October 7, 2015

Our 20th Wedding Anniversary

October 7, 1995.
It was a gorgeous Colorado fall day. Blue skies, bright sunshine, not a cloud in the sky.
Lanny, 32 3/4 years of age, took a chance on me, a brand new 21 year old. I like to say that he agreed to take me off my parents hands and finish raising me. Ha!  (Yes, you read that right - we are 12 years apart in age.)
So we said "I do" not having a clue in the world what that actually meant and began to walk the road of life together.  For better or worse, in sickness and health, for richer or poorer. We smirked when we had to repeat that last one and we squeezed hands because we knew it would always be on the poorer side of things.

It's been 20 years today that we said that uninformed "I do."  And it has indeed held better and worse, sickness and health, never richer but always poorer - just as we thought.  If you know our story you may know some of these mountains and valleys we have traveled in our marriage. In 2011 Lanny almost died, found himself a resident of the ICU for a period of time.  By the end of our first year of marriage I've been told I managed to spend all of his savings and keep us right at paycheck to paycheck. But yet he is notorious for hearing me out, sighing and saying, "God Bless Your Generous Heart" and giving the go ahead.  We won the parent lottery and have two beautiful redheaded young women to raise.  We have held on tight and fought for our marriage when the easier thing to do would have been to walk away. He had to watch me finish growing up and it wasn't easy. AT ALL.

Marriage is not for the faint of heart. And in this day and age, 20 years is quite a milestone. We have a lot of years ahead of us. They are certain to hold better and worse, sickness and health, and we'll continue with the trend of poorer if my generous heart has anything to say about it. *grin*
So here's to 20 years Lanny, and to whatever number of years God chooses to give us past this moment.

This is the song our friend Dale sang at our wedding.

World Smile Day
“Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” Mother Teresa

15 of the Best and Free Health Benefits of Smiling
The Science of Smiling: A guide to human's most powerful gesture

Frappe Day
Frappé: The History of Coffee That Greeks Are Obsessed With
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The Original: Greek Frappé Recipe

Bathtub Day
Earlier this year we celebrated bathtub party day, I will refer you back to that post for bathtub trivia. :)