8 YEARS!

My husband married me 8 years ago tomorrow. That means that we have been together for ten years! I hardly remember a time without him. He seemed to be my missing link from the first moment I laid eyes on him. I was chartering private jets and Jer was a new pilot with the company my best friend worked for. I remember him walking into the East Coast Jets office door and April introducing me to him. He was wearing a brown leather bomber jacket and sunglasses. He got his trip sheet from April and walked out the door and I said, "THAT BOY IS HOT!". My steadfast rule during my years in aviation was never date a pilot...but for this one, I was willing to break my own rules. I was in love with him from the beginning. We didn't know how easy we had it then or how outrageously lucky we were to be in our situation. We were young and successful with lots of wonderful friends. We worked in private aviation and spent the majority of our lives flying in jets to all kinds of places and experiencing life. We would fly to Atlantic City at the drop of a hat to gamble all night...shuttle down to Fort Lauderdale to spend weekends at our company condo...spend the night in NYC drinking cocktails in hotel bars. We were everywhere. I lived just outside of NYC and Jer lived in PA. He would drive out to Madison, NJ almost every time he got home and sometimes would have to turn around and go right back for another trip. We were inseparable from the very start. I love that we spent those years having fun and being young and carefree. After we married, we spent about 5 more months in the northeast and then I got the charter sales manager position in Dallas. It was a dream come true for me to get back to Texas. This is my home and this is where my family is. I loved living up north, but I was honestly pretty homesick. Jeremy was supportive immediately and had no problem with moving his whole life to a brand new state for his new wife. I remember driving across the country with our poor kitty Gretchen huddled in her litter box in the back seat. I remember when we crossed the state line into Texas and I almost wept with joy. I remember seeing our awesome apartment for the first time when we pulled into downtown Dallas. I remember standing on the roof with him and realizing that the skyline of Dallas was all around us. I remember when we picked out Enzo and then proceeded to pamper him like a child for a few years. :-) I can't believe it has been so long and how far we have come. I love knowing that I am going to spend my whole life with Jeremy Shaffer!

Here are a few oldies from our early days...

This is me at our engagement party in Fort Lauderdale. We had a big celebration with lots of our friends. I had to include this shot mainly because I can't believe that my stomach used to look like that. This is how I know it really has been 8 years since this picture. ;-)
Dinner on the beach in Fort Lauderdale on the same engagement weekend.

Look how young we look! This is when we told Jer's mom and step-dad that we got engaged. It should also be noted that I went crazy around this time as asked a hairdresser in NYC to give me the Faith Hill look from her "This Kiss" video. Which was totally brilliant, what with me being 5'10, blonde and skinny...wait. WHY did that person listen to me?! I hated my short hair and was secretly so upset with myself that I cut it right before we got engaged. I almost wanted to wait for the wedding so that my hair could grow back out. Almost. ;-)

Flying with Captain Shaffer in the spring of 2003. And by flying, I mean making the co-pilot Nick move for 10 seconds, taking this picture, and then hightailing it out of there. I prefer the seats in the cabin. ;-)

Our wedding! I love this picture...it was so Viva Las Vegas. :-)

In the limo on the way to dinner! MARRIED! I can't believe this was 8 years ago.

Sitting poolside during our honeymoon in Vegas.

New York in Vegas! Lord, it was hot.

Pool party right after we got home as a married couple...

I may have to post more pictures soon...I am waiting on Jer to get home from his weekend away with friends and he knows where the rest of the old photos are. I am loving going down memory lane! I love you, huBsand! :-)

The Best Six Years

Today is my sixth wedding anniversary. How on earth it has been six years is beyond me. It seems like just yesterday that we were running around Las Vegas in our wedding finery. We have had a quiet and uneventful day...my sister is going to babysit for us tomorrow so that we can have our official date. Today we woke up and treated ourselves to take-out Mexican breakfast (our favorite!) and then went to order Colin's birthday cake for next weekend. We stopped for ice cream cones and lunch (in that order) and managed to make it home in time for Colin's nap. This evening we took Colin to McDonald's for dinner and playtime. Quite a night on the town, eh? This is our kind of day, though, and it was wonderful to have Jer off work and all of us hanging out together as a family. There is nothing more that I need in the world. This is my random ode to us at six years:

Jeremy is my very best friend in the whole world and the most wonderful husband ever. I literally cannot picture my life without him. We have long since entered the stage of our lives where we complete each others sentences and know what the other is thinking across a room with just a glance. We have the same ridiculous sense of humor and make each other laugh all the time. We love to cozy up in our bed after Colin goes to sleep and watch our endlessly recorded hours of crime shows on the DVR. Every night, Jer makes himself a large glass of ice water and every night I drink half of it to take a pill and every night we laugh over it. He texts me every day when he gets in his car to tell me he is coming home and that always makes me smile, even after all these years. Yesterday, he told me my eyes looked pretty. He gets on to me for not taking my vitamins and being too tan. We make utterly inappropriate jokes to each other all the time. We lay in Colin's bed together every night to read stories. He changes the oil in our cars and fixes everything that is broken. He is great at assembly and even enjoys putting stuff together. We sleep with a silly dog in between us and usually a shaggy cat at our feet. We argue in bed over who gets "sticks", which are Enzo's long pointy legs, and who gets "smooth", which is his soft fuzzy back. I usually win and Jer gets poked by dog legs all night. :-) He looks handsome beyond words all the time and nobody looks better in a crisp white polo and tie than Jeremy. The bathroom always smells deliciously like his cologne after he leaves for work and I always take a deep breath of it when I pass through to get dressed. He is still my prince charming. I love him SO! Here are some favorite shots of us from six years ago:

Kissing in the limo after the wedding! We are officially newlyweds! I was bursting with joy when this picture was taken.

Jer and I during our engagement dinner outside Philly. Jer's parents took this shot...we look so young and happy in this picture. This will always be one of my favorite memories.
Sitting right seat with Jer prior to take-off. Trust me, the professionals took over and I watched movies in the back. I love nothing more than flying around with Jer and watching him at work. He is such an amazing pilot. We had just gotten engaged.

Really, how could you not post this one?! Me, in my bride shirt, ordering pancakes with a burger and onion rings. This was the late night after our arrival in Vegas. We had to get our licenses and it was like 2:00am to us because we were from the east coast. I remember that I was dying of starvation and this is what I ordered back at the hotel. Love it!

Lounging at the pool in Vegas, the day after the wedding. Happy!!

As we speak, Jer is putting new strings on his guitar with the hopes of learning some Laurie Berkner Band songs for Colin. I don't know how successful this endeavor is going to be because neither one of us can sing. Hopefully the little man will just enjoy hearing the songs, even if they are not properly sung. ;-) If you would like to see pictures from the wedding, I posted last year about the actual event and attached some great shots of wedding bliss. Take a peek if you feel like joining me on memory lane. Heck, I can't believe it has been a YEAR since I wrote that post! Crazy! Happy Anniversary, sweet husband!!

5th Anniversary Post: One Year Ago Today!

Our Anniversary Date Night!

Jer and I had a great time last night! My wonderful sister Alieson came over to watch Colin and we went to dinner and a movie in downtown Ft. Worth. It was a much needed night out! We took the car instead of SUV (wow!), listened to music in the car instead of The Wiggles, and ate dinner at a very nice place that would have never worked with a baby in tow. I forced myself to slow down and actually eat at a normal pace and we walked around the square to the movie theatre afterwards. We saw Hancock, which I thought was good, albeit a little different. When we got out of the movie and began the walk to the car, it was dark out and the party crowd had hit the streets downtown. There was live music playing from different outdoor places and the smell of smoke and alcohol wafted around us. It hit me that it was the first time I had been outside like that on a Friday night in over a year. It actually made me laugh to myself...I guess I had imagined that time was standing still when I was at home getting ready for bed at 9pm on a Friday night. Nope...the world has gone on without me. :-) We headed home via Wal-Mart to get formula. Yep, even on date night, we are still parents all the way. And I was very happy to get home and see his sweet little head sound asleep in his bed. We had a wonderful 5th Anniversary!

FIVE WHOLE YEARS AGO TODAY!

Today is our 5th Anniversary!! I fished into our old wedding photos to post the pics above...I can't believe it has been 5 years. I know that time is flying by because I feel like we look so young there. :-) We were married in grand style in beautiful Las Vegas! I was so happy with the entire experience...we picked out the most adorable chapel and no, Elvis was NOT in attendance! We stayed for free at the Las Vegas Hilton because of Jer's hotel points and we had a limo pick us up there and take us to the chapel. We had to walk through the entire hotel in our wedding finery and I felt like a princess. People parted for us to walk by and everyone stopped and stared and clapped for us. I remember lots of little girls telling me how beautiful I looked. We felt like celebrities! It was the perfect day! After the ceremony, we had a spectacular dinner at the Paris Hotel on the very top floor of the Eiffel Tower. I will never forget a single solitary second of that day. I had never been so sure of anything in my life, and I am still sure. Jer is my knight and always will be. At this moment, I can hear him in the living room with Colin while they play. We have come so far in five years....Happy Anniversary, sweet Husband!!