18 years and still going strong!

18 years ago I walked down the isle and said I DO to the love of my life. I thought it would be funny to see how we've changed over the years. Our my hair has changed, our weight has changed, our zip code has changed but our love has not!

18 Years ago we looked like this. 2 very young and in love kids, I had just turned 22 and he was 23.

17 years ago we packed up and moved from Illinois to Florida. My Grandparents lived 45 minutes away, he had cousins about 20 minutes away but we had no friends so he bought me 2 dogs. Rufus and Riley were our children!

16 years ago we became a family of 3 when Honey came along just 3 weeks before our anniversary. My Pop-Paw went home to be with the Lord, each memory I have of him makes me laugh, he was a true servant of the Lord, he loved my Nannie for almost 50 years and treated my Mom like a Princess. My parents moved about an hour away and Babes parents and youngest brother moved down within the year to be with Honey.

15 years ago we hosted our first Halloween party, something that would soon become a much anticipated event. Honey looked just like me but in red {I can't find that picture} and Babe wore his actual high school letterman's jacket. He was promoted to management and I was a full time stay at home Mom and loved it!

14 years ago...I have no picture from this year. I know I have got to have some somewhere. I am extremely annoyed that I cannot find anything in this messy office! I can only remember a few things from 1996. Honey turned 2, I saved Belle from a box outside of Wal-Mart and Molly {who now happily lives with my parents} from the human society and we built our very first home.

13 years ago...another year with nothing! The only thing I know for sure about 1997 is that Honey was in pre-school, Babe worked all of the time and I have no pictures. I promise to come back and fix this as soon as I find some pictures in this ridiculous office of mine! Cleaning my office is top priority this week!

12 years ago...Literally this is the only picture I could find of us. It was taken at the Garth Brooks concert and clearly I need longer arms! This would be our last year as a family of 3, it was the year I started scrapbooking and when I learned the value of documenting everything with a picture! Honey got gypped in the picture department I guess it was a combination of no money and being so young, I truly cherish what pictures I do have of her!

11 years ago our family grew by 2 feet when Peanut made her appearance in December with Honey sitting on the delivering doctors knee. It was a tough year with Honey starting Kindergarten and me knocking on deaths door every day for the entire 8 months of my pregnancy. As a result this is the year I met my 2 very best friends {they had no choice but to deal with me, I was too sick to leave Honey's classroom once I got her there!}.

10 years ago I said good-bye to my Nannie, she was an incredibly Godly woman and I miss her terribly! Babe and I made our first trip to Cabo San Lucas with his company and went on an Alaskan cruise. I turned 30 and Honey turned 5. This picture was taken on top of The Ernest or Herbert glacier. We took the Pilots Choice helicopter champagne and fudge tour of the Juneau Ice Field.

9 years ago we went to our first Super Bowl, enjoyed a visit with family in Illinois, Honey and I went to visit my niece in Arizona, we took the girls to Jamaica, I watched in horror as the Twin Towers were attacked and we celebrated our 9th anniversary in Las Vegas.

8 years ago we said good-bye to Rufus and bought our very first German Shepherd~Jewel. We went to Illinois for my nephews wedding and on our first Disney cruise. We moved into our current home, went to San Antonio, Tennessee and Gainesville. Clearly no one loved me enough to tell me short and red did not work for me!

7 years ago we went to the Keys with our friends came home and 3 days later went to Montana for a week long company trip. The day after we arrived home Honey was baptized on Fathers Day. It was a crazy 2 weeks! This picture is just so horrible I had to use it! Babe's company gave us a gift each day, on this particular day we were given these fabulous matching American flag denim shirts with instructions to wear them to dinner. When we arrived to dinner EVERYONE had them on, all 20 of us. Then we mounted our horse and rode through the woods to the restaurant which was tucked deep in the forest. I've always said I want to go every where once before I go somewhere twice but Montana is the exception. I loved it. Obviously, I could have done without the shirts but everything else was incredible!

6 years ago we made the long trip to Hawaii with the girls, Babe and I went to Ireland, Honey turned 10 and Peanut turned 5!

5 years ago we stole 4 days and went to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, just the 2 of us. We also went to Atlantis for a week with the girls, my sister and friends, visited friends in Minnesota and took the girls skiing for the first time in Utah.

4 years ago we celebrated 15 years married and 21 years as a couple by sneaking away to Orlando for a couple days. Babe surprised me at dinner with an amazing new wedding band of which I hinted nagged him for for months! I started the year with a girls trip to New York, we went on the Disney cruise with all of his family in the Spring, spent Mothers and Fathers day at the beach, went to California in July and ended the year with a week in Tennessee in a beautiful cabin for Christmas with my entire family. 2006 was both a busy and fabulous year!

3 years ago we welcomed Deja to the family. We moved out of our house for 3 months for an extensive remodel, celebrated his parents 40th anniversary, my parents 50th, went to Cabo San Lucas for a friends wedding, Babe lost 100 pounds and I lost 40! {Finally a picture I'm not embarrassed of!}

2 years ago we celebrated our 16th anniversary in New Your City. We were there on a business trip but snuck away every chance we got! 2008 was a slow and relaxed year. Other than this trip and a 3 hour drive to Gainesville to see my nephew race we stayed home. It was a nice break from the previous 5 years of nonstop going!

1 year ago we celebrated Babe's 40th, I got my first {and only} tattoo, Rogue was added to the mix, we went to the Dominican Republic with friends, sent our oldest off to high school, visited family in Illinois for Thanksgiving and celebrated our babies 1oth birthday.

Last night we went out for a quiet dinner and were treated to 18% off our bill when they learned it was our 18th anniversary. So far this year we have watched my Mom set new standards for turning 70, spent a week in South Carolina with friends for Spring Break, Babe and I went to Sea Island Georgia, I had a much needed girls weekend, we had great friends visit, Honey turned Sweet 16 and I hit the big 4-0!

It's been an incredible and busy 18 years. Marriage is hard work but very much worth the effort! I've been with my hubby since I was 16 and cannot imagine my life without him standing by my side holding my hand through every moment of every day.

Babe, I love you more than yesterday but less than tomorrow, happy anniversary!