Monday Me | Blast from the past: our anniversary

Today is our 10 year wedding anniversary! These past 10 years have really flown by; it just seems hard to believe we've been married that long! We've been through a lot throughout the years; but we've stuck by each other and supported one another through and through. It hasn't always been easy, especially being a military family and having your husband gone a lot, having to move a lot, etc. But I'm so happy we've made it this far and can't wait to see what the future holds. I love you Jamie.

How we met:
I lived in Hawaii and Jamie was in Texas for training. In July of 2000, I visited my sister and her hubby, who lived in San Antonio. Before I came, she told me about a guy they wanted to set me up with that they thought was perfect for me. I wasn't really looking for anything serious so I said whatever. When I got there, we went to a bar in town, and Jamie was there. They introduced us and we kind of just hung out. One thing I noticed was he kept staring at me with those deep blue eyes. hahaha. We hung out a lot during my trip. We went to Six Flags, the water park, out to eat, dancing etc, and just kept flirting and getting to know each other. He was super sweet and really funny. One snag was my crazy ex boyfriend was also there trying to get me to go back with him. It was really irritating (and a really long story). Anyway, by the end of my vacation, we were pretty close, had declared our love for each other, and I promised him I would move there to be closer to him. (It sounds crazy, I know, but at the time it just seemed right. I guess it's one of those things where, when you know, you know.) About a month later, I packed up all my stuff, quit my job and moved away from Hawaii and in with my sister to be closer to him. When I got off the plane, he surprised me with a picnic in the park and officially proposed.

It was a rough couple of months; he had to go to Little Rock to start training, my sister and hubby were moving to Tucson, so I had to move too, and it was just crazy trying to be together while he was just starting his military career. I cried a lot in the beginning and thought we were nuts, and kept wondering if I should just go home. I was really homesick too. But we kept holding on, and I knew he was the guy I wanted to marry. So finally in April, when he was in Tucson visiting, we eloped. It was very uncharacteristic of me, and everyone thought it was a joke. A few days after that, we drove all the way back to Texas to start our new life. We adopted 2 dogs and bought a house and had a lot of laughs, then a few years later welcomed our son and then daughter. Life has been one hell of a ride but I wouldn't trade it for the world. About a year after we got married, we were finally able to have a wedding party. I scanned these photos courtesy of Nick Galante.