i believe. . .in marriage

my mom loved my dad. a lot. sometimes all it would take was to see him walking toward her as she waited for him in the car.

"look at him!" she would say, almost squealing like a teenager, "isn't he cute?"

since i was myself a teenager and he was my father, i responded, "ew. no."

but that was a good example. and she did it often enough that i started to love my dad more. he wasn't just a good dad, he was a good husband. my mom loved him. she loved him in front of her children. this love became something that i wanted in a marriage.

let us, if we are married, be happily married. more often than not, it is a choice. let's look at our loved ones and find the good things about them. let us praise them to others. let us support them when others are not there. if you do not have an example like carlisle and sally, use carlisle and sally as your example. 

yesterday, it rained. cats and dogs. like it never does in california. all day. there was lightning and thunder. ryan and i had made plans that day, it was our anniversary. we were going to go down to san diego for the day, kayak around some caves, get some lunch, a movie. . .

we had to come up with another plan. we threw out idea after idea: museums, parks, the observatory, movies, restaurants, massages (that was a joke, ryan hates massages). we ended up in a starbucks, next to a window while it rained, a peppermint hot chocolate between the two of us and we discussed 2013. what were we going to try to do? what were going to try to not do? where we were going to go?

it was a great conversation.

then we headed to the california science center which everyone else in california was doing too. they were sold out. of everything. so we went to a movie (les miserables, it was wonderful) and then grabbed lunch at a hole in the wall called gloria's (it was salvadoran food and it was so good). then we hit up a barnes & noble and bought four books and three notebooks. we have a problem.

it was not as exciting as kayaking and cave exploring. but it was one of the best days i've had in a long, long time.

i read somewhere that one of the best things you can do to be a success is marry the right person. i think that's true. if you marry someone who will support you and who will work alongside you, you can't fail. i think ryan does this. i think sally and carlisle did this. i think i will try to do this.

(taken at the end of the night, in an elevator)

happy eight years, manly!