My Valentine....

My husband, Jeff, is a writer and copy editor for a rural small-town newspaper. He saw this gem, headed for publish in his newspaper, and sent it to my office, via email.

I have to tell ya, it made my day, my week, my February…..

….

From Dear Abby for tomorrow’s paper

“A life without love is no life at all.”

“You will know you have found love when you meet someone
who makes you feel strong instead of dependent,
who appreciates you for the person you are and isn’t threatened by your successes,
who supports you when you’re down, takes pride in your accomplishments,
and will hug you even after a difficult day.”

You fill the bill in all categories, Sweetheart. I love you!!!

….

….My response to Jeff’s email….

BEST Valentine EVER…. well, except for my ENGAGEMENT RING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU….

You do the very same for me, my dear Jeffry.

You even like me when I am grumpy and out of sorts for no apparent reason.

You lift me up in times of difficulty and trouble.

You support me when my road is rough.

You comfort me and hold me, telling me all will be okay when I am sad and in despair.

You laugh with me as we share in our own silliness.

You rejoice with me in triumph.

You celebrate our life together.

You constantly remind me, my family and friends and all who know one or both of us…

that I made the right choice…..

that we made the right choice…..

You, are my person…. my one and only person.

I love you.

Forever and a Day!!!!

Dusting off a Tarnished Novelty

Well, I see the "novelty" has worn off from basically either of us writing on the blog we started together.

The blog we started to share our story. And, a good story it is......

Our last entry was about our first wedding anniversary. How did that happen, why did we stop?

Sad to me, yet it has apparently happened. I guess an explanation could be that we simply got busy with other things.... like our life together - even though we still live 90 miles apart during the week, both of us dealing with being way too busy with the craziness of work during a staffing shortage that was far too long, the uncertainty of the illness of our parents on both sides of our family, the serious illness of a brother on my side.

The fact that both of us have another blog to write on.

Mine, one dedicated to my Mom still assisting me in this life, the joys of being her daughter and longing to still have her in my physical life.

Jeff is now writing three other blogs, one dedicated to his journey through the tremendous loss of his first wife through complications of diabetes and his efforts to get his own life back to some sort of order; another blog of memories and stories of his childhood, growing up under the care of parents who lived through the Great Depression and all the fun he and his siblings and cousins had growing up on a large family farm way out in the country in western Oregon; the third blog is one totally dedicated to health and fitness of the body and mind, one to assist people in their fifties re-energize their body and metabolism and keep their mind sharp and active too.

Yes, I guess you could say we simply got too busy for this one.

Sad, but true.

9.10.12

9.10.11 transformed into 9.10.12

Somehow, 9.10.12 just doesn't have the same snap as saying 9.10.11.... yet, a year later our relationship is still as fresh as ever and we've had a wonderful first year of marriage.

We're still living in two homes, 90 miles apart, due to our employment situation and me taking care of Dad. Yet, we email and text periodically during the day, as time allows. We talk on the phone each evening and make it a priority to see each other each weekend. We spend our weekends at one home or the other... or travel. We love to get away and explore. This is concentrated time. Time together. One on one. Talking about a myriad of topics, laughing and sharing our hopes. Cherished times.

Last night on the eve our first anniversary we ate pizza - we ate pizza at our rehearsal dinner, so we decided to start a tradition. We have something to search for each year on our anniversary eve.

Today we had a wonderful, fun day together... with lots of visiting with people, sharing stories and laughing. Much like our wedding day... I see another tradition in the making. Last year for our honeymoon we went to Squamish, British Columbia, northwest of Vancouver. Highlights of our trip took us around Squamish; to Whistler Ski Resort and up the mountains on a gondola ride, hiking, taking in all the scenery atop Whistler and on the Peak to Peak ride to Blackcomb and back; Shannon Falls; Furry Creek Golf Course; a ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo; a tour of the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology; and Squamish Harbour.

This year, we're in the midst of another honeymoon trip... this time to Nelson, British Columbia, the eastern part of the province. We've toured the town, taken in the local sites and wonderful hospitality. Tomorrow we're exploring the area out of town. Hoping for more stories and more places to come back to for More Later.

More Later....... definitely something to strive for each day... live well this day and look forward to more later....... So, as we live 9.10.12, we look forward to a year well lived and 9.10.13

12

Today is Beer and Oreos Day. Yes, Teri and I celebrate the day she first responded to my wink with a cleverly written email on Yahoo.com Personals. She said something quirky along the lines of I suppose you dunk your Oreos in beer. I was instantly smitten. She could not help but be funny.

Creativity Reigns

It rains a lot in Oregon, especially on the west side. That's a given. In our family, creativity reigns. It makes every day new, fresh and different. This week Teri came up with the concept of a local Blossom Festival photo adventure, to take pictures of the cherries and apples in bloom. Should be fun. It's a warm up for our planned trip to Hood River the next weekend for the real Blossom Festival.

Twinkies Day

Teri celebrated her 55th birthday Friday. Since April 6 is Twinkies Day, I made her the traditional Twinkies Cake, with five candles. Next year, since we are not really meant to eat this cake, and if it it turns into a plastic time bomb so be it, maybe I'll get all 56 candles to stick in the cake and light up, which will look like a porcupine on fire.

I also while shopping at a store the size of a factory farm found a kids' happy birthday kit. What a treasure. For a small price it included big rewards — five balloons, a banner to hang across the kitchen, plenty of colorful streamers. When Teri came home to the Beach Condo from a hard week of work, she was in for a surprise, with the extra bonus of a living blue hydrangea plant, our wedding flower in our wedding colors, that we can later transplant outdoors.

Later we went out for dinner at The Marc — the restaurant at the Marcus Whitman Hotel where Teri and I got engaged in February 2010. She ordered the Crater Lake buffalo (8) and I ordered the Cape Cod seafood (4). She had an amaretto sour and I had a Chivas Scotch (pricey). There I gave her the birthday gift — a necklace with a blue stone made from Mount St. Helens ash. Like the mountain, which erupted in May of 1980, both of us have had to rebuild our lives after devastating, cataclysmic events — job layoffs and the loss of Teri's mom and my first wife, Tina. We have sprung back from ashes to bloom again.

Working Like a Rented Mule

Some days to keep up with the varied duties of a small town news editor, I have to work myself like a rented mule. On those days it's hard to keep up with emails from my Sweetie, who often is working her fingers to the bone too. If we don't hear from each other, or if we don't instantly reply, we know that it is not out of spite but out of necessity.