Twent-Five Years and Counting...

I know, I'm not writing. My updates are limited to quick posts and pics on Facebook in between jobs around the house. I posted on FB today, "Cheryl Pyle is going to mop,clean the fridge inside and out, unpack the rest of the baby's stuff, sew,make a roast and do whatever else can be crammed into one day. Spring cleaning + baby on the way = no rest for the weary!"

Actually, I only got the fridge cleaned and the roast made because I spent time watching TV with Kirsten and taking pics of the pets and Kirsten's ever expanding belly. BUT...the roast and potatoes were perfect, the pet pics are pretty cute, the inside of the fridge is BLINDING and... I might never have this kind of time with my oldest child ever again... because within a week or so she is going to be a mommy and I am going to be a grammy. So, I'm trying not to beat myself up too much. Kirsten has her weekly doctor's appointment and her last shift at work tomorrow so I will work twice as hard while she is out of the house.

Yesterday, after cleaning the stove, unpacking some of the baby's stuff, and visiting with some sweet friends who stopped by to "school" us on how to properly install the baby's carseat (because things have TOTALLY changed since our children were little!!)....I took the afternoon off and went to dinner and a movie with my wonderful husband. For, as of yesterday afternoon, we have been married for twenty-five years.

Twent-five years.

DO YOU HEAR ME??? TWENTY-FIVE YEARS!!

On March 22, 1986, on a chilly spring afternoon, under a large oak tree, surrounded by 150 of our closest friends and family...after misplacing our marriage license which delayed our ceremony by thirty minutes, which turned out to be a good thing because Jeff's parents had been stopped for speeding on the way to the church...and after several friends from our church had to stop the groundskeepers from unloading their lawnmowers due to a communication glitch...AND after having the groomsmen on alert because we had heard that Jeff's crazy ex-girlfriend was planning to crash our wedding and make a scene...the love of my life and I were wed.

The whole event was a home grown, family affair. My parents and my our first choir director sang, my pregnant best friend, my cousin and Jeff's sister where bridesmaids, Jeff's cousin was the ring bearer, my brother was one of his groomsmen, my former youth director and swimming teacher took the photographs, my aunts pressed our dresses and did my hair, my "other" mom baked our wedding cake, Jeff baked his own grooms cake, my mom made my dress, Jeff's mom made his tux, and Jeff's former youth director performed the ceremony and we spent our honeymoon in a seedy hotel in San Antonio and then camping in a two man pup tent. Our wedding cost less than a thousand dollars.

I look back now and realize what babies we were, how un-elegant our ceremony was, how BIG my hair was and how PINK everything was.

But you know what? All we wanted was to be married. And twenty-five years later we aren't any LESS married for lack an expensive, professionally co-ordinated wedding.

In some ways our whole wedding was a foreshadowing of things to come. Our lives have never been fancy, we've never had any money, and the best times we have ever had have been events where we were surrounded by our friends and family and everyone pitched in using their own special gifts and talents to make things memorable.

Thanks to all of you who made our wedding day special, to those of you who contributed to make our twenty-fifth anniversary special...and to all of you who have worked so hard to make the upcoming birth of our first grandchild special. We are blessed...even more so because SEVERAL of you have been on this whole crazy ride with us!! From dating, to wedding, to the births of OUR children to the birth of our fist grandchild...and all points in between. We could never have made it without you, your prayers and your love.

Blessing to all!! Maybe my next posting will be from the hospital while waiting for the Wee One to make his debute in the first scene of a TOTALLY new act in this dramedy we call....

Our lives.