Happy 13/15 Year Anniversary!!!

Sixteen years ago I was a strong and independent young woman. After two disastrous relationships (aka, what a couple of super JERKS!) I finally decided to focus on myself. 

I was a fairly new nurse and loving my work. I developed a really great circle of friends and spent the majority of my time outdoors hiking, climbing, caving, and rafting. NO dating.  

Life was great!

I'll admit it ... I still have, and wear, that hat.

Exactly fifteen years ago I went hiking. I came home sunburnt, dusty, and tired. All I wanted was a shower and to go to bed early. I was cajoled into going out for drinks with some friends. I did not want to go out. I grumbled and complained ... but beer did sound pretty good. 

We were hanging out on the porch of the Wynkoop when one of my friends pointed out a cute guy hanging on the railing talking to some people. I glanced over to find this ‘cute guy’ looking at me. Eye contact was made and he scooted down the railing to talk to me.

Oh, lord. Time for polite bar chit chat ... how I hated that. But he was handsome, he was funny, he seemed reasonably intelligent. Too good to be true. So I asked him the only logical question my cynical little mind could come up with ... “So are you married or gay?”

He was neither ... and he could roll with the punches. He wasn’t offended. 

Then I asked him the next logical question ... “Do you hang out here a lot?” He began to say no when one of the bartenders sauntered by, “Hey, Eric!!” he said. Yes, he hung out there a lot. 

Mine! Sweater vest and all!!

OK, it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. He worked one block away as a software architect (oh, yes, he WAS a cute uber geek, NICE). The group he was hanging out with were all coworkers. They pretty much ate lunch and dinner there every day (ah, the single man’s life).

Eric claims that he asked more than five times for my phone number. I don’t recall that. I had never given my number to a complete stranger before. But I did. I had a busy week so I told him that he could call me Sunday between 7:30-8:00.

He called at 7:45.

And from that day on life was extraordinary!!!

• Our first kiss may have involved a rainbow - I kid you not (please don’t barf, at least there were no unicorns).
• Our first camping trip he pointed to the night sky and told me that a shooting star would appear there ... it did. Hello, we’ve got a keeper!!!
• I met the family 3 months later.
• We were engaged one year later.
• We got married two years later.

June 12, 1999

And along came our first house, a son, a miscarriage, a daughter, a dog, a bigger house, graduate school, lots and lots of hard work, weight gain, running, weight loss, a massive whiskey collection, and traveling around the world (the last two being all Eric). 

And it works ... just right ... for us. 

Heck, there is no such thing as perfect. We both agree on that. Yet, from day one we have been so happy together. We are a great match, we really understand each other. 

But we do drive each other crazy. We are both stubborn and forget to look from the other’s perspective all the time. We get tired and cranky. We fight for no good reason - happily, less and less as the years go by. We’ve grown up as adults together.

Together ... not apart. I suppose that is what makes all the difference. And for that I thank God. 

Ah, were we ever that young?