happy wedding anniversary!

rupert and i had our wedding six years ago on july 8. a lot has happened since then: we've had kids, we bought a home, rupert changed jobs, etc. all the things you'd expect would happen to an average-y couple. and, yet, i don't feel our marriage is average-y. sure, we have rough days and forgettable blah days, and the really great days are rare (and, therefore, all the more magical). but through it all our bond has grown stronger. we continue to grow and learn about ourselves and each other. we embrace change (however minute and mundane the changes are in our lives) and go with the flow.

while child-rearing takes up a lot of our time and energy, i so treasure my marriage and partnership with rupert. i give him a hard time almost every minute that he's awake, but i do it because i love him. if i didn't care so deeply for him, if i didn't feel so free and open with him, i wouldn't even bother paying him any attention. i know that, out of necessity and responsibility, our marriage sometimes takes second fiddle to raising the kids. but i truly believe that in order to raise emotionally healthy children they need to see how much their parents love and respect each other. although we can't afford to go out on weekly dates for "us time," and we take our kids almost everywhere we go, i think they see each and every day the kind of reliable, sturdy, constant love we have for one another; that, no matter what, our love for each other is just as strong as our love for them. and, just as importantly, how much fun we continue to have after 12 years together.


that said, we forgot that it was our anniversary and didn't plan anything for just the two of us since we went to the belle and sebastian show a couple of days ago. instead, we had a mini-reunion of sorts with a couple of rupert's grad school friends at our house. my mom marinated some yummy asian-style ribs, which rupert grilled, and we hung out in our yard all afternoon. it was the best way to spend a weekend afternoon in the summer.

after our friends left we took a walk to the park to play some ball and enjoy the cool evening. i can't deny that it would've been nice to enjoy a romantic evening alone with my husband, but being together with the kids yesterday was one of those rare, magical moments that make me forget every other blah day.

and we ended the evening watching "50 first dates," a cute, silly romantic comedy that seemed like just the thing to watch on our wedding anniversary.