Anniversary!

In 2011 I started my year in review.. a pictorial review of the top 10 things from the last year of marriage and what I’ve learned.  I’m going to continue the trend, although.. I’m a little late (just a few days).

Top 10 (or 12) from Marriage Year #3 

In no particular order…

Our First Year can be found here.

Our Second Year is here!

Found out we were pregnant!

Got Ginormous – 38 weeks (last photo I got)

Boy!

Fell in love with a beautiful baby boy.

Went to the D.C. Auto Show for the first time ever.

Met the nephew we hadn’t met yet.

Sat on the floor and had real Japanese sushi.  It was uh-mazing.

Moved to JAPAN!

Got a new car.

Visited D.C. twice this year (bonus awesome points if you can name that Transformers character)

Completed my PhT program, passed my boards, AND got my IV certification (in a year, take that!).    Then I quit my job and left my amazing co-workers who took me in like I was their own family.

Finally saw the northern lights (and then saw them again, and again, and again).  Crappy picture, but I was too damn excited. This year I learned that my husband does not handle change or stress well.  I also learned that he’s amazing when it comes to big things (like labor) and terrible when it comes to little things (like packing).  I learned that his family is crazier than I thought they were and I’m glad we left, lol.  I learned (after almost 9 years) that he only loves in private.  I learned that when it comes down to it, he doesn’t handle stress and I’m here to do it for him.  I’ve learned that he is a strong, amazing person who can face a challenge and succeed when left on his own.  I also learned that he does indeed fail at things, which I didn’t know about prior.  I always thought of him as someone who never failed unless he didn’t care, but come to find out he does fail at things seldomly for no good reason other than he got scared or freaked out.  I also found out that I have the ability to love selflessly and so does he.   People say you fall in love with the father of your child all over again when you watch them become a father, it’s true.  He’s still becoming a father and with so many changes we’ve had in the last few months, he hasn’t had all the time he wants.  He’s terrified that he’s going to get deployed and his son won’t know who he is when he returns.  He’s afraid he’s going to miss out on him growing up because he’s at work. To watch the fear in his eyes, it’s life changing.  I’ve never seen him that vulnerable before, it’s weird and really romantic all at the same time.  He looks at Baby Danger like he used to look at me, when he thought I needed protecting… before he realized I wasn’t that kind of girl (although sometimes I’d like for him to try to protect me like he used to). In the last year, I have learned to love him differently.  I used to want to be number 1 all the time and got jealous when I wasn’t.  I think we’ve finally hit our groove.  I’m comfortable where I am in his life and in his priorities.  I used to think that in order to know that I was loved, I needed to be reassured constantly.  That is not the case anymore.  I’ve come to realize and accept that without me, his life might not function.  He’d live on Subway and Peanut Butter and Jelly and none of his clothing would be completely dry.  I’m his rock and he is mine.  Without each other, we’d be lost.