August 9, 1982

So, I have to take a little break from posting wedding pictures to talk about something huge that's happening today.  You see, on this day in 1982, my dear husband was born.  For those of you who are math geniuses like me, that means today is his 30th birthday.  Let's all take a moment and absorb that.

It's a strange thing for me to comprehend how something so simple as a baby being born, 30 years ago, in a town I'd never heard of to people I had no connection to would drastically alter my life in the most amazing way.  Truth be told, August  has always been a special month for us.  Five years ago in August, I started at my current company where I first met this handsome guy with the goofy smile.  Even though nothing happened between us for many months, that decision to accept this job had already set me on a life altering path that would take me many years to fully understand. 

A year later, I remember meeting the boy out at a bar with his friends on August 8...the day before his 26th birthday and he put his arm around me and said "Are you my birthday present?"  I so desperately wished that was true, but I knew even 3 months into our relationship that I probably wasn't what he wished for.  I clung to it anyways, and the next day woke him up and led him into the kitchen where a cake was waiting and wished him a happy birthday.  Even then I leapt with hope that we would have more days like that together.

And we would...but it would be a very long time...several years actually.  Last year on this day, I sat at the park with the birthday boy, with a picnic spread out around us and the sun setting behind us and lit one tiny candle on a tiny little cake and proudly announced, "This will be your last birthday as a single man!"  It only took us 3 years to get there. 

I will not lie when I say that this past year we were engaged was definitely bumpy.  You try moving in together, taking on about 20 household renovations, trying to save money, working crazy hours at our jobs, and planning a wedding - all at the same time - and let me know how that goes for you.  It is not easy.  I promise you this.  But even through all the stupid argument (and they were VERY stupid, mark my words) I never once thought, I don't want this.  I never once thought, I'm not the luckiest girl in the world.  I never once thought, our life together would be anything less than everything I dreamed of.  And even on those nights that were not perfect, I still slept like a baby knowing I had something that many people only dream of.

I've often said that birthdays are a big deal to me. Not just my birthday, but birthdays in general.  I really believe that we all need one day a year to sit back and appreciate those we love and be grateful that they were born.  When I think about my husband and all he does for me, and all he tries to do for me every single day, I am SO grateful.  Let's get real - I am not an easy person to live with.  I'm moody and bitchy sometimes (okay, a lot), and I have high expectations.  I don't always say the right things, and I definitely don't always say Thank You.  I sometimes don't abide by the golden rule, and sometimes I ask him to give of things that I'm probably not giving enough of myself.  But I'm glad he was born, and I'm glad I get to share that with all of you. 

And lastly, to my dish washing, bourbon drinking, dog drool cleaning, floor sweeping, GA Tech loving, happy-go-lucky, massage-giving, bed making, truck driving, sweet and simple, country boy husband...I love you.  Happy 30th birthday.  One month down...forever to go. 

"I loved you since the very first day...when I caught you lookin' my way.  I smiled and just knew it."