Looking back...

June 6th, 1998. I was waking up excited and nervous about GETTING MARRIED that afternoon! Can you believe it? Ten years ago today, Joshua and I got hitched! It’s hard to believe how quickly the years have passed…and how many things have changed. Life is so very different these days. In honor of this last decade, I thought I would highlight TEN major differences in our lives…and at the same time illustrate how some things never change.

1. I’ll start with something as simple as appearance. In 1998 Josh and I were in our twenties and we still had a thing called great metabolism! I wore size 2 dresses on my honeymoon (finally gave those away a few years ago when reality set in) and Josh basically looked like a kid. In 2008, we need to go on a massive diet. We have joined the hordes of thirty somethings who have let our bodies go…and sadly we have probably gained a small person between the two of us.

2 The day we got married, my hair was mostly blonde by nature (the sun helped it along, though) and Josh only had a few stray gray hairs here and there. Well, you guys know how gray Josh is now—medical school and ten years with me has added a whole crop of gray. And sadly my hair pulled a Ken Schuldt and turned brown as I have aged…thankfully no gray yet, but if I want blonde, I have to get it at the salon.

Onto some fun stuff…
3. In 1998, Josh and I still drove our “starter” cars—I was driving the Honda Civic that I received for Christmas in 1993, and Josh was driving a Ford Ranger that he bought while we were at Hendrix—a very proud moment for him. These days, we are firmly established as a Ford Family. Josh won’t let me even look at other cars—he loves his F150 and I am happy with my Escape…except for the gas mileage. We bought our cars just before the gas prices went ballistic and the word “hybrid” wasn’t associated with vehicles at all.

4. Soon after our marriage, Josh was working at Shriner’s Hospital in Shreveport as a Child Life Assistant, while I was actually working part time at Montessori School with…gulp, two and three year olds!! I hated it at the time and vowed never to have children. Clearly, my priorities changed--as I type this in 2008, little baby Chance is kicking away in my belly and I can hear two-year-old Lucas snoring gently over the monitor. And even then, Josh knew he wanted to be a doctor some day, while I had absolutely no clue what I wanted to do. Not much has changed in that department!

5. As newlyweds, Josh and I probably saw every movie that came to the theater. Sometimes we would hit two movies in a row just to pass the time. Our all-time favorite became Braveheart. To this day, Josh still quotes “I love you. I always have. I want to marry you.” Classic Mel Gibson. A decade later, we don’t hit the theater nearly as much. We are turning into “old farts” who don’t like all the teenagers, the copious amounts of commercials (whatever happened to just a nice preview??), and the excessive prices (really—I can pop corn at home for a buck!)

6. Our wedding song was Shania Twain’s “Still the one”—which is still appropriate after all these years. But we really dig several Buffy and Veronica Mars soundtrack songs these days, too. If we want a romantic song, those are the ones we tune in.

7. Josh was never much of a bookworm, but in 1998 he occasionally might pick something up and read it. I was a voracious reader of romance. In 2008, I still like a good romance, but I have become very picky and only read certain authors—but one of my all time favs isn’t romance at all…it’s a little known book called Harry Potter (wink). Who knew in 1998 that JK Rowling would become a household name and that billions would fall in love with a geeky little wizard? Even Josh joined in the Pottermania.

8. A decade ago, snail mail was the way to correspond. Neither of us had email—we’d tried it in college, but it just never really took. In 2008, Josh and I both have multiple accounts and we sometimes fight over computer time (He is glaring at me as I type this and gripping about what is taking me so long…) Who would have believed computers would become such a central hub of life?

9. As far as world travel goes, we left on our honeymoon as virgins (travel virgins, that is…) Since 1998, we have been quite a few cool places, including multiple ports in Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. In the US, we have had memorable trips to Tennessee, Missouri, Florida (Disney!), Alabama (beach bums—long live South Tide), Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Arizona.

10. Last but certainly not least, our hobbies have seen some crazy transformations. A decade ago, I enjoyed reading, shopping, and sleeping. Josh occasionally golfed, but mostly he liked paint ball and watching random sports. Somewhere along the lines, I became obsessed with scrapbooking and photography and Josh turned into a Tiger fanatic. If it’s purple and gold, he wants to watch it. As for my love of shopping and sleeping—I still shop, but mostly for groceries (grrr) and sleep is no longer a marathon hobby--its a rare luxury.

So there it is…ten things that have changed…or not. Fun to look back on. If I had to predict life ten years from now, here are some things I would want to see happen. Josh and I become fitness freaks and each drop fifty pounds (I’d love to see a different kind of six pack around this house!) Lucas and baby Chance take after their father and enjoy sports and hanging with each other (and possibly a baby sister???) We will probably still be driving Fords, but maybe they will be powered by celery and hovering two feet off the ground in the year 2018, who knows? I’d love to travel to Europe (by boat of course since I am terrified of planes). I’d also love to not get any gray hair…men go gray and it’s sexy, but not so much for the chicks. And hopefully a decade from now we will still be just as in love as we were the day we said our vows—June 6, 1998.