star wars makes a come back

Up in the attic, I came across Aaron's "bag" from childhood. A small maroon bag holding years of war, triumph, and probably some brother rivalry. In this bag was Aaron's collection of Star Wars figures - and its been sitting in our attic for far too long. Since Aaron had already introduced these characters to the kids during their bedtime stories - I thought it was time for them to see the characters themselves. Albeit its nice how they used their imaginations. But to me, this was one less thing to collect dust. Aaron refused. Until today...

Aaron took a deep breath, and made an introductory speech...

They didn't know what to make of some of the creatures. It probably didn't mirror what they had imagined. They looked on with interest. Noah picked up Luke and admired his sword.... I on the other hand wasn't too impressed with some of the not-so-cute figurines and weapons. So while the kids weren't looking, I started to sort through the crowd and placed some back in the bag.... these were our favorites...

As for the rest, well - it was time to play! In her tutu, Ava gathered two Princess Leias, and the three of them went right into action...

It made Aaron surprisingly happy to see years and years of his joy playing {as boys did back then} in the hands of his daughter and son... who pretended the Ewoks were ordering pizza from Jabba the Hutt... simply priceless!

a love story

When I was a little girl, I was into ant farms, chasing ice cream trucks, and collecting stickers. It wasn't until college before I started dreaming about prince charming {sparked mostly when I'd procrastinate studying at the library}. And because life seems to swivel faster with each year, I decided {and secretly hoped} that fate would bring him to me. Maybe I'd rear-end him with my car, and fall instantly in love... or we'd bump shopping carts in the grocery store.. {you get the idea}. For someone who is always chasing time, I was certain that the love-at-first-sight scenario was the most efficient approach to this entire matter. I really believed in this. I had to, there were so many other important things to do... like graduating.

I transferred to a state school, where among 35 thousand, I felt small, bright-eyed, and comfortable. I was walking slowly across campus one day, with my nose stuck in my history book, when out of nowhere someone in a black shirt appears right in front of me. I stop, annoyed for a sec and about to say, "excuse me," when suddenly I feel a gust of butterflies in my stomach. My knees felt weak when I realized, he wasn't a stranger at all. He was the humble, charmingly witty {to an eleven yr old}, dirty-blonde haired boy from my 6th grade Science class, standing tall, dark and handsome right before me. I thought the butterflies were because I had found an old friend. But a few weeks later, on March 25th, 1998, we went out on our first date. We both went home that night, and knew. Our fairytale was just beginning...

Three years later, on this day, Aaron and I tied the knot before God and our loved ones.

Little did we know about the amount of work that goes into a marriage... preparing and planning for the future together - All we knew on this day was that this is the hand we will be holding, long past we are old and gray - rocking on the front porch, waiting for the great grand-kids to come over. And that image still gives me butterflies.

The image in my head - not this one {Aaron PhotoShopped us into this pic back in '04}. It makes me laugh.

 

We've been saying it all week - "I can't believe its been 10 years... really?" No! The laugh lines on our face confirm this to be true. I went through some of our old pictures today {spring cleaning still..} and there were so many journeys from this past decade - globe trotting to more than 50 cities, two home renovations, and our own new lives as parents to two amazing children.

I am so blessed to be walking this earth with you Aaron, holding my hand. Happy 10th Anniversary...

... you still give me butterflies....

blog update

ahem...

OK. Yesterday on The Art of Family an announcement was made.

Today there would be an update to the blog that you have all grown to love. So are you ready? Any guesses to what the update is? Love poems….? Maybe not?

Let me give you a hint…

I, the author of what you are reading at this very moment, have never written a blog post in my whole live. I am not who you think I am. I am….

…her husband.

Don’t let the smooth taste fool you. I have no writing experience. I limit the comments on the Art of Family I write to 2 paragraphs or less because that is how long I usually last before I run out of literature. English class was a beating for me in high school and in college, I wrote in COBOL more than I did English… so you will need to bear with me. Be patient. And more important – when you leave comments, be polite. So on to the updates…