Seven Years Later

warning!  If you are a guy, and you know me, melanies husband, you might just want to skip this entry, unless you want to read a bunch of sappy crap written by me.  Read at your own risk. 

Please excuse the length of this post, and the terrible editing and use of punctuation/capitalization.  I really just dont care to fix it. 

I'm (Chris) jumping on Melanies blog tonight (after she finally went to bed) to share some memories I have of us from not only the last 7 years we've been married, but also the previous 8 we dated.  Happy anniversary Melanie!

I know I come off as a jerk most of the time, and most people probably think I have no heart, or maybe treat my wife crappy.  If you feel that way, sorry, I like to put up a front sometimes, and a large part of my personality revolves around heavy doses of satire and sarcasm.  If you don't know that about me, then you don't know me very well.  I love my wife more than anyone will know.

(Oh, btw, Melanie used to send me these "Love Is" comics all the time.  My friends in college used to give me crap about it all the time.  In this one, you can see one of them crossed out the caption and added their own)

OK, mel, instead of a card this year, here you go: 

It all started when this little boy, and this little girl met in the winter of 1996.  They had both known of eachother since 2nd grade, but neither had ever spoken and for some reason just never connected til that time.  

This is what Melanie looked like those early days of dating.  I remember this pic of her on my truck used to make me feel all funny inside everytime I looked at it.  I think it meant I was in love.  Thats the same truck that made her dad hate me the first time I drove in their driveway to pick her up in it.  He likes to tell that story, but I like to think he was just a little jealous of how awesome I was.  Even back then.  We love to reminisce now about those early days of HS.  We knew exactly what time we would pass eachother in the hallways between class.  We were head over heels in love. 

I love this picture of Melanie and her Grandfather.  I didn't have the chance to get to know him well before he died, but have the pleasure to be part of the awesome family he left behind. 

 Here's Melanie in 1997 working hard at being awesome.  You might not know this about her, but she has a small sleeping disorder.  Its not quite sleepwalking, but similar.  She will just sit up in bed and start doing random things, while still sleeping.  She said in highschool she used to wake up and find herself serving an invisible volleyball, or scooping icecream from Baskin Robbins.  These days she just wakes up and thinks the baby is in the bed with us and starts freaking out.  Nice hats ladies!

Here are some random shots of us from highschool.  We spend as much time as possible together, and I think we went to 8 highschool dances together. 

 

                                

After dating for about 5 or 6 months, our parents somehow agreed to let Melanie accompany us to Colorado for our family reunion.  Im not really sure what they were thinking, but Im glad they let her come.  This is just one of the shots from that trip.  Since that family reunion in 96, we have made it to all but one together.  We will never forget how on the trip up we stopped at a gas station.  It was just Melanie, myself and my Mom and Dad.  Melanie bought some cornnuts and was eating them in the van while my mom and dad went out and pumped gas.  When my dad came back he said something like "Wow, who stunk up the van".  Its really not that big of a deal, but it mortified Mel at the time. 

                                

This also marked the first time either of us made the trip to my brother Erins cabin.  This is a shot of us with little Alexis.  Has to be around 4 or 5 in this pic.  Its remained one of our favorites. 

                                 

After all the fun we had in highschool, it was off to college, and there was never any doubt that we would stay together.  I went to Doane a year before she left highschool.  Then, the next year she left to Wayne State to play volleyball.  These were hard years for us.  We racked up big phone bills, and luckily gas was only about 99 cents a gallon back then because we packed on the miles too.  I think we went 2 weeks at one point without seeing eachother on the weekend.  I think that to this day that still marks the longest we've ever been apart since we started dating.  Kind of sad, but also kind of awesome. 

                                  

                                    

                                  

At some point after college I figured I better get off my ass and propose to this girl before she got too bored with me.  I finally saved enough money for a downpayment on a ring.  It remains to this day one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.  I dont know why, but this girl I had known since almost day one I would marry, made me feel really really nervous that day.  I knew she would say yes, and I knew it was what I wanted to do, but for some reason, I didn't feel like I was old enough or mature enough to be doing something like this.  I always figured I'd do something stupid and knock her up and be forced into it.  I guess not.  I waited til the 4th of July.  I had grand plans of proposing under the fireworks display at Holmes Lake, but wanted to have more of a private moment and did it in a secluded area at the sunken gardens here in Lincoln.  I'll never forget that day, and how hard it was for me to spit out that speech.  I don't think I've ever been so scared. 

                                            

Our wedding day was picture perfect.  The weather right now is almost identical.  She looked awesome! 

                                    

We took a small trip back to Estes Park for our honeymoon.  I think we hit Estes at least once a year now.  It continues to be one of our favorite places to be together.  I think it always will. 

After the wedding, we spent a couple years just living life.  We like to talk now and try and remember what life was like back then.  Pre-kids.  We really can't remember much.  We worked a lot, and we spent a lot of time together growing closer and just getting by. 

About 2 years after marriage Melanie came to me in our bedroom on 56th street and told me she was pregnant.  This is another day I will never forget.  I just sat on the bed and stared at her, at the wall, at the floor, and then back at her.  I could not believe my ears.   I was scared, ecstatic, and shocked all at once.  Another step I didn't think I was ready for, but sure enough, Melanie was there by my side pushing me along.  I thought I had another couple years to screw around and not be responsible.  No, I was wrong. 

As scared as I was that day she told me the good news, it paled in comparison to the Monday night Melanie told me her water had broken, 9 full weeks before it was supposed to.  Another vivid memory for me, driving down 48th street to the hospital we now live one block from.  I remember sleeping in that room until around 5am hoping and praying the doctors could stop the labor.  Melanie was so strong that night.  When I think back on it now, I realize that is the night we officially "grew up".  We were forced to.  We were thrown head first into one of our worst nightmares.  Neither of us panicked.  Not once.  We stayed calm and cool (on the outside!), and had faith that everything would work out.  Ian came into this world with one loud scream, then nothing.  Within 2 seconds I went from complete relief, to complete doubt.  Even as I stood outside Ians NICU room and watched the doctors and nurses force breathing tubes down his throat, desparatedly trying to get him to breath, I did not panic.  For some reason I knew they were going to do it and everything would work out fine.  It did. 

Its been over 5 years since that day.  We have a second son Borne, and who knows what the future holds for us.  I do know this:  I am as happy today, as I was the days I started dating Melanie, and the day I married her.  I like to think of us as the perfect couple, but I know I'm a little biased.  We have been through so much together and have both supported eachother every step along the way.  I love telling other people how we don't fight.  Never have, never will.  Sure, we argue here and there about small things, but never once have we had a 'fight'.  There is just no drama with us and it makes our lives so much easier.  I realize this could change someday, but 14 years later, we are still the easy going, happy couple we started out being in those halls at Northwest High in Grand Island. 

Melanie, you are my best friend and you know that.  I love you with all of my heart, and always will.  You have given me two wonderful boys I cherish.  I owe every good thing I've ever done with my life to you for being such a strong supporter of me.  You are simply an awesome person, and I couldn't be prouder of the couple we have become.  I LOVE YOU. 

OK, you can have your blog back!  Way too much typing and seriousness for me.