melissa, "movie stars" and marriage

Melissa came to visit! i had every intention of making her take a picture in my -amazing- lsu snuggie, but time escaped us. very quickly. the trip was too short! come back!

do you know who this is? (he's on true blood--a vampire show based in louisiana)

or this? (he's yemi on lost)
him? (hehe! paris hilton movie the hottie and the nottie!)

no? i didn't either. but that still didn't make me any less excited that we met them (we being melissa, risa, ashleigh, lauren, and lacie). true blood? lost? csi? comeon. it made for a very exciting bachelorette party for my new sistie who is getting married in about 20 days! yay!

the first one pictured (jim parrack) was a really nice guy. he gave risa some marriage advice that i really appreciated. he said that even though it's sometimes hard to imagine the kind of intense commitment that comes along with marriage, it's worth it. you can have 100 of the exact same 1 experience with 100 different people... or you can broaden your life by having 100 different experiences with 1 person. he's married and says he is sure he made the right choice.

it was very ironic, that advice he gave that night. i... have a hard time understanding cheating on a spouse. i'm not being naive. i'm not saying i don't understand how it -could- happen... i'm just saying that i don't understand how you could forget your spouse like that. forget their feelings. forget your vows. forget how much you've already been through together. i think i brought charlie up to every person i talked to that night. i even offended someone by showing them my ring after a compliment. maybe i was just being overly-careful because of what i was seeing all around me.

i'm very happy to know i'm married to a man who is as committed to me and our marriage as i am.

happy birthday!

today is my wonderful husband's birthday!
my birthday was last week and so this post may seem a little backwards. but in order to tell you how -amazing- he is... i'm going to re-count how fantastic he was to me on my birthday. and just how wonderful he is in general.

-he woke me up with WHOLE WHEAT BLUEBERRY pancakes. blueberries he picked and froze himself.
-he posted reasons he loves me all over our kitchen when i was feeling insecure about my wifeliness.
-he took me to get thai food for lunch!
-he consistently picks out cute clothes AND jewelry for me!
-he threw me a surprise biggest loser birthday party. and. you have to know that the biggest loser is my FAVORITE show ever... and he made that into a birthday party! and was sneaky enough to keep it from me!
-when i cook (which is often and messy!), he cleans up the dishes
-he gets up early to take care of our two babies (rufie and pernky)
-he is a good provider
-he gave me about 3000 kisses on my birthday
-he lets me watch the biggest loser without complaining

even though we're married now... at times my feelings towards him are so strong that i want to get married to him all over again. he loves me when i pout. he loves me when i complain. he loves me when i'm too tired to take a shower. he loves me when i'm in turmoil about my future. he loves me when i am the ridiculous 8 year old girl that i am.

i also love him because of his character. i know very few people who are as widely respected as he is in everything he does. he's the hardest worker and does things with excellence. he's respectful. he LOVES people... i mean -really- loves them. he spurs me on to be a better person. his relationship with God is his own and becomes more and more his own all the time. he's definitely a man i am proud to be led by.

charlie loup... i love you as my best friend, my husband, and the father of my pernky :)