#Microblog Mondays: Eleven Years

Martin Luther King Day is a special day for many reasons, but it has a personal remembrance for me. Eleven years ago today (this holiday today, not this specific date), I proposed to Bryce and he said yes.

Why THIS day? Not for any other significance than that it was a three-day weekend and I'd gone to visit my best friend and her family, which involved a brand new baby and a toddler, and while I was there I penned a letter to Bryce that was basically a persuasive essay in favor of getting married. You could say I saw my married friend and her young family and wanted something like that for us, and you could say that I had time away to think about where we were as a couple and how Bryce had said he wasn't all that interested in getting married again but that he wanted a partnership with me, which was nice but I wasn't all that interested in a partnership without marriage.

So when I got home Monday, I made a nice dinner, set out a Sinnean Pinot Noir, lit candles, and printed out the letter after a zillion edits. It was nerve-wracking.

But I am so, so very happy that he said yes. Well, he jumped up with tears in his eyes and yelled, "YES! Of course, of course YES, I will marry you, Jess!"

Part of the letter referenced the difficulties we already knew we would face having children, but we had NO IDEA just how difficult those difficulties would be, or that they would end in us not having children at all. Although, to be fair, I did reference that outcome -- I distinctly remember saying that I was up for the challenge and if it turned out to be not possible for us, I could be happy with a life that was just us two because I loved him THAT much.

After all the hurdles we jumped only to land in quicksand, after eleven years, two houses, four cats, two dogs, several jobs, and two degrees... it feels good to know that the argument I made at the start of 2009 still holds true -- every last bit, even the "worst case scenario" that I know now is not worst case at all.

I might love him even more now than I did then, because I know what we can survive and what we're capable of, and with so much behind us I can't wait to see what's ahead.

Pajama engage-o-versary selfie. Bryce said each year we may need to take 5 more selfies to find one that we don't both hate. Ha, ha.

This is why kissing selfies are a TERRIBLE idea. I look like I'm being deflated and my head and neck are misshapen, and Bryce is sucking my life force. Or giving me really bad CPR. One or the other. 

Mmmm, tacos for dinner with homemade spicy beans, caramelized onion, Peruvian marinated chicken, and avocado on tortillas Bryce made from scratch. Nom nom nom

Want to read more #Microblog Mondays? Go here and enjoy!