Head. Over. Heels. Still.

Next month Daniel and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage. Amazing. I cannot believe it has been ten years since I married my best friend. I still remember my dad walking me down the aisle like it was yesterday, my hands shakily grasping the communion cup, kissing my groom as our breath fogged in the cold air outside the little chapel, our voices echoing over each other "We did it! We did it!". And here we are today. In a way it seems like a lifetime, in others, like no time has passed. I still get a hammering in my chest over him, still blush when he pays me a compliment. I still feel like a teenager in puppy love at times. What a wonderful feeling it is, not just to love someone, but to BE in love! In the last 10 years our marriage has seen 2 college degrees, 1 big move, 1 masters degree, 2 real jobs, 1 car purchase, 1 mortgage, 3 pregnancies and 2 healthy children. There has been illness and injury and worry and grief. But there has been dancing in the kitchen and road trips and holding newborns and laughter. So much laughter. There has been more good than bad by 1,000 times. It has been a journey I wish I could take again. In a way, we grew up together, him and me. We will grow old together too, hand in hand.

The world has gotten a lot bigger in the last ten years, at least to me. I feel so small in it sometimes, which at times is blissful and at times horrifying. I do not know if it is because 3-0 is looming before me, like a dark shadow trailing wherever I go, but I am so much more reflective and meditative than I have ever been. I understand that 30 is still young, but I feel that someone has put life in fast-forward and it is moving so fast. I want to slow it back down. I am just taking it all in. And I am so blessed to have been loved this much. To have found a person to brave this big, sometimes wonderful, sometimes heartbreaking world with. Someone who thinks I am beautiful at 6am before I have brushed my teeth or gotten the sheet creases off of my face. Someone who thinks I am funny and doesn't get annoyed when I get tickled by myself. Someone who sees in me what probably no one else does, and makes me believe that it is all really true. Someone who does without so I can have. Someone who holds my hand when I am scared, tickles me when I am feeling down and listens to me when I am not saying a word.

My feelings are stronger today than they were when I was that 19 year old kid standing there saying "I do." We have faced so much together and come up swinging. We always do. It's who we are when we are together. Daniel makes me think anything is still possible. He makes me think I can do anything. I would marry him all over again in a heartbeat. He's had my heart since I was 17 and I knew he was the one. What are the odds of something like that working out? But here we are and I am madly in love with this man! I was put on this earth to love him and that is exactly what I am going to do. When I was 19. When I am 29. When I am 99. I have never done anything better in my life than marry Daniel Duffy. It has led to everything amazing since then, especially my children who will grow up seeing their parents head over heels for each other. Boys, you should know that your father is a true gentleman. A hard worker. Compassionate. Funny. Caring. Polite. Honest. Dedicated. Loving. Everything I hope you aspire to be. Daniel, you should know that even among the hectic lives we lead, I never for a second stop appreciating you and there is not a day that goes by that I do not thank God for you. I love you now and always. Happy almost 10 years babe!

These pictures are from our anniversary getaway. We went to Granbury and stayed at a B and B. It was so nice to go somewhere just the two of us. We both feel so renewed. We slept in, we read, we sat by the lake, we looked at the stars from the hot tub, we shopped, we drove around, we saw movies. It was so nice. Thanks to Nana and Granddaddy who kept the boys so we could enjoy some time alone. I fell in love all over again!