Ten

Once upon a time, I was a precocious little girl who memorized commercials about Dove soap and maxi pads and recited them to old ladies at the mall.

One day, my dad, a civilian worker for the Navy, hired someone on at the base. The two guys hit it off and arranged for their families to meet. The families became fast friends, and I took a real liking to the oldest son.

The boy was a year older than I was, and sometimes a little too cool for me. I had lots of crushes over the years, but the boy was extra cute. Imagine how happy I was when the boy asked me out for coffee my first summer home from college. I'm fairly certain it was the mini skirt that got his attention. We got married when we were still full-time college students (and T also worked full-time!).

It wasn't easy being the one of the only young married couples on a small campus. I think a lot of people secretly assumed we'd fizzle out because we married young.

I love that today, Ten years later, we can prove them wrong.

We've had a nice journey these Ten years. Graduating college, finding jobs, buying a house and cars, travel (though not as much as I'd like), starting a family, late nights, early mornings.

And just to keep it real, here's how a recent conversation regarding our time together went down:

Me {thoughtfully}: Wow, I can't believe that soon we'll be married 10 years!
T {not looking up from iPad}: Um, yeah. Uhuh.
Me: Yep. Ten years of indentured servitude....
T {indignant}: Hey! I bought you a nice house and a car...
Me {interrupting}: Oh, no, silly. Not me. You. I own you, buddy!

Regardless of who considers themselves to be shackled, there's no one else I'd rather do hard time with. Marriage isn't easy. We have our disagreements, arguments, and even straight up yelling fights. (FYI, I am the yeller.)

In today's world, I think Ten years of marriage is a real accomplishment! Unless T has something up his sleeve, I don't know if there are any big plans for today. I would have loved a trip to Italy or (more realistically, knowing my husband) Alaska, but we're being careful with our money these days. I have plenty of jewelry, I don't need flowers because I killed all mine, and chocolates would just go to my waistline.

So maybe today needs to be about just celebrating our marriage, the good times and the bad.

I'm ready to sign on for another Ten!