We've been married 10 years? Really? Really!

Ten years ago this morning I was spending a relaxing morning preparing for our afternoon wedding.  I remember I took a bath in my parent's large soaking tub, read a little, and soaked in the quiet before heading to the church.  I spotted the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile on the way and I knew it was a good sign.  Friends did my hair and makeup and my Mom helped me into my borrowed dress.  David and I chose to see each other and do all the posed photos before the wedding (something I encourage every bride to do!) which helped keep our nerves calm.  I remember goading each other not to cry and the feel of David's hands holding mine firmly.  I am not a person who relishes the spotlight but I don't think I even noticed the rest of the people at the ceremony because I was so focused on David.  My good friends Kay and Anna both sang beautifully and we released doves (or tried to, it was sweltering hot and the birds had to be practically thrown out of the basket!) right before we left the church in a cloud of bubbles.  Our brothers took us for a spin through the Dairy Queen drive thru where my brother chivalrously bought us a Blizzard that we ate while waiting for everyone else to arrive at our reception location.

10 years.

Looking back I wonder at how young we were and how much growing we each had to do.  I had just turned 20 and David was newly 21.  We were in the middle of college, we planned our wedding date to be as close to the end of summer as possible (to make as much money working summer jobs as we could!), and also give us time to go on a honeymoon and set up house before school started.  By luck we were able to share David's grandparents 55th wedding anniversary (Happy 65th to Delbert and Fern Parry!) which is special to us.

Our first two years of marriage were spent in Moscow, Idaho finishing college.  We lived in a tiny 450 square feet "apartment" (I use the term loosely) literally across the street from campus.  The Engineering Physics building and David's Computer Science classes were all within sight of our front door.  Our home became the hub for many of David's friends to spend time playing video games between classes since we were so convenient.  David graduated with his BS in Computer Science and BA in History in December 2002 and I finished my BFA in Interior Design in May 2003.

We moved to Salem , Oregon the week after I graduated with no job prospects but a sense of adventure.  David was enrolled to begin classes for his MBA at Willamette University in August but for the first few months we were unable to secure jobs of any kind and so we practiced being retired.  We've very good at being retired: we perfected our bocce technique, ate dinner early to watch Jeopardy every night, and went to bed early with nothing to do.  We had no cable, no internet, and lived a very spare existence and knew nobody in town. 

I finally landed a job the same week David started school and worked three different jobs (some overlapping) to support us while David spent two years at Willamette.  I found out I was pregnant with Grace the day after Thanksgiving 2004 and she was born July 30, 2005.  David was able to meet us at the Salem Hospital for my midwives appointments because Willamette University is only across the street which worked out well for us since we only had one car.  We bought our second vehicle right after David graduated and before he started to work at Hewlett Packard in Corvallis.  We shared our Ford Escort station wagon for four years before that point.  We couldn't make sharing a car work with David driving to Corvallis every day, a 45 minute drive one way.  In the ten years we've been married we have both worked full time regular jobs for six weeks. 

We bought our first house in spring of 2006 and moved to Dallas, Oregon which is where we still are.  My brother, Brian, lived with us for the first year we lived in our new home.  He was attending Western Oregon University at the time which is only 10 minutes from our house.  It was actually good timing because I was pregnant with Ethan during six months of his stay with us and I couldn't cook/deal with food for much of that time so Brian fed us all and helped me out with Grace during the day when he wasn't at class.

That brings us to today.  We've packed a lot in to the last 10 years and have grown a lot.  We've finished 4 college degrees, had 2 kids, bought 1 house, worked 9 jobs, owned 4 vehicles, moved 3 times, and have made countless 7+ hour car trips.  I've learned a lot from all those things but the biggest thing I've learned is that marrying David was the best decision I've ever made.  He is the kind of man I hope our son grows up to be and I thank God for him every day.  I never pictured myself as the kind of girl that gets married young and finds joy in domestic bliss, but meeting him turned my world upside down and I'm the better for it.

And because I don't think I'm capable of not posting a thousand photos, here's a photo walk down memory lane:

 First year of dating in Moscow, Idaho 1999

 Dancing together at a Scholars Residence Party 2000

Our first apartment (i.e. The Shoebox) and car (white station wagon)

 Inside our first apartment.  View from the front door, we're standing in the "kitchen".

 Setting up our first home the weekend before our wedding

 We got married in a beautiful church in Gresham, OR

Our first dance

 Our first anniversary Canoe Trip Disaster.  Do NOT attempt to canoe Lake Couer d'Alene! 2002

David's graduation from the University of Idaho 2002

 

My graduation from the University of Idaho 2003

 I actually am not quite sure what year this is but I think 2003?  At the Rodeo!

Building a sand castle at the beach in 2004

 David's MBA graduation in 2005 (I'm pregnant with Grace)

At Dominic & Melinda's wedding with two week old Grace

Our 5th wedding anniversary August 11, 2006

The Super Parry Family just before Ethan was born

Rocking out on Rock Band (what you didn't know I have mad drumming skillz?!) Christmas 2007

Family portrait (by our wedding photographer) in 2008

Our family in 2009 (photo by Alysun Peters)

The four of us (well, three of us plus Thor) Mothers Day 2011

Happy 10th Anniversary Sweet Pea!  Looking forward to the next 10!