30 for leftovers.  I'm okay with that because this is the phase we are in right now.  Looking at that picture above of those two young punks, I have so many things I want to tell them.  We were only 18, totally smitten with each other and thought we knew everything.  I mean, if he could love me with that rockin' mullet, we'd pretty much passed the worst hurdle, right?  As we stood in my mom's kitchen that day, we had just both come home for the weekend, me from ISU and RJ from College of DuPage.  He was playing football there so he'd been gone most of the summer.  We were so happy to see each other.  Now that we are passing the 20 year mark, I feel like I need to tell our 18 year old selves so many things.

Marriage is not all it's cracked up to be.  It's messy and ugly and different for every couple.  Luckily, our's is pretty great.  RJ told the kids a while back that marriage is "just two people that continue to choose each other every day".  I agree with that.

I would tell those two kids that it's going to be hard but it's going to be worth it.  I'd tell them there are days you are going to be broke, eating burnt Aldi pizza, but you are in this together.  I'd tell my 18 year old self to take a long look at his dad because he's going to be just like him...and have a son just like that.  (I lucked out on those!)

I'd tell her to always have snacks, especially on road trips because hangry isn't a good look on either of us.  I'd tell him to invest in a C-Pap machine early in the marriage because I need a lot of sleep.  I'd remind her never to eat off his plate because he doesn't share food. Wait until you have a daughter who likes to share meals.  And I'd tell him that she would be able to order for him at every single restaurant because he's very predictable.  I'd also let her know that the camping days won't last forever and all the bad words that were said while setting up the camper would be replaced with fun memories.

I'd tell those 18 year olds that they were young and needed to stay in college because when they were 40, they'd be tired and busy.  I'd tell them that there are days they really aren't going to like each other, but they will keep loving each other....and will like each other again shortly.  But mostly I'd tell them that hey - you got this!  You are gonna be fine.  You are gonna have an amazing family together.   Just keep choosing each other every single day.

So happy 20th babe, thanks for choosing me all those years ago!
Also, thanks for the flowers that just arrived while I was typing this!