11 years

11 years. Has it been that long? Tomorrow is our eleventh anniversary...and I find myself asking the same question I did last year? How in the world did I get to marry such a wonderful man? I seem to have fallen into the situation...kind of clumsy...kind of Heatherish. I seem to fall into luck a lot in my life. How a girl from a dysfunctional family ended up in my life...mystery personified. For those that know our story, well, it started out pretty unlikely. A relationship that went from 0 to 60...literally. We had never even held hands when we became engaged. No, that wasn't intentional. In reality, we had fallen in love before we knew what hit us. When faced with the possibility of being apart there was only one option. Get married. Now, my only regret is that we didn't flee to Europe for the backpacking trip we had planned. Instead we tried to please 110 different people, tried to prove we were a match, tried to prove we were godly and that made the actual experience of getting married hell. Yep, I said it. The getting married part was the worst part of the past 11 years. If I was given a do over I would elope...somewhere. Is that terrible? Probably.

I have learned a lot the past 11 years. Some of it about myself...a lot about other people and how to let go of expectations. I have learned this...don't expect much. Invest in the people that love you.

Jon on the other hand has exceeded expectation. As he always has. If you know him, you know what I mean. A more honest, hard working, kind person you won't find. He has taught me a lot about unconditional love and patience.

I have always heard people say marriage is hard work. For us, that hasn't really been the case. Maybe it is because we went into it with eyes wide open. Maybe it is hard work...but we don't see it that way. Mostly though, it has been fortuitous that we think so similarly. So here we are 11 years later.

I made a card for him tonight, borrowed Josiah's pastels, and it was fun to make this love note with four children gathered around giving me suggestions and making observations. Thank you Sevrin for pointing out that my heart ended up looking like an octopus so that I could change it to a love tree.

I hope my children all find the kind of partner that I have.