Four years and counting...

Just married! 9-6-2008

This is yet another post that is also a bit late/delayed, but for good cause.  Late posts = me spending time with my family and little ones who are growing oh too fast for my liking.  In my defense, our celebration of this event isn't until this weekend as it had to be a bit delayed due to our adorable littlest nephew's birthday festivities so maybe I'm not late in this post after all.

So young! April 2006- the weekend we became exclusive

March 8th, 2006 was the day I first laid eyes on this handsome man and my first thought as I rode down the escalator and saw him pacing nervously in the lobby of the company where we both work (still), was that his picture didn't do him justice.  We met on a blind date and my friend had supplied me a photo of him from his brother's recent wedding.  I didn't think our meeting would ever take place.  He asked me out via email as he was too shy to call me...he'd seen my photo (one specifically chosen and pre-approved by both of my friends doing the match making, of course) as well and wasn't going to ask me out as he thought I was "cute" and would say no.  I guess he saw me once on the elevator where we work shortly after my friends started pestering him about me and that changed his mind as I seemed "normal" (HA! The irony.).  I think he was spying on me before making a decision.  Certainly, that was an unfair advantage.  Anyhow, he asked me out and the day of our lunch date came along with a last minute cancellation via email that he just couldn't get away for our lunch because he had a funeral to go to.  Right.  Like I haven't heard that excuse before.  I figured he'd spotted me in person in the midst of the thousands of other people we work with in our building and that was the end of it.

Shortly after we were engaged in 2007. Wine tasting on Long Island

To my surprise, he rescheduled for the following week apologizing profusely and I was actually excited at the prospect of meeting someone new as online dating had been a waste for me.  Of course now it was my turn to throw a curve ball.  I got sick.  Miserable and disgusting with a Z-pac prescription to boot sick.  I had to cancel as I could barely get out of bed.  He thought I spotted him at work and was no longer interested.  Flash forward once again and we decided to give it one last shot and if this didn't work well, then, we just weren't meant to be.  March 8th dawned and we were both happy and healthy and alive.  As I rode down the elevator to meet him I spotted him instantly.  He was pacing back and forth nervously and then in a moment he stopped and looked up and saw me.  I can't explain exactly why, but in that instant I knew we were both in trouble.  The butterflies in the pit of your stomach, take my breathe away just by a simple glance kind of trouble.  We exchanged nervous smiles and his first words came out, "You must be Heather." Two hours later, we came back from our first lunch.  I didn't think he'd call me again as I couldn't shut up the whole two hours.  I could hear myself talking and was trying to stop but my friends told me he was shy and I'd have to keep the conversation going.  Crap.  I'm shy, too, yet I managed to talk non-stop.  Much to my surprise he did call me back.  In fact, he even emailed me that afternoon to say he had a wonderful time at our lunch and hoped we could go out one evening really soon.  Thank God there's a man on this planet who doesn't wait the customary three days to call again.  My heart skipped a few beats.

Waiting for baby M! 2009

Flash forward almost six and a half years and we are celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary.  It's been an incredible four years with the man I first saw nervously pacing back and forth on that brisk March day.  We have traveled to far away places, adopted pets and lost others, built a house together, doubled our family size, laughed, cried, danced, tickled, argued over whether the box was half full or half empty, and most of all: we've loved.  Our journey this far has been incredible and I look forward to our journey in the years to come and where it will lead us.  A.R. completes me and I, him.  We are so blessed to have each other and our little family of four.

One of my favorites from our honeymoon.  Barcelona, Spain 2008