Crazy Eight.

Devin & I celebrated our 8th anniversary last week...8 YEARS.  That's a lot of time to spend with someone, so good thing we kind of like each other.  Just kidding, love each other.  These past 8 years have been filled with way more ups than downs, lots of fun, and now it feels like we are playing house with a little baby down the hall.  And yes, I do the cooking & am here when Devin comes home.  But he doesn't have a brief case or yell "honey, I'm home!" & I haven't showered.  Ok, so it's nothing like the "house" I used to play.  In honor of our "anny" (the new matrimonial lingo I learned last week), here are 8 things you might not know about us.

* I can count on one hand how many times we have ordered a pizza since we have been married.  Now Mexican?  We had that 3 times last week.
* We invited 517 people to our wedding.
* He has always done all of the laundry & I have done all of the cooking.
* We have traveled A LOT since we have been married...a few faves: Hawaii, St. Thomas, Cabo San Lucas, NYC, Las Vegas & Park City.  Italy is on the dream list for our 10 year.  Ahhh....
* We both are terrible water drinkers.  As in we drink none.  I could get by on one cup of coffee a day & Devin guzzles diet mountain dew like nobody's business.
* We adopted a newborn in November, who is the pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to both of us.  You can read about it here, here & HERE.
* Devin falls asleep by 7:30 every night & I'm up past midnight. #oppositesattract
* We often make bets ranging from how much our baby will weigh at his next appointment to who will win the March Madness bracket challenge.  I usually lose.  Sometimes I also bribe him to put my laundry away for me after he folds it. #truelove

These 8 years have absolutely FLOWN by & I can't wait to see what is in store for the next 8+.  I see Disney trips, sippy cups & and minivans in the forecast.  Happy Anny, Devie!

What are some fun/unique things about your marriage?  Please share!  

 

seven.

Seven.

Seven years ago I didn't take a leap of faith. I knew exactly what I was doing.

Seven years ago I walked down the aisle with a man who still calls me his little girl.

Seven years ago I hugged 26 little children. They were my very first class of students.

Seven years ago I was surrounded by friends who would walk through fire for me. Ditto.

Seven years ago I danced with my baby brother. And then danced some more. And some more.

Seven years ago I said yes. And, I've never looked back.

Happy seven to A&D.

Devin's thoughts on Life.

Let's set the scene.

Tuesday night. Abigail cooking dinner. Devin frantically running around collecting trash.
It's trash night, obviously. We get craaaazy 'round these parts.

Abigail: I'm doing a new blog tonight with a guest blogger.
Devin: Cool. Aka - I don't really care. It's trash night.
Abigail: The guest blogger is you.
Devin: Frozen. Trash bag in hand. Panic in eyes. "What?!"

And, so we begin.
His first thought is that everyone should drink out of a pineapple.

Or, when you are in Hawaii & your wife wants to drink out of a pineapple, you fork over the $30 to make her happy. Thanks, honey. XOXO.

Back to his thoughts. It's pretty simple. I said a word, he said the first thing that came to his mind.
Here we go!

Rap Music: Tupac.
I thought he would mention his outstanding impersonation of Flava Flav at my 30th birthday last year.
Everybody get your roll on.

Movie: The Fugitive.
I can see that. He could have easily helped Richard Kimble escape the Subways of NYC.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: Thinking, thinking...finally: plastic.
Have to agree on that one. But plastic faces sure can produce some good drama.

Libby: Hairy
Their chests are both covered in hair, so I can see that association. Oops. I'll probably get looked down upon for that comment.

Underdressed: Jeans
Yes, yes. Often our dates involve DC underdressing & Abs overdressing. Otherwise known as opposites attract. Otherwise known as Abs likes to wear heels & feel pretty & Dev likes to wear sweatshirts. To each their own.

Michael Vick: The greatest quarterback to ever play the game. Said while smiling VERY smugly.
There are few things in this world that I despise, & MV is one of them. After the threat of a knuckle sandwich, he changed his answer to thug. That's better.

Sports: Football. Said while glued to ESPN, naturally.
No surprise there. But, maybe he should work on his golf game too? Yikes.

Working Out: Needed. (And then followed by, "ow. My hip hurts.")
Working out is required to look like this, ladies.

Britney Spears: Dirty look. Getting annoyed with this game. Wrap it up, Abs. Schoolgirl.
No picture needed. Y'all know exactly what that outfit looked like. Down to the puffy pink balls in her pigtails.

This blog: Thinking, staring, what should I say, thinking. Creative.
I'll take it.

Happy Tuesday. Not to be associated with Friday. Best day ever.

traveling journal

Growing up, I remember wanting to only do two things: be a teacher and get married. Done and done. I guess I have accomplished everything I wanted to do in life. Except for ride in a motorcycle side car (complete with goggles & a scarf blowing in the wind), hold a baby panda, & go fly fishing (with big tall rubber pants). Those things are on my "life list"...another post, maybe.

Marriage can be exciting.
Like when you take a helicopter ride in Maui over a volcano.

Marriage can be romantic.
Like when you go ice skating in New York City, in the snow, at midnight, on Christmas Eve.
Just kidding about the Christmas Eve part...but wouldn't that be ultra-romantic?

And, marriage can be boring.
Like when your husband has his face in the computer 24/7. Even Libby is thrilled.

So, in the boring times it's a good thing that we I am creative and like to come up with fun things to do to make marriage un-boring. It's also good that DC is laid back and doesn't care if I declare that we quote favorite lines or scenes from Jurassic Park one Saturday. I always act out the water shaking in the cup when the T-Rex is getting close. Creeeepy.

He always quotes the line Samuel L. Jackson says while trying to get Jurassic Park back online..."Hold onto your butts." Great line.

Anyway, a couple of years ago I created a "Date Bag" where we each came up with 3 dates (drive-in, picnic, walk on the canal, etc) put them in a bag, & then every week we would choose out a date and go have fun. Very popular in the "make marriage un-boring" category. Except for Devin didn't like my picnic date...he said he got too sweaty & didn't like having to sit on the ground. You win some, you lose some.

The other night I decided to create a traveling journal for us to start. I got the idea from another blog and tweeked it to my liking, of course. Here are the rules: Once a week we will take turns writing in the journal; anything and everything is fair game. Then, we will hide it in a place where the other person will be likely to find it. They can then read it, write a message of their own, and then hide it sometime the next week. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. Instant marriage un-boring material.

I really took my time picking out the journal and spent $1.25 at Wal-Mart finding the best one possible. Hey - I'm on a spending freeze...my resources are limited. I picked this picture for the cover because it's the time when I remember being the happiest. It's from the night before our wedding. Nothing elaborate...no fancy editing or cropping. I think it was actually taken by my Mamaw's $5 CVS disposable camera, but goodness gracious were we happy. And, I can say that we still are which is a definite plus.

I am hiding the journal first, and it's your lucky day because I am giving you a sneak peek of the first message - and then it will never be seen again. Unless my housekeeper finds it. Oh wait, I have to re-hire a housekeeper. I fired her last year...depressing day. And, cleaning is NOT on my list of approved happy activities.

As you can see, the first entry is very deep.
Hey - I used all of my creative juices coming up with this idea, folks.

Now, I want to hear YOUR ideas on how you keep your marriage un-boring. Do you have a weekly dance party? Make crafts together? Cook new things for dinner each week? I love new ideas. As long as it doesn't involve watching ESPN or reading the newspaper. Yuck.

Now I'm off to do some hiding. I know exactly where NOT to hide it...the kitchen. No husbands allowed in the kitchen. Dev informed me that when it is his week I will probably find it hiding in the Starbucks drive-through or check-out line at Kroger. Cha-Ching!


Hooray for un-boring marriages. And, real-life Cinderella castles.

a&d = love.

Here is the story of a boy & a girl.

You can "choose your own adventure" (remember those books as kids?!) and pick which version you would like to read...the short version or the long version.

Short Version:
Once there was a boy and a girl. They met here, at a library on a pretty college campus. They started dating, fell in love & lived happily ever after. The end.

Long Version:
Once there was a boy and a girl. Ok, done with that kind of talk. Here's the long version homies...

I met Devin Trent Carter (DC to me) at the Hanover College library my freshman year. I remember exactly what I was wearing, exactly what he was wearing and exactly how I felt when he randomly came up to introduce himself. Happiness. After our brief, but meaningful introduction, I immediately ran back to my dorm & shared with my roommate that I had found the guy who I wanted to marry; therefore we needed to stalk him immediately in order to accomplish this goal. Done. Lucky for me, my roommate was perfect for the job & the stalking began. Eventually we did start dating...and dating...and dating some more. All through college and beyond. For more than 5 years to be exact. We had some great times in college & I will be forever grateful that we shared that experience together. Long live Hanover College. And chicken wrap day at my sorority house. Yum.

We were married on February 11, 2006 in front of 424 people, including my entire first class of kindergarten students & their parents. It was perfect...every thing I had dreamt of as a little girl. Right down to my 12 foot wedding dress train. The best part? Writing letters to each other that we read every anniversary. Ok, almost every anniversary. Sometimes I forget to get them out. But, we still remember what they said. Promise.

Almost seven years have passed, & we have adopted a 15lb ball of fur, lived in 3 different places (1 place being my parents crib while we were building. Oh boy.), gone on countless trips, built a house together & just had plain 'ol fun together. Fun is what we do best. Cue fun pictures.

We also like to do adventurous activities.

Like riding a helicopter in a volcano.

Or taking surf lessons.

Or laying out on a runway-turned beach in a foreign land for a day. Freaking insane.

And swimming in a shark tank.

Psych.

We haven't done that one yet. It's on the adventurous activities list, though. I just want to quote Richard Dreyfuss in JAWS and say, "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

Has it been all fun & games? Heck no. We have had some disappointments. Like kids, for example. We thought we would have some of those things by now. Hopefully someday soon. Because this boy?

He's going to be a damn good daddy.

Devin is the most laid back, calm person you will most likely ever meet. Take, for example, a crisis situation. Our conversation would most likely go something like this.

Abigail: "Devin, our house burnt down and we lost everything."
Devin: "Ok, we will rebuild and figure it out."

Abigail: "Devin, I have to get my arms and legs cut off in 10 minutes."
Devin: "Ok, you will be fine."

I guess the saying of opposites attract really is true. You will never find a person as selfless as my DC either. I think I have heard him talk about himself a total of 5 times since we have been married. And, me? Well I started a blog about myself so you get the idea, folks.

Do we get on each other's nerves? Oh yeah. Like when he goes to sleep at 7:30 every night.

This causes me to be bored out of my mind. Which causes me to online shop. Oopsie.

And he gets annoyed with the way I organize the dishwasher...or lack there of.

But, an organized dishwasher is such a waste of time. I don't like wasting time. I plan on dedicating a future blog post to things I consider a waste of time, and you can bet your bottom dollar organizing the dishwasher will be included.

Even with the annoyances, the bottom line with us is love.
It's all you need.
Cliche, I know. But sometimes cliche things are true. I'm not sure where Life will take DC & I, but we have each other & I thank God for bringing him to me that day in the library almost 12 years ago.

Some people never find "it" and I did.

And, he's all mine.

Now, if you aren't completely bored out of your gourd then congratulations! You made it through your "choose your own adventure." I want to hear your love story. Love stories are fun & awesome. And they make you think about your own love story even more. So, do share.

love rules.