Sorry for the delayed posting but my Macbook was being repaired (little hairline cracks in the cover… apparently a common problem for some laptops from a specific date and manufacturing plant).  Once again, I’m sure that all of my 2 readers have been waiting with baited breath on me to blog about my wedding anniversary.

Anywho, Jay and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary on December 7th. Our minister had told us that the first 5 years of marriage are the most difficult so we’re really banking on that and assuming it will be smooth sailing from here on out. Right?  (And by “our minister” I mean “the man who married us” because let’s face it, Jay and I were worried we were going to be struck by lightning when we walked into the church… needless to say, we have not been regular church goers since Middle School.)

I think we’ve been pretty lucky in love so far but we do work on keeping a good relationship with each other.  Jay is still a great friend to me (just as much as he was when I was a single mom who never wanted to be married).  We are a team… I know that sounds lame but we really do tell the girls that we are ALL a team… Jay and I are just the co-captains so they have to listen to us (ps, they don’t listen to us).  Neither of us have a jealousy streak.  I don’t think I’ve been in a situation with Jay where the Green Monster has made an appearance.  If we do fight, we fight fair… no name calling and no stupid threats. I don’t know how couples who do those 2 things can make it. I do have to admit that I did call Jay a ‘neanderthal’ one day when he wasn’t going to vote because of his schedule… we fixed that issue and have voted absentee ever since (and I did apologize… I know, I know… me apologize? *gasp*).  And then there was the night I told him he was “acting like an ass” but he really was… huh Tammy? (sidenote – I did not apologize nor ever will for that one   Oh yeah, did I mention we are both very bull-headed… that might take another 6 years to work on.

As my sister said in her speech at our wedding… “Irene could’ve have settled years ago and made the wrong decision that some people would have thought was easier but she didn’t settle for less… not for Lakyn and not for all of us… she waited until she found the right man to join our family.”  Oh and yeah, Stacie still has no recollection of this beautiful, heartfelt speech… more champagne anyone?  But I remember that speech and every minute of that night (it also helped that Jay and I took that night off from drinking).  It was a beautiful winter night complete with a blanket of snow, a candlelit ceremony and lots of drinking and dancing.  Lakyn was 6 and referred to it as the ‘best day of her life,’ my co-workers at the time referred to it as “the unofficial 10TV Christmas party” (because it was the first year the station did not have a company holiday party and we did have 350 guests at the wedding).

I simply refer to it as the day I got over my stupid fears and made a brilliant decision… if I do say so myself!

Our Wedding - December 2002

Our Family Winter 2008, please excuse the poor camera quality

On this day 5 years ago I walked down the aisle and took the arm of this man.  Okay, he wasn’t dressed as a Hooter’s Girl that night.  But he made me smile all the same.  I remember the minister told us that the first 5 years would be the most difficult of our marriage and I have to say that I hope that’s true because these 5 have been pretty great.  We’ve added another daughter to the family and Lakyn, who was 6 when we got married, still says that night was “the best of her life.”  I always knew I would be a mother but I was never sure that I was cut out to be a wife.  I’m glad I took the chance.  There is a reason I waited to get married.  I just had to wait to find a man who cared more about other people than himself.  One time I was looking for story ideas at work and I saw a study about lasting love and it stated that in order to have lasting love, one must know the other’s hopes and dreams.  I realized that I didn’t know Jay’s hopes and dreams so I called him and asked.  His reply was “well I don’t know, I guess I’d say I’m living my dream… I’m married to Irene Goff, I couldn’t ask for more than that.”  Neither could I.  (And no he wasn’t drunk.  And he wasn’t just saying that to get something as my friend Penny stated when I told her what he’d just said on the phone.)