For Josh.

June 8th 2002

I love my husband. I know, if I was just meeting him for the first time, I would still be just as attracted to him. Just as fascinated by what he has to say. He is truly besides our 3 babies my favorite person on the planet. He is the realest person I have ever known.
When we met 8 years ago I was just finishing high school. I literally had just graduated a couple days before we met. We did EVERYTHING the wrong way the way everyone tells you not to do it!

June 8th 2009
We were inseparable from our first date on. A couple months later we decided to move in together. My Mom was so upset, she thought at any minute I would come home. At the time I was 18 and he was 20. We decided to get engaged about 4 months later. We drove over to my Mom's house to tell her in person. To make it official! Thinking back now, how young we were, I was just 18!! We hadn't even known each other 6 months, neither of us had jobs at the time or were in school. I can't believe they all didn't laugh in our faces. When we got married almost a year to the day we met. Nobody thought it would last!

Well, we made it. Or are making it. I know no relationship, no marriage is perfect. I believe in taking each day as it come. I believe in love, and in compromise, and most of all I believe in letting the little things slide! Freaking out when things don't go exactly as you want, or arguing when you don't agree JUST to get your way are the biggest mistakes I've made! It took me so long to learn to pick and choose my battles wisely. It took me forever to learn that! These are just a few things I love about Josh...

He is the best listener. When you tell him something, he really hears it. He gets it.
He never puts on an act, he is what he is. Nothing more, nothing less. If you are an insurance salesman, working at Burger King, a bank executive, or a homeless person on the street. He will treat you the exact same. He has so much respect for EVERYONE. He cares REALLY cares about people. And wants to make a change. He is such an awesome Dad. The love he has for his kids amazes me. He's so patient with them. He also helps with them as much as I do. changing them, feeding them, giving them a bath. And he LIKES to do it! I'm so grateful he hasn't had a regular 9-5 job so he has had the chance to spend so much time with the kids! He is such a hard worker! He puts all his energy and focus, into whatever he's doing. He has taught me so much about myself! Not to sell myself short. Whatever I'm interested in. He will listen and want to learn about it too. He has taught me so much about the nature of people,and what's really important. He is truly my hero. I love to just hear him talk, and he is the best whistler! Seriously, it's a lost art! He's always singing too. Always, and it makes me happy.

Birthday Weekend....

This weekend was so busy!! Friday was my 26th Birthday! Josh's Mom had invited me to go with her to get a massage as a birthday present. So we headed to Kingport early so I could do that. It was my first massage experience so I wasn't really sure what to expect. But it was really calming and nice. They have soft music playing and the table which looked like a little bed was heated! She used all these hot stones and oils. lavender and tea tree oil, and hot towels... It was awesome! I told her I held a lot of stress in my shoulders and when she started massaging them I could hear this weird popping noise. I was thinking what IS that?! LOL. She said it was my lymphatic system releasing toxins that were built up in my muscles. I'm sure there was a lot to work out of there!! Anyway... after all that I didn't want to move! But we had to go back to Josh's mom's they took us all out for lunch. Then we came back home and just spent the day hanging out together. Josh got me two beautiful books. One was short stories of Richard Yates. Who I've gotten really into lately and the other was Wally Lamb's latest book. Then He gave me a beautiful butterfly pendant Isabella had picked out at the Blue Plum Festival for me. It was really so beautiful, and she was so proud and excited to show me. It was really such a great day.

Then Saturday we went back to Josh's Moms to have a cookout with the whole family. My parents were there, and Josh's brother and Judy. She made this really yummy marinated basil, lime chicken and grilled vegetables, and cold chinese noodles. It was soooo good!! She even made cakes for each of us. A cheesecake for Josh, and a Texas sheet cake for me. Which if you don't know is the most awesome chocolate cake on the planet! Any chocoholic lovers dream!!! It was so sweet of her, especially because she had been on call all weekend! She had only gotten home a few hours earlier. Later that night we went to Down Home with Dad to hear a band play.

Then..... Sunday we had Josh's Birthday and we celebrated here at the house with just us! Bella got him Scooby-Doo shirt she couldn't wait for him to open. And he loved it! It was such a fun weekend. I feel so loved! It was also so special to spend it with my Dad, after he had been so sick. It really puts things into prospective.

Random Bella quote from this weekend...
"Mommy, why does Jack not have a shirt on?"

Me- "Because he just doesn't want to wear one right now."

"Jack you look like a REAL man!!"

I'm amazed...

It's amazing how things just fall into place sometimes... we were so sure that our only option for our move would be Atlanta. It was the only school that Josh applied to that had offered to wave full-tuition. We had both wanted Tallahassee. Florida State had always been Josh's first choice, but over a month ago they told him there just wasn't enough money to fund him at all.

We were both so disappointed but trying to make the best of it. I had been asking God to just put us where we needed to be, to guide us in the right direction. To help me to accept the transition to Atlanta. Fast forward to yesterday, Josh gets an email saying they still had a few openings left in funding and that he was at the top of there list. We were supposed to hear something in the next two or three days. But neither of us wanted to get our hopes up, we really didn't talk about it too much. Then at 6:30 this morning Josh bolts into the bedroom shouting "Emily, come here, come look at this!" I thought what now... I thought maybe Noah had done something cute while eating his breakfast that Josh wanted me to see. I was really half-asleep. Then I panicked and thought something was wrong. What if Noah was choking? so I bolted out of bed and ran in the kitchen to find Noah is his high chair happily munching away on his puffs then Josh pointed to the computer and told me to read. I nearly fell out of my chair. They had enough openings, he was offered a FULL-RIDE to FSU!! All tuition payed, a job on campus and funding!!!! It's a four year Doctoral program, and was the second best school he applied to. I was just in shock, I immediately burst into tears and cried like a baby. I couldn't even speak. It's just all seems so surreal. Josh just kept saying "I just can't believe it, it feels like a dream." It does, it really does. When we first got together we would always talk about how one day when we finally get out of here, one day when we move to "the beach", how great things would be.

That was nearly 8 years ago, since then we have gotten married, had 3 babies, moved apartments half a dozen times, Josh has worked as a waiter, telemarketer, in construction, and as a cook.He climbed has way back over 4 years ago and worked his ass off. He would be in class nearly all day, then would work until sometimes 11 or 12 at night. Sometimes we would barely even see each other. Now the day has come, it's finally all paid off. In just a few weeks he will graduate. Josh is in the Doctoral program at the school he's wanted to go to since he was a little kid. Pay off is so sweet. We finally made it. We're going to the beach! Well not exactly.. but an hour away and palm trees. I'll take it! :)