first of all, i would like to say "happy anniversary" to my beautiful husband, christopher...
thank you for being here for me these past 9 years... i do not know what i would have done without you so many times... i love you very much...
well, this is going to be a sentimental post as well as a documentation of our years together...
the beginning...
november 6, 1995...
we met back in southern california (hermosa beach to be, exact)... my best friend, jade, and his best friend, michael, were together, so it was just a matter of time that we would have met anyway... but that night was the fateful one and i look fondly upon it to this day...
i can remember it just like it was yesterday... i was a nervous wreck... i had been told so many things about him and i was not even sure that i wanted to go over there that night... i was and still am very happy that i did...
i was into the goth thing at the time, so i looked very different than i do now... i had short dark hair, always wore black and was almost always wearing make-up... he had purple hair and back then that was the end all be all thing for me... i loved guys with colored hair...
one thing that i do not think about much was that i was kinda dating someone at the time (long since forgotten)... he was nothing special or important so i did not see any harm in going over to meet this zane ( zane is his professional name)... he sounded just like a cool guy and i did not think more about it at the time... by the time i left my life as i knew it would be changed forever...
he affected me that much... i am not one to say that i believe in love at first sight or anything but i do not really have any other way of thinking about it... this really was just that...
as jade and i walked into this apartment (right on the ocean, already a plus in my book) there he was just sitting off in a corner...
he was slowly rotating a stack of crystal balls in his hand...
the movement was so fluid and beautiful, they looked as if they were spinning by themselves and he was just sitting there holding them...
the light of the candles (the only light in the room) was refracting and reflecting off of them was hypnotic... this was something that i had never seen someone do before...
he had shoulder length hair and it seemed to just cascade down one side like a waterfall... it was amazing and the crystal balls did not hurt either... :)
he was and still is beautiful... one of my favorite people to just look at...
he has those amazing eyes and huge comforting hands that just make you feel like they will be there to hold you when you need them... and they have been there for me on countless occasions...
so, on with the story...
he was sitting off in the corner and we sat on the couch on the opposite wall... i just could not take my eyes off of him the entire time we were there... he mesmerized me...
i do not fully recall the events of that night but i can say that (because i still have my old journals from when i was young) that i went home and wrote in my journal that:
'tonight i met my future husband...'
you would think that a girl writes those kinds of things all the time, but as i looked back in them, i had not once... this was something different and i knew it from that moment... and here we are today 9 years later...
and yes, we are married and have been since june of 1996...
i was a young girl that still lived at home and knew almost nothing (not that much has changed a whole lot, but i am learning to be more of a wife all the time)... i was pretty spoiled i would say and think that i had things way too easy... he had been on his own for quite some time already and i think that i felt a little intimidated at times... i did not know anything but could look to him to get answers and this was another comforting thought...
so, as the night went on, we talked and hung out together and i felt all warm and fuzzy inside and had butterflies in my stomach.... he was so different...
he was confident and did not seem to care about what other people thought and this was such a nice change... and of course, the night had to come to an end at one point... he walked me out to my car and we said goodbye... he was so soft and warm and i felt safe... i knew that this was it and jade and i talked about it the entire drive back home...
i do not think i could have slept... all i could do was think of him... and i do not think he was off my mind for more than a few moments...
even my mom noticed that i was happier than she had seen me in a long time... he had changed me... and he continues to change me daily... he has made me a better person...
so, a few days passed and we talked and saw each other pretty much daily... we had hit it off wonderfully... we woud take walks down on the beach and drives around town... he is not originally from so cal like i am so i felt like i had to give him a tour of everywhere...
we spent a lot of time around the beach and talked so much... i was known for falling asleep on the phone with him late at night... he would just talk to me for hours... his voice was so soothing that i would fall asleep... it was peaceful and i love it...
november 16th...
then i decided one night that we all needed to go out to a club... i was one to go out to a club almost every night of the week... he is not the social butterfly that i was back then, but he went along because i wanted him to see what i did with so much of my time...
so, we headed out to the club... i think he did not know what to expect but had fun anyway...
i danced all night and he watched... i think i was trying to show off for him and i think we both enjoyed it... that was our first "official date"...
we talked and spent every moment that we had free with each other... it was magical...
we had talked about getting married but i know now that he did not think that i was as serious as i was and i do not think that i was either... but, here we are, still together and still very happy...
november 25th...
we went down to one of the little shops on the beach and picked up 2 five piece puzzle rings... this is the ring that i wear to this day... this is my wedding ring and i adore it... his has unfortunately broken and we have searched and searched for an exact duplicate and can not find one... grrr...
they are sterling silver and 5 pieces... they are very symbolic, just like so many other things with us, they have a deeper meaning...
we bought them and then walked back to his apartment... there were always a couple people there, so we gathered them around and exchanged rings...
amazing... i get all teary eyed just remembering all this...
early in january 1996...
he moved out of the apartment because his brother and now wife were moving to florida...
he had to make the decision to stay with his brother and move away or stay there in california to be with me... and he chose me... i guess everyone has to make a similar decision in their own lives but he and his brother had been through so much the last couple of years it was not any easy choice to make...
he stayed closer to me and i was still living at home with my parents... it was hard to go to work and school knowing that he was that much closer...
but, i managed somehow...
he moved a couple of times and finally settled right down the street from disneyland...
we saw each other more than ever those last few months before we got married... we grew closer and closer with each passing day it seemed... we grew together as a couple...
may 6th 1996...
i moved out of my parents house one month to the day before we got married... that was i think one of the hardest things that i have ever had to do...
i do not think that my parents every fully understood and do not think they ever will...
i had pretended like i was cleaning my room and packed some clothes and other personal items into some large trash bags and took them outside... i thiink they thought i was finally getting rid of some of the junk that had piled up, but that was not the case... i had planned on running away from home and this was the time i had chosen to do it... jade and i had talked about this before hand and my parents thought that we were going out for the night when she pulled up to see me... they had no idea... i grabbed the bags that i had taken down and threw them into her trunk and she drove me to his place... it was frightening... i was actually going to leave and not come back... i had made my decision... i called my mom that night and let her know that i was not coming home... she thought that i was not coming home that night, but something in her voice told me that she knew that i was going for good... she asked me when i was going to be back and i told her
that i did not know...
this was a flat out lie... i knew then that i was not coming home... i still feel bad about this to this day... i think that if i had been 100% honest with her then i would have a better relationship with them even now... (sorry mom)...
so, we lived together for a month and we finally had the time where i was out of school and had some vacation time from work... so, in june we headed to las vegas and got married...
you can read all about his post about marrying me on his blog...
november 6th 2004, today...
so, 9 years have now passed and we have lived
in 4 different states with multiple addresses... i love him now more than i think i did that first day, if that is possible... he is my very best friend and i can not imagine, or care much to, see myself without him... he is my husband and today i want him and anyone else that might happen to be reading this that i am happy that we are together and can not wait to see how the next 9 years go... happy 9 years together anniversary christopher, i love you and cherish you with all my heart and am so happy to be your wife... thank you for sharing your life with me...