What a Great Ride

Yesterday, the hubby and I celebrated our 8th anniversary! Very exciting! We didn't do anything special, just our normal everyday stuff. Jacob had a tball game, so that kind of took up most of the evening. He had team pictures before the game and there was about an hour in between. So, instead of going out to dinner, I made some sandwiches and packed some drinks, chips and fruit. After the pictures, we sat at a table near the playground and ate our dinner. I guess that was our version of a special dinner. Today I got to thinking about all we've gone through in the last 8 years and realized what a roller coaster ride it has been. One month and one day after we got married, I found out that we were expecting. Being young and poor, we decided that Martin would join the Army in order to get a steady paycheck and the medical benefits. The day he was set to ship out to basic training was September 11, 2001. I don't need to tell you what happened that day. So, the Army thing turned out far different than we planned but we've survived and wouldn't change it for the world. In our 8 years, we've been through 2 lengthy deployments not to mention countless field exercises. We've produced 3 beautiful children. I have moved 6 times. (Weird that the number of times I've moved might actually vary from how many the hubby has, huh? But such is the life...) I've attended two different colleges and am still working on getting my degree. Once or twice, we thought we might not make it. But, here we are! Eight years ago, in my youthful exuberence, I told the hubby that we were gonna be married for 80 years. It seemed like forever back then. Now, it doesn't seem like long enough. In this Army world that we have lived in for almost 8 years now, we've seen a lot of people get married. Many of them split up before the ink was dry on the marriage license. It is a sad reality. I am proud to say that we have made it. Being an Army wife is the hardest job in the Army, but I think it is by far the most rewarding. Plus, while I don't love the constant separations due to deployments and other stuff, I do love that we are pretty much always in that newlywed state of mind. We value our time together and always strive to make the most of it. So, our life together might not be exactly what I pictured when we were standing at the front of that chuch 8 years ago, but I wouldn't change a minute of it. It's been the greatest ride of my life. I'm buckled in and ready for whatever the next 72 years hold :)