8 Down Rest Of Our Lives To Go

If 10 years ago someone would have told me when I walked into a tanning bed I would meet the man I was going to marry I would have laughed in their face! But that is just what happened.

I was kind of a brat back then little stuck on myself as most 18 year olds are. Pretty much thought I was hot shit! Although looking back at pictures I kind of had a right to be j/k but seriously what I wouldn't give to look like that again. Sigh* oh we'll my 3 little boys are worth the stretch marks and drooping boobs.

Anyhow as little miss bratty walks in to tan she sees a guy dressed in Echo (if you now know my husband you'd never think he would have dressed that way) he too thought he was hot shit, tried to talk to me and we'll I wouldn't give him the time of day! Later he even called me a stuck up B it's funny to me now (it was true) had he not called me that I would have never got into an argument with him.

I believe in fate I believe that you meet the one when the time is right, and apparently the time was right.

We dated and fell in love he joined the Marines and we wrote each other everyday while he was at boot camp. I still have every letter he wrote me its then in those letters I knew I would marry him. I flew for my first time Ever to see him graduate boot camp. What we do for the ones we love!

I visited him while he was attending his schooling and on the beach sitting in his lap listening to the ocean is when he said we should get married we talked about it a lot.  I got my proposal over  the phone (the military does not allow much time to plan) he even asked my dad for permission.

On this day 8 years ago I married my best friend, my soulmate, the man I can't live without! The man who gave me the 3 greatest gifts in the whole entire world my boy's.

Marriage is not easy it's tough in fact the first 6months I didn't know if we would even make it I was in a new state miles away from my family I had no job, and  no friends for a little bit. I was pretty depressed I cried every night for the first month, I did make some great friends tho and then the news that my husband was deploying for 6months.

We decided I'd move back home, you want to know a fun fact about military life it changes at any second we had a set date of when he was leaving and guess what one night he came home and woke me to tell me in 12 hours he was leaving! Yep 12 hour notice that I was losing my husband for 6 months so please don't ever whine to a military wife that your husband is going on a weekend trip because we want to slap you!

In that 6 months I learned a lot I learned he was the only person I needed he was the one I wanted to see every night before I went to sleep and the one person I wanted to see when I woke. It was a long 6 months but boy was it worth it when I saw him and his arms were around me again. I knew we could handle anything.

 And I thought that was the hardest thing I'd ever went through but nope
 Que  deployment 2 me 6 months pregnant & him deploying & me having to give birth to our first child without him!! Ya that my friends was the hardest! But we got though it and then a year and a half later all over again my now 18 month old had to say bye to his daddy and not see him again till a little after his 2nd birthday! We got through it tho pictures & phone calls & emails. Did we Skype um Nope we didn't have that luxury we were lucky if we got an email response that same day!

We have had a lot of highs and a lot of lows we have been through 3 deployments, 3 births, a lot of family deaths, buying & trying to sell a house, raising 3 kids. He has seen me at my best & boy has  he seen me at my worst! But he has loved me no matter what. He is the only person that can make me laugh when I am in my worst mood ever! We never go to bed angry (that is very important). We have learned to not sweat the small stuff because there is so much out of our control. We have learned to deal with the hand we get delt together and work as a team.

We're to the point we can finish each others sentences we can talk in code, we know what the other is thinking before they even say it!!  My sweet husband can still surprise the heck out of me tho he had the sweetest thing made for me for our 8 year mark a beautiful ring that my friend custom made. He brought tears to my eyes. It was pretty romantic. That man has my heart forever. I love him so much. I am so thankful I walked in the door of tanning bed I did 10 years ago!

Marriage is not a one way street it takes two people to make it work, you need to be each others shoulder to lean on, you need to be each others support, and cheer each other on.  You need to be each others best friend. You need trust & communication to make it work!! I have learned a lot in our 8 years I can't wait to get to 10 & 20 and so on and so on!! I am with the man I love and couldn't be happier.    

Till death do us part I do!!!

-Candice-