Happy Tuesday, friends! And happy 46th birthday to my husband and my lobster. (Let me know if you get this reference in the comments! What is it from?)
Today my number one guy catches up to me in age. Did you know that I am 13 days older than him? He teases me relentlessly about this and calls me his older woman, but I always retaliate with the fact that with age comes wisdom. 😉 Here are some things about my man that I LOVE.
There are many things about him that are wonderful, but what I most love about him is the kind of husband he's been to me for a little over 26 years. He loves me, our sons, he loves the Lord, he loves our extended family and he is the BEST husband. Here are some things you may not know about him and/or us.
Did you know that I have loved this man since we were eighteen? We dated in high school, in our senior year. We were best friends, then we started dating, and then we fell in love. He took me to my senior prom, and we saw each other graduate. We did break up when I went away to college in the fall of 1995, but that only lasted for two months before we got back together. He would come visit me during the week, because I was only an hour away. He proposed to me in October of 1995 when we were eighteen, and we were married a year later at nineteen. We were BABIES, but we grew up together.
This picture of us kissing is in the summer of 1995 when we were on our way to the beach.
And here we are (above) one year later. We literally grew up together. We went from living at home with our parents to apartment life, when we had to adjust to being married and living together. When we were young, nobody lived together unless they were married! Our early years were not easy, but they made us who we are today—best friends who love being married. We married in October when we were nineteen, we turned twenty that same year, and started our family when we were twenty-two. Graham was born in 1999, Drew was born in 2000, and Jonah and Noah were born in 2003. We went from one to four just like that! (Graham and Drew are one year and three weeks apart in age.)
I love that the boys are all close in age. At this adult stage in their lives, not only are they all great friends as well as brothers, they also have many of the same friends. I told them a long time ago that someday their ages wouldn't be a big deal and they'd all end up with the same friends. I was right! 😉
Todd does NOT love being dressed up and having his picture taken, but he does those things for me because he loves me. For anyone who doesn't know this already, he has been on a weight loss journey since February of this year. He has lost over 60 pounds! He's not done yet because he's trying to get to a certain weight, but the end goal and reason behind it is because he has three scar tissue related hernias that need to be repaired. He will be glad to have this surgery behind him and hopefully it will take place sometime in February. Look how different he looks today! (I love a good comparison picture. This one below is him in 2017 and then on Friday, December 23 of this year.)
He and our worship pastor Joshua showed up on church Christmas morning dressed as "twins". It called for a picture! Then Joshua took one of us before rehearsal. Doesn't he look amazing? I am so proud of him! He has worked hard to achieve this goal and hasn't used any product to help him. It's been sheer willpower and strong determination. I told him his stubbornness worked to his advantage! 😉
Have I ever mentioned that the only shoes he wears are boots?
It's true. Another thing that I love so much about him is that he makes me laugh. Laughter is important in marriage, because it can be hard. That's always advice I give to young people I know who are getting married—laugh often and don't take yourself too seriously. I could go on and on about my man and how great he is, but I'll wrap it up with this one last story that my dad loves to tell. I don't know if I've said this here before, but our parents are friends in real life. All three sets! Dad and Sandy were the first to meet Todd's mom and dad, back in the days when they were in a dinner club together. There were four couples who would meet each month and take turns hosting and this particular time it was at Phyllis' and Wiley's house. Todd came home while everyone was there and introduced himself and as he shook Dad's hand, Dad thought to himself that he would love for me to marry a man just like Todd. He got his wish! Isn't that cool?
In case he's reading this...Todd, I love you so much! I hope you feel our love and appreciation everyday of your life. Thanks for being you and for taking such great care of us all...even the dogs. You are my lobster and I love you forever.
Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all.
Sense of humor and Jesus are the glue to my marriage.
ReplyDeleteMy birthday is 10.20.1976 my husband's is 10.31.1977. I am older too🥰
We started out as friends as well. We celebrated 24 years in August
It's from Friends! Happy, happy day to Todd. I hope he has the day off? Or, at least some time off to be celebrated. I hope he gets his surgery and is much more comfortable. I would like to know more about what he ate and if he exercised. I am always looking for new meal ideas, as you know!
ReplyDeleteTom and I didn't meet until I was almost 26 and he was 30, so we had a very different story. I bet you did have some struggles early on that only made you stronger. I love that your boys are so close in age too.
Amy- ding, ding, ding! You get the prize. Thanks for that and yes ma'am! He is home all day, which I am so glad for. Since he's lost so much weight, he doesn't hurt near as badly as he used to, but he will still be glad to have it behind him.
ReplyDeleteHe lost almost all of this weight JUST by changing his eating habits. He eats small bits of "meals" more often - he does a protein drink for breakfast around eight, then around eleven he will eat a protein bar, he will have another drink around two or three, he likes to eat dinner between five and six, then he'll have one more snack around seven or eight that night. He drinks water all day long and he has one small glass of bourbon almost every night. For snacks he eats corn tortilla chips and a small amount of hummus. He is also a fan of guacamole, so I buy packs of that for him.
I must confess, cooking dinner for him is hard. I repeat a lot of things that I know he loves and that are healthy, and he never minds. This means we have lots of taco soup (broth based, only a little ground beef and with lots of beans and a can of Rotel), quiche, Mexican food (baked chicken with rice, taco Tuesday with corn tortillas), and any other meat and veggies combination I can think of ... hamburgers with no bread, grilled chicken, salmon, steak, fish, etc. Oh, and he eats no or low carbs and no or low sugar.
He does exercise a little, but he can't do too much because of the hernias. So when he does exercise, he just walks leisurely. Anything more strenuous causes pain. I've always heard that healthy living and weight loss starts in the kitchen. It's similar to makeup and skin care - all the exercise (good makeup) in the world won't cover up bad eating habits (poor skin care). I have seen him transform before my own eyes, so I know it to be true.
I love hearing about how people met and when they got married. I think learning that about people is interesting and helps us to "know" them more. Thanks, friend! I love that about our sons too...nothing warms my heart more than when I overhear them calling each other to make plans to go out for dinner together with them and friends.
Loved reading this post! Todd sounds like an amazing man and that you guys are great together. My parents had five kids in six years (no twins!) so my siblings and I are all close in age. I am grateful for it! We had our three in five years (but close to six years). The girls, who are three years apart, were each others' best friends for at least six years which I thought was amazing for being three years apart. They aren't each others' best friend anymore but they are still close. I will take that!! I, too, am older than my husband but by a lot more than you are older than yours- to the tune of almost a year and a half. I think that qualifies me as bona fide cougar, lol. I am shocked by how prevalent living together is now. A huge cultural shift in acceptance an practice, for sure. I hope you husband has the best day- so many congrats on his weight loss achievement. That is something to be super proud of. I know you are proud of him and rightly so!
ReplyDeleteSo funny that our stories are near parallels! I'm less than 3 months older than my husband and he loves to tease me relentlessly that I'm his "older woman" as well. We started dating in high school (at 16) and broke up for just a few months while we were in college and away from one another. Our kids were all born pretty close together too 3 in just under 3 1/2 years and while it was tough when they were really little I loved that they were so close in age.
ReplyDeleteI hope your husband has a wonderful day and congrats to him on the weight loss! I hope he feels so much better after his surgery.
Thank you, Maria! He is a great guy. I've always called him my personal superhero. I laughed when you called yourself a cougar! I would sat we are two blessed moms...what a gift that our kids are close. ❤️ You are so right about this cultural shift. It's so sad to me! It just reminds me that so many people are lost.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, how funny! Our stories are so similar! I love that. Thank you! I will pass that along to him. 🖤
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, Happy Birthday to Todd! I loved reading your story of how you met, married and had your family. I laugh when you say you are older. Does that make you a cougar? lol That's what they tell me I am, but then again, I'm 4 years and 3 weeks older than my hubby. I was 31 when we married and he was 27. I tell him I had to wait for him to grow up so we could marry. lol
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Todd on his weight loss journey...he's done great!
Cathy, maybe I am a cougar! That made me laugh. Thank you for that! I'll pass it on to him...and how funny that you're also older. I am seeing a common thread here!
ReplyDeleteThere really is nothing more special than doing life together for so many years. Happy Birthday to your lobster!... love a Friends reference!
ReplyDeleteRebecca Jo- you are so right! Thanks for that, my friend. And you know I love that show, so I feel the same. ❤
ReplyDelete