On July 13th, 2006, Russ and I had tickets to see the Phantom of the Opera which was playing in town. I admit that I was beyond giggly to go and watch this show since the last time I saw it was 10 plus years ago!! Russ got me the tickets as a present for our anniversary a handful of months ago. And as luck would have it, he got the tickets to the show that would land on our 28th anniversary of meeting eachother. Awww! So we got all dolled up to go and had a GREAT time! The weather was perfect so that we could park a bit away and walk to the venue instead of dealing with hundreds of cars. The tickets were in the PERFECT spot, so nice and close to the stage but not too close. And elevated enough so we didn’t have any big heads infront of us!! It was a GREAT show, big, bold and elaborate! My 3 favorite words!! (more…)

Ahhhhhh some nice pictures to follow up a great day trip to Bowness park. Russ and I were invited to go down to a birthday party of my little cousins at the park. I had not been there in literal handfuls of years honestly so I totally forgot what it was all about. I even thought ahead and used my Education training to think about what to wear so that I don’t get bitten by bugs or have sore feet. Alas, some capris and Crocs did the trick for me. The park is so nice-no bugs but depending on where you are sitting and which tree you are under, you get a ton of willow fuzz floating around making it look like Christmas snow. (more…)

Of course being the camera freak that I am, I made Russel take a picture of us using his timer on the camera. (more…)

Just when you think you are sitting in a mall…someone snaps two pictures from the upper level!!! (more…)

Another year gone by-another New Yeas Eve spent together…here are some snapshots of Russ and I at my house on the night before 2006. My family spent the night with Russ and myself along with a wonderful and quiet dinner. It was a warm and dry night, filled with love, hope and lots of kisses. (more…)

Darling Russel,

So it is your birthday-a new number to add to your name. I know you have been dreading this day because of that lovely little 1 that will now go in place of the zero which is after the 3!

This is another year that we get to share your birthday, just you and I.

When I met you almost 2 years ago, you were in the early start of your 29th year. Then last year was the end of that and the start of your 30th year. You were unshaven, unshowered and shocked out of your cowboy hat at the surprise you got when you walked in the house. SURPRISE-it was all of us…friends, family, and me. What a joy it was to spend your 30th birthday with you and the people you loved! (more…)

For 17 months, the days have passed like 17 minutes. For my special love, the light of which my heart feeds off of..these are my 17 wishes for this special day where we are celebrating our 17th month of the first date and first kiss.

1. For this 17th month, I wish to be the music to your song.

2. I wish to always be by your side in times of confusion and insecurity.

3. I wish to be your vision of what the perfect woman should be.

4. I wish to have your love and honor until my passing days.

5. I wish to be your equal partner in love and life.

6. I wish to be holding your hand as you walk the pathway to your dreams.

7. I wish to be able to keep the laughter lines on your face by cheering you up when you are down.

8. I wish to be as patient and understanding with you are you have always been with me.

9. I wish that others could experience what we have together, and cherish eachother as if they will never have this experience in another lifetime again.

10. I wish that you can continue to feel as empowered and confident in your personal life as you have allowed me to be in mine.

11. I wish to create words that even poetry itself couldn’t outdo about you.

12. I wish to be what you deserve…only the best.

13. I wish that I could tell every single person I run in to anywhere about what a wonderful man they missed out on.

14. I wish to always hear your voice before I go to bed and never have to long for it when I wake up in the morning.

15. I wish to always remember this happiness and continue feeling this way forever.

16. I wish to always remember how excited I was to have gone out on that first date with you.

17. And finally…I will always wish to hold you close to my heart and above all things of which mean everything, yet don’t even compare to how wonderful you are to me.

Until I met you, wishes were just something you would think up when you looked out your window and watched the full moon sink in to the darkness. Thank you for making those lost wishes sparkle again, as brilliant as the sparkle in your eyes that have brightened my smile and ignited the fire in my soul.

17 wishes…a lifetime to go.

I love you, Russel James!

Today was the 16th month anniversary of the day Russ and I went out on our first date. Yes, we DO like to celebrate our 2 anniversaries each month-my Dad often asks us why we want to celebrate two and what will happen if we get married…are we going to celebrate each and every anniversary of each and every thing? The answer is…YES! Why not? It just makes for a better week when you can schedule in your Happy Anniversary chants all in once!!! (more…)

Another snapshot of Russ and I dressed to the 9’s on a warm summer day, July 23rd 2005. I decided to wear my polka dot halter dress because the weather called for it and I SO wanted to wear my funky shoes!! Russ was my date at my cousin Matthew’s engagement/wedding party. It was a nice event though I was creeped out by the bride-it was another day to hang out with my handsome man. Notice his very current hairstyle-I love it

I thought I would put up two funky shots of our pictures-they came out kind of blurry because my little cousin kept trying to hit his sister when she was taking this..the more I played with it, the more blurry it became! Sorry!

People think we are nuts. Crazy in fact. Well we are, we just are. Russ and I take great excitement out of celebrating in any shape or form, another anniversary. We have 2 a month which is probably 2 too many for some, but for us it is just fun. We celebrate the 13th of every month because we met on the 13th, (March 2004), and we celebrate the 16th of every month because we had our first date on the 16th (April 2004). My Dad says that we are both weird because of this since it is almost like we are trying to race to each month so we can celebrate something! haha Well that is ok for us. We don’t go literally over the top twice a month or anything-but for the both of us, those 2 dates are the landmark to which we can thank for bringing us where we are now! (more…)