10 on the 10th

Happy Monday! Mondays come so fast! I could’ve used an extra day to help get a few things done, but I did get all my homework done, so that’s a great thing!

I’m linking up with my friend, Erin, for her 10 on the 10th link-up.

Today’s topic is 10 memories with your spouse, in honor of Valentine’s Day on Wednesday.

Chris and I have been together for 18 years and married for almost 14 years. We have so many great memories together and I had a hard time choosing just 10 to share. Here are the ten random memories that stuck out in my mind:

1. Chris is a wonderful fisherman! His passion is Current River and catching small mouth bass. When we were dating, he had caught a great size bass that his parents had mounted for him. He came over to my house that evening and was so excited to show it off to my family and I. He set the fish aside and we went in the dining room to eat supper. Somehow things got shuffled, and his fish ended up having a blanket and pillow thrown on top of it. Well, I didn’t realize it and just sat down on the couch without moving the blanket, and the fish was under there! I SAT on his newly mounted fish and cracked the tail of the fish in half! I was mortified and instantly started crying. Chris, of course, was calm and collected and said it wasn’t a big deal. I called the taxidermist and begged him to fix it. He fixed it to the best of his ability, but you could still tell something happened to it. The fish hangs in our office today and I smile every time I walk by it at that memory.

2. The way Chris proposed to me is definitely a favorite memory. Chris puts a lot of thought into everything he does. My whole senior year of HS we had talked about marriage and future plans. When I graduated HS, I really thought that would be the night he popped the question. It wasn’t, he waited until about a month later on June 21, 2003. His dad was the pastor at a church in Ellsinore at that time. I drove to their parsonage for us to go out to eat and to a movie that evening. When I got to their house, his mom told me he had ran over to the church really fast and I could go over there and tell him I was ready.

When I walked through the church doors, there were rose petals leading down the hallway. There was a poem at the first stop titled “The Past”, then more rose petals and another poem, “The Present”, and then I kept walking down the hallway and turned the corner to more rose petals. At the end of this hallway there was a poem titled “The Future”, and Chris was waiting there with a dozen roses and asked me to marry him. The song “Crazy Love” was playing in the background and it was perfect!

3. Our wedding day has to make my top ten list also. We were married the next summer on June 12, 2004. It was a simple church wedding with all our family and friends attending. His dad and grandpa Welch performed the ceremony and did a great job.

4. We had our first child, Elizabeth, on December 12, 2006. I will never forget how NERVOUS Chris was all day long even though I had a very easy labor and delivery. During the delivery, Chris stayed up by my face holding my hand, but he was also “petting” my head like you’d pet a dog. I’ll never forget leaning over and telling him to stop petting my head! (Not sure why these pictures are showing smaller and with the wrong date on them)

5. I’ll never forget the look on Chris’s face when Emily was born and she had to be rushed by ambulance to St. Francis hospital and I had to stay back because I had just given birth. He didn’t want to leave me but being with Emily was top priority at the time. It was such a hard time in our life.

6. Chris is a jokester and never serious. He loves to pester me and is constantly poking me or throwing things at me, etc. One time I was cooking and he popped me with a dish towel on the butt. I thought I would be quick and pop him right back with my dish towel and I ended up popping him right in the eye! It hurt him so bad and his eye was swollen for days. It taught him not to pop me with a towel!

7. All of our river days together are some of my favorite memories. Our favorite times are with the girls, but it’s nice when it’s just him and I also. He fishes, and I read. Win/win situation for all.

8. Helping Chris drive through Texas was a funny memory! Their 8 lanes of interstate on one side is WAY different than our two lane roads here in MO. We had a lot of laughs and yelling at each other after missed exit ramps and getting lost. Driving in a new place will definitely test your marriage!

9. Every Christmas break we stay up until the wee hours of the morning binge watching a Netflix show together. Breaking Bad and 24 are my top shows we’ve watched.

10. The way Chris held me after my dad died is something I will always remember. We didn’t say a word to each other and we didn’t have to for it to be a special memory. He held me and let me cry for hours that night.

Marriage is a lot of work and we are not perfect. These are just a few of the memories I will cherish with Chris. Chris is my best friend and makes life interesting!

Thank you for reading my blog today! Have a great start of the week!

~Jen