Mawwiage is what bwings us togever today

Since I didn't have my blog back in June, I wasn't able to tell you guys about a momentous event in my life -- my tenth wedding anniversary!! This was big, y'all. It's like I told Mr. Daddy on the morning of our anniversary, "I've never done ANYTHING for ten years."

I'm going to tell you the story of how we met and our first date, but first a little background info on him. Mr. Daddy likes to tell people he's from southern California and this is technically true because he WAS born there; however, I discount it because I think he only lived there for about a week after birth and for the rest of his childhood and teenage years he moved mostly between West Virginia and South Carolina. He was born in 1971 and I was born about a year and a half later in 1972, so we both grew up in the `70s, both experiencing all the wondrous things the seventies had to offer -- fashions, music and, of course, hair styles.


Look! We have the same haircut! He looks completely thrilled about his -- he used to beg his mother not to cut him "curtains" (bangs), but it looks like he lost that fight. As best as I can tell, we're both about 5 years old in these pictures and as soon as I got my hot little hands on the one of him, I just had to photoshop them together. It is obvious to me that we were meant to be!

And as fate would have it, we both ended up in Hilton Head, South Carolina in the spring and summer of 1996. I was waiting tables at the Chart House and he bartended next door at Shuckers. We Chart House wait staff would truck on over there every night for a very generous free "shift beer" (to be followed by numerous paid-for beers -- those were some smart Shucker's owners!) and Mr. Daddy and I got to know each other as friends.

In fact, we even started looking at getting an apartment together -- just as friends. His living situation was not ideal and neither was mine, so we were both looking for something new. One day as we were going over classified ads he asked me out. I said "Sure. But that means we won't be able to get a place together. That would be too weird."

So we went out. And we went to one of the most crowded, noisiest, most fun bars on the island, but NOT a good bar for a first date. You couldn't even hold a conversation it was so loud. While Mr. Daddy was gone to one of three bars to get us a beer, I decided that I wanted to head to a slightly quieter spot, so I struck out to the bar to alert him of the change in plans. Well, you know what it's like trying to find someone in a huge crowd -- and it's even harder when you head out to the WRONG bar!! So, finally I gave up and headed back to our table where I was greeted with the sight of the most dejected looking individual I have ever seen. He thought I had ditched him! I quickly set the record straight and we headed off to the cigar bar that was right next door. Much better. And we had a great evening. We talked and talked and talked. I remember that someone played Sade's version of "Send Me Someone to Love" on the jukebox (yes, they still had jukeboxes back then!) and it just seemed to fit somehow.

We started spending a lot of time together. Mr. Daddy is a very funny man and there's not much I find more attractive than a great sense of humor. One night we were walking on the beach and he said something really funny and I started laughing. He looked at me and said "You're falling in love with me aren't you?" He said it as a total joke, but it was true. I was. And he liked music, which was also perfect because music plays a big part in my life. I think the night that he showed me his goosebumps from a Stevie Ray Vaughan guitar solo was what sealed the deal.

And the rest, as they say, is history. We had a very fast courtship and were married on June 21,1997. It hasn't always been an easy ten years (nobody told me marriage was HARD!), but we made it through. We're comrades in arms now. We've done battle (raising kids, right?!?). We're in it for the long haul!

THEN:


NOW:


(P.S. I have a VERY bad habit of closing my eyes in photos. If you continue to follow this blog you'll probably notice the trend. P.S.S. This photo was taken by Bubba, age 4.5. Pretty good, huh?)