10 years of marriage

This year Matt and I celebrated 10 years of marriage.  My friend Ryan recently sent us this picture he found from our Freshman year of college - TWENTY years ago!

The fact that THOSE babies now are in charge of THESE babies still blows my mind a little bit.

Its no secret that I'm a lifelong member and president of the Matt Dean fan club. 

This guy makes me laugh more than anyone, knows what I'm thinking before I even say it, and takes care of us in a way that makes me want to be better - he's smart, steady, measured, logical, patient and always loving.  He pulls more than his fair share of the weight with the kids and house, and he's my biggest cheerleader.  

In the past 10 years we have been through 1 apartment, 2 houses, 5 jobs, oodles of lovely vacations (remember when we were fun and went to Hawaii?!), infertility, growing pains, and the joy of bringing two wonderful babies into the world that we both strive daily to do right by.

For our 10 year anniversary, this sweet husband of mine wanted to take me to Paris.  But, I just couldn't leave Eric yet - especially not to Europe!  So instead, he planned a wonderful date for us including drinks at a fun new bar, reservations at Uchi and front row seats to watch our Astros play.  It was such a lovely day (made even better by a surprise bottle of champagne waiting for us, courtesy of our bffs Lloyd and Jennie!).

For our 10 year anniversary present, we decided to do a lifestyle video shoot at our house.  Just us, one Sunday morning living our regular lives -- breakfast, playing, etc.  I wanted something that captured this moment.  When Olivia carries Eric from room-to-room just because she wants him close, when Matt can pick up both kids and throw them around to roars of laughter, when Olivia's little voice still has a tinge of "baby" in it and Eric is still finding his.  Luckily, one of our friends from college recently started such a company and it was the perfect fit because we all felt comfortable around her.  We received a 5 minute video that I basically have watched on a daily basis.  Olivia has memorized the background music and the commentary included on the video.  Its better than any jewelry or purse I could have wanted.  And we also got some still shots like this that make me swoon:

Recently, Olivia asked me if it was "easy" to find a husband.  Its such a hard question.  I wasn't sure exactly how to answer but we had a good talk about how loving yourself and being a happy person makes people attracted to you and so I encouraged her to figure out who she was and what she wanted and then love and marriage would come.  (Not sure if that's the best answer?!).  But I then acknowledged something I've always felt - there is a huge element of luck involved in love.  Matt and I have both always said how lucky we are that we both went to SU, both got to grow up during our infamous break-up, that the grown up versions of ourselves still fit together, and that we are like minded on most things.  To say I am grateful to be lucky enough to be spending this life with Matt Dean is the understatement of the century.