A gift for Ray on our 10th Wedding Anniversary

October 25, 2013

OUR HAPPILY EVER AFTER

To: My Ray

I hope that you enjoy this project as much as I have

enjoyed making it. It was nice to look back and see how we fell in

love.

Thank you for being an amazing husband, father, and friend. The

past ten years have been the best ten years of my life. I can’t wait to see what is ahead in our

future.

DEDICATION

A RECIPE FOR A HAPPY MARRIAGE

Ingredients1 cup Honesty1 cup Trust½ cup Respect¼ cup Friendship1/8 cup ”Romantic” Love 1/8 cup “Unconditional” Love2 Tbsp. Laughter1 tsp. CommunicationPinch of HumilityPinch of AffectionPinch of Shared Values & Beliefs

1. Be sure that all of your ingredients are available and fresh before you start making your Happy Marriage recipe. This may require multiple personal reflections and even the help of certified professionals.

2. Before you begin mixing your ingredients together, be sure you have enough Honesty and Trust. Despite what you may think, they are not the same thing. If you are running low on either one of them, your recipe will not turn out well. It’s a good idea to wait until you have enough of these before you begin mixing the other ingredients together.

3. Now you’re ready! This will be the best recipe that you have ever made if you do it correctly. First, mix Honesty, Trust, and Respect together slowly by hand making sure there are no “lumps” or “holes” in the mixture. This is the foundation of your recipe. If this part isn’t mixed with precision and attention to detail, your Happy Marriage recipe just won’t “taste” right.

4. Next, mix in all of the Friendship and Laughter with a gentle whisk. These ingredients will hold the recipe together when it wants to fall completely apart. And it will inevitably want to fall apart at some point.

RECIPE FOR A HAPPY MARRIAGE (CONTINUED)

5. Now place the mixture into a blender. Then blend in the “Romantic” Love and

the “Unconditional” Love slowly. Using the lowest speed available, blend until

you can no longer see the difference between the two types of love. Both of these

types of love will be needed at different times while you are enjoying your

Happy Marriage.

6. Season to meet the tastes of you and your partner by adding a pinch of

Humility, Affection, and Shared Values & Beliefs.

7. Do NOT skip this step! Sprinkle the entire tsp. of Communication over the

top of the mixture. This will help bring out all of the other flavors. Without

it, your recipe is doomed for failure. With it, everything else will come

together.

8. Let simmer on a comfortable setting until death do you part. Take this part seriously.

If you have followed the recipe, you will want your Happy Marriage to last forever.

9. Enjoy!

RECIPE FOR A HAPPY MARRIAGE (CONTINUED)

I believe in love at first sight. When I was a fifteen year old girl, I had no clue that you would turn out to be the man I would spend the rest of my life with, but I knew right when I saw you walking towards me the day that we met, that there was something special about you. Here we are almost two decades later and I am still head over heels in love with you, falling deeper in love with you with each passing moment.

I believe that opposites attract. There could not be two people more different than the two of us. From the music that we love most, to the ways we like to spend our free time, we are very different. But, somehow, we make it work. You are the even to my odd, the left to my right. And, it is completely beautiful.

I believe in happily ever after. From the time that I was a little girl reading my first fairy tale, I can remember adults telling me that there is no such thing as happily ever after. When we decided to spend our lives together, our happily ever after began. Yes, we have our challenges. But, we are determined to get through them together. Each time we face a challenge or a struggle, we run to each other and end up more in love than when we started.

I believe in you.

I believe in us.

I BELIEVE PERSUASIVE ESSAY

REMEMBER WHEN

Click on the link to view a Digital Storybook of our lives together.

http://youtu.be/x5stOhGz1UQ

TOP 10 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT US

10. We make each other laugh all the time.9. We might not have a lot, but we make the most of what we have.8. We believe that a marriage is not 50/50– It’s 100. All the time. From both people.7. We take care of each other: physically, emotionally, and spiritually.6. We have promised never to say the dreaded “d” word (divorce). It’s simply not an option.5. We still see each other through “teenage” eyes. I’ll always look like I did when I was 15 to you and you’ll always be 17 to me. 4. We have our own separate interests, but make it a point to spend most of our time together. 3. We support each other in anything that we do.2. We love our kids and would do anything for them. We try to be good parents– together.1. We don’t just love each other– We’re still “in love” with each other…

even after 10 years of marriage.

I tried to imagine life without you…here is what I came up with.

Without You

Without you,

I’ve forgotten how to breathe…

The cold night air

clings to my lungs.

My soul belongs to you,

to the memories of you.

I’m lost in the past,

surrounded by a great torment and anxiety,

That grows each day with each unanswered question.

Full of Wanting,

Still Without….

WITHOUT YOU

MEET THE AUTHOR

Remember me? This was a long time ago, but you were a part of my life then, just as you are now. I am your bride, mother of your children, and your best friend. We have been such an important part of each other’s lives for the past 19 years. This book is a gift to share with you what the past 10 years of marriage (and the years it took us to get to that point) mean to me. I wanted to share this book with you on our anniversary in the hopes that we can enjoy looking back at it for years to come. Our lives are so completely intertwined that I feel like you helped me write it. Thank you for being an amazing husband and friend! I love you more.