She's Gone Country...

Most of you know, and maybe some of you don't believe, I grew up in the "country." Don't laugh. Not back-woods-toothless-barefootandpregnant-country. It was more like hospitality-repsectyourelders-okayyesdirtroads-country.

We had gravel roads to our house. It took me 20 minutes to get to school, and not because of traffic. Unless you count the combines. When you drive by, passing drivers wave. Really busy ones give you the finger. No, not that finger, the one finger wave. I remember asking my dad when I was younger, why he waved at everyone. You can pretty much assume he knows everyone, but what he said was very important. You never know when a stranger could be a friend, or if you were in some kind of trouble, if you are nice and respectful to people, they will help you.

As a teenager, I couldn't wait to get out of there. I wanted to be "free" from all of it. Everyone knowing your business, no where cool to shop, and I wanted to see what else was out there.

Even up until recently, if you asked me if I would ever move back, I would laugh and say no way. But today, today I miss it. I miss not having neighbors to worry about, leaving your doors unlocked, church with the same small group of people you've been praising God with your entire life. I miss the closeness and warmth that the "country" offers.

And sending Callie to kindergarten at a school that has SIX kindergarten classes? Don't even get me started. It seems too big, too impersonal, and I wish I could send her to a much smaller school. The school I attended was a K-12 school. I went to the same school my entire life, with pretty much the same group of 35 or so kids. Like brothers and sisters to me. I wish she could have that.

Who knows if I'd actually really be happy there. I might have been in the "city" life too long. Two minutes to Target, Hy-Vee up the street, no gravel roads, a million restaurants and shops.... I probably couldn't really do it. And my husband is soooo not a country boy. He wouldn't last a day in the field, or standing it cow poop fixing fences, and he's terrified of horses. Needless to say, I know living on a farm will never happen for us.  But thank God I still have home. Or what I call home. My dad's farm has everything that gives me a bit of comfort.

I Wanna Wake Up Where You Are....

Today is my Anniversary with my husband. We've been married for 7 years. But our story goes so, so much farther back than that. We started dating when I was only 16. Of course we had our break ups and high school drama. We met at Hy-Vee (shocker!) and have been together ever since. I remember seeing him in passing, but I didn't really know who he was until I had to do a catering event. And he was the guy who had to pick myself and a few other girls up afterwards. My first impression, I'm not gonna lie, is that he was a big dork. He had beer cans in the back of his truck, and a sticker that said "Girls Rule." Little did I know at the time, that was NOT his truck, but a friend's. Still. And then he started singing to the Backstreet Boys on the way back to the store. Needless to say, it wasn't love at first sight :)

It didn't take long, though, for us to be attracted to each other. His parents were out of town one weekend, sorry Rita and Jeff, and he had a little party. I went with a friend of his. I wouldn't call it a date, well, maybe it was a date. Okay so maybe I was on a date with one of his friends when we had our first kiss. I obviously wasn't too into the friend of his, and Craig made me laugh. A lot. And smile. When my "date" left, Craig asked me to stay a little bit later, and I did. We watched MTV (back when they played music videos) and just hung out, and had our very first kiss. I remember like it was yesterday.

We dated off and on for a while. Breaking up, then getting back together, it was hard to avoid one another when we worked together. Even when he was mad at me, or I was mad at him, it never lasted long. I couldn't walk by him without smiling, and he'd tell you the same.

Then, I graduated high school. I was dating Craig at the time of my graduation, and I let him know that I was moving. To Minnesota. Over six hours away. We tried the long distance thing, and it was hard. He would come visit me a lot on the weekends, but it wasn't enough. After 3 months, he dropped out of college and transferred stores to be with me. We moved in together in September of 2001. We were just babies, living on love, ramen noodles, and Supermarket Sweep.

After I finished school, we moved back to his hometown. He finished college and remained with Hy-Vee. We got engaged, got married, and moved to Omaha. Our wedding day was so much fun. I am so thankful for all of the family and friends that surrounded our day with love and support. The wedding was short and sweet, and the reception.... let's just say we spent more on beer than we did food. But everyone had a great time.

We now have a house, two kids, a fish, and a dog. Thirteen years later. Our idea of fun is playing basketball with Tanner, or listening to Callie read to us. We go to Target alone on our really crazy nights. And maybe even dinner. Our house is usually a little messy, very chaotic, and our laundry never seems to be done. But it's ours. Together.

Our big night was spent at Applebee's (Callie picked), with both of our kids. We usually go to some fancy restaraunt and order steak and wine, but this time we were at your neighborhood grill, ordering Mac-N-Cheese and applesauce. Instead of fancy plates, we ate out of little red baskets. And we had a blast.

All of this has been created in 7 years. I can't wait to see what the next 70 will bring.