Newport

So I'm a little behind...

Sam and I went to Newport at the end of April. It was just a fun getaway anniversary trip. We left Thursday morning around 9AM and drove to Point Judith to walk the beach there. It was cold and the beach was a mess, so after a quick walk we headed over to Newport to our appointment to make a glass ornament.

It's a LOT harder than it looks to blow a glass ornament!

We checked into our hotel and headed over to the Red Parrot for dinner. Yum!

The next day we planned to walk the Cliff Walk before breakfast, but it was quite overcast so we ate first and then went for our hike. It was windy and the waves were huge!

Next we hiked the Bay Path at Fort Adams, which turned out to be a 2.5 mile hike! But it was a beautiful day and again the waves were amazing!

We had a wonderful afternoon and finished the day by attending the New London County 4-H Camp Auction.

Perspective

An acquaintance of mine recently experienced a tragedy. I call her an acquaintance because I have never met this person face to face, but she is a dear friend that I have been "internet friends" with for nearly 14 years. We are part of a group of women who (at least when the group started) were all homeschooling and all had more than a few children. (Some now have grandchildren!) Over the years we have become a tight group who have loved, admonished, counselled, prayed, and laughed with each other through both the mundane and the extraordinary events that can happen in a person's life. When our family has traveled, we have met some of these dear ladies and their families, stayed in their homes, visited, and ate together with them.

This friend's husband died, very suddenly and very unexpectedly, last week. It was shocking to see the post that was relayed to the group. Our group pulled together and sent donations and flowers; those that lived close by drove to her home to be with her and her children. We all prayed for the family.

This event has caused me to stop and think, particularly as Sam and I celebrate our 19th anniversary this week. What if I knew that Sam would not be here on earth next week? What would I do differently? Would I be so irritated when he stands behind me and reads over my shoulder? What other little quirks that drive me nuts today, would I miss and long for, should he be gone?

Right now, he is upstairs, making me breakfast and singing the "Larry-Boy" theme song in this bizarre falsetto. That normally would cause me to groan and suggest that perhaps he could "just not sing?" But today, I am thankful to hear his voice, thankful that he enjoys serving me on the one morning this week that he is home and not rushing off to work. I am thankful that I have him here to be irritating and read over my shoulder.

You would think that as a firefighter's wife, I would have made this realization sooner. That my perspective would have been changed years ago. But somehow, the finality of it all escaped me, until this week. Somehow my perspective was lost in the day-to-day routines and habits that are our life.

My prayer this morning as we set off for our anniversary trip, is that we get many more mornings of "Larry-Boy" and the smell of eggs and hash browns wafting through our home.

Anniversary

Easter Sunday, this year, also happens to be our wedding anniversary. Eighteen years ago Sam and I exchanged vows in a simple wedding. We were not well off, being that he was a firefighter for a rather small town and I worked at the local greenhouse. So we planned our wedding to be small and not the least bit frivolous. We believed (and still believe) that the promises we made were more important than what kind of flowers we had or where the reception was held.

We asked friends to contribute to their "gift" to the wedding rather than buying us a gift. One had a small business arranging silk flowers, so all of our bouquets were done in silk. One made cakes as a hobby and created a beautiful one for us. Another owned a funeral home which had a limousine. He donated it and a driver for the day for us. Another friend helped me create and sew my wedding dress, while another donated lace from her own wedding gown. Sam's brother and his wife organized, cooked, and served the dinner at the reception. A wonderful friend played piano and her two young daughters sang the most beautiful song during the ceremony.

The service was wonderful for what I can remember of it. I do remember the pastor getting mixed up and Sam almost vowed to honor and obey ME! I also remember that I had been on Prednisone for two weeks prior to the wedding and had gained a good amount of weight. Sam couldn't get the wedding ring all the way onto my finger because of it. Our album of wedding pictures disappeared several years ago during one of our moves. We still have a grainy video of the day, which the girls like to take out and laugh at every once in a while.

Eighteen years and I love Sam more today than I did then, and I didn't think that was possible on that day.

God has taken us down some interesting pathways. At times, we have strayed from His pathways, but He was always faithful. When we finally regained our senses and turned back towards Him, He led us back to where we needed to be.

 I pray for another fifty years together. I pray that we will love each other even more than we do today, but I don't think that is possible...

Sixteen Years Ago Today

Sixteen years ago today, I was waking up to a dreary, rainy, gray morning. I was hoping against hope that the weather forecasters would be right, and the sun would shine later in the afternoon.
Sam and I had met on a blind date through his cousin Pat. Pat had given Sam my phone number after he had been complaining that "all the nice girls were taken." We first spoke on March 27, 1992. Sam was excited because his brother's draft horse had given birth. It was named Samson. We talked for three hours on that first call.
He called me again on March 29th and we talked again for three hours! He asked me out to dinner and a movie for the following night. When he arrived, he had a huge pick up truck and was wearing cowboy boots! He was a gentleman and came in to meet my parents before we left for our date.
The food was delicious, the movie he had wanted was sold out, and so we settled for the one that wasn't: Wayne's World. I believe that might be the WORST movie on this planet! I think we talked through most of it.
He asked me for a second date and I accepted.
He called me the morning of our second date. He had to cancel because he had to "build boxes" for a customer. So I asked to come along. He agreed after explaining that he was building cremation containers (the boxes in which the bodies are shipped to the crematorium) in the garage of a funeral home!
It was actually a wonderful date where we ate subway grinders and asked "What if?" questions of each other. Huge hypothetical "what if's" about honesty, integrity, children, families, faith, etc. He believed in God, wanted children, loved animals, and was a hard worker. I think I knew then that he was "the one."
In October of 1992, he asked me to marry him and we set a date for April 24, 1993. Our wedding day actually did clear out to a beautiful sunny day. I would post pictures from that day, but in all of our moves, my wedding album has disappeared. It was rumored to have been glimpsed in a box in the garage, but has yet to materialize.
Sam is taking me out for breakfast this morning, because he is working, again!

Normal Routine!

Well, it is Wednesday, and I *think* we are finally settling back into a routine! Sam left for the firehouse on Saturday morning. He managed to get home for a few minutes yesterday morning, before both of us had to run off to work; me to the daycare and he, to Tractor Supply. Yup, our normal routine!

Thankfully, Samantha's girl scout leader decided to cancel the troop's meeting for Tuesday. So the girls and I drove to my mom's house to get more of the stuff that she isn't moving to North Carolina. Sam met us there after work and we had a nice evening laughing around the table with Andy and Lauren.

Sam just left for the firehouse again. He'll be back Thursday morning to work at his 4H job. But then he is home for 4 whole days, other than his Tractor Supply hours!

This weekend is our wedding anniversary. Sixteen years of marriage on Friday. We'll spend the evening volunteering at the 4H Camp Benefit Auction. It'll be lots of fun! The girls really enjoy going. They volunteer as "gophers". They wear their 4H club shirts and run around getting items, displaying items, and carrying items to the winning bidders' cars. They also always make sure to save a little bit of their fair earnings from the previous year, exclusively to spend at the auction.

It is cute when they are presenting an item that they want to bid on. They are oblivious to the fact that everyone in chairs can see them gesturing and pointing, while giving Sam or I the "eye" to indicate that they want us to bid on the item for them. I will bid for the item up to their allotted amount. Some person will always outbid me, and then after he/she has won the item, they present it to whichever kid was gesturing! In the past I have offered to pay for the item, but they always say the money is for charity, or it makes them happy to spend it on the kids. Someday I hope to be the "grandmother" who can do that sort of thing.