My man

Earlier this week, we celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. 

As a little girl, I didn’t dream of wedding…

As a teenager and young adult I couldn’t imagine being married to one person for the rest of my life…

I have had 3 relationships of importance before meeting Jonathan. 

I dated my high school sweetheart for 2 years. 

Dated a guy in college for a year. 

Was single for a year than dated another guy for 2 years, we lived together for that second year and I realized on a road trip that he wasn’t the guy for me…

Jonathan was different. 

He was mysterious… 

He was speaking a foreign language (English πŸ˜‰)…

He was sexy! 😍

We didn’t plan to fall in love!

We both had plans to work in Mont-Tremblant, QuΓ©bec for awhile than move on with our careers. 

We started dating in Dec 1996…

I moved in his appartment on Feb 1st 1997… To save money and let’s be honest, he lived closer to work than I did 😜

May 1997, we embarked on a road trip… We drove at least 3,000 km together.   

My family didn’t speak English…. Jon’s French was basic and my English was improving. 

I remember my mom telling me that this guy was different! 

Mom knows best right?

πŸ’—πŸ’“πŸ’•πŸ’–πŸ’žπŸ’˜

I sometimes imagine conversations in my head. 

Our daughter is 17… 

We talk about many things but we also don’t talk about even more things so I imagine…  I will be ready if she ever asks me how I knew he was the guy for me. 

πŸ’—πŸ’“πŸ’•πŸ’–πŸ’žπŸ’˜

The truth is, I didn’t know. 

We were not planning on being together forever so we never felt the need to pretend. 

When we fell in love, we fell for each other. 

No games, no being extra nice, no wearing make-up and being available whenever he wanted me to. 

Jonathan learned not to wake me up for no reasons. 

I learned to give him space and go with the flow…. 

To be honest, I’m still working on the going with the flow thing…

That’s what my mom saw!

She saw “ME” with Jonathan. 

She saw me being myself, she saw me laugh and she saw me happy!

Over the months, it became obvious that what we had wasn’t temporary.  

I went from not being able to imagine being married to not being able to see my life without him in it!

 
So if Emily ever asks me how I knew…

I will have to say that it felt right…

Jonathan allowed me to be myself, loved me without asking for anything in return, accepted me the way I was (good, awesome and not so good sides), made me laugh, spoiled me with attention and shared my values. 

I believe I did the same for him!

πŸ’—πŸ’“πŸ’•πŸ’–πŸ’žπŸ’˜

Almost 19 years together and 17 years married…

We faced more as a couple than we ever signed up for!  

How do I know he is still my guy?

When my legs hurt, he rubs A535 on them. 

When I’m sad, he holds me in his arms. 

When I need cake, ice cream or chips… He says he won’t go get it but he goes 😍

When there is just too much going on in my head, he holds me till I fall asleep. 

When I’m down, he lifts me up. 

When he’s off, he makes us dinner! 

 
I believe I do as much for him as he does for me which is part of what keeps us together. 

My man!     

 

Autumn bucket list!

Autumn (or fall) is my favorite season!

I love it and I’m always looking forward to it.

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Jake likes it too πŸ™‚

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Scarlet Pen over at 28 and counting inspired me to do this post…

Please take 2 minutes to go see her list!

So here I am… Thinking that I should be able to find 40 things I would like to do this fall…

Between Sept 23rd and Dec 21st 2015 I have 90 days to do the following activities which I divided in 3 categories.

Family activities!

1. Get Emily ready for Halloween – Week 2

2. Visit a pumpkin patch and pick 3 pumpkins – Week 1

3. Spend an afternoon painting pumpkin

4. Go apple picking – Week 2

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5. Go to the drive in one last time – Week 1

6. Schedule fall family pictures with Lise

7. Hop on a hay ride – Week 1

8. Go to zombie wars with Jon

9. Buy our favorite Halloween candies and keep them for us 🍭🍬🍫- Week 1

10. On Halloween night, dress-up with Em and catch a movie while eating our favorite Halloween candies

11. Jump in puddles with Em

12. Jump in a pile of leaves with Jon and Em

13. Finish organizing Em’s room

14. Make cookies with Em and let her eat as many as she wantsπŸͺπŸͺ

15. Catch a Wildcats game – Week 2

16. Β Trim our Christmas tree πŸŽ„

17. Go on a fall foliage drive to Fundy with Jon and EmπŸ‚πŸƒπŸ – tried during week 2…

18. Make puzzles with Jon and Em – Week 2

Give back activities (charities, friends/colleagues, fur pets)

19. Send cupcakes to school with Emily just because

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20. Help with the United Way campaign at work – Week 2

21. Make binders for Em’s cheer coach with all the info I’m gathering for them – Week 1

22. Bring my “famous” (not really!) tuna casserole to Em’s horseback riding year-end potluck party

23. Make a pumpkin flavored dessert for Sue’s birthday πŸŽ‚

24. Take Jake and Maple to the groomer

25. Donate a turkey to the turkey drive

26. Help deliver Christmas food box with my team

27. Buy a wreath from a charity

28. Make Halloween treat bags for my team members πŸŽƒ

29. Bring goodies for the next bake sale at work

30. Hand write Christmas cards for our extended family members

Personal growth

31. Dehydrate apple slices

32. Perform a random act of kindness – Week 1

33. Mail the Christmas cards I wrote earlier (yes, I’ve forgotten to do that in the past)

34. Change my hair color

35. Drink a pumpkin spice lattΓ© – Week 1

(I’m not looking forward to this but it should make Sue happy to know that I’m willing to try)

36. Drink warm apple cidre

37. Try a new fall soup recipe

38. Bake an apple pie

39. Document my bucket list with pictures (preferably with my Canon T5i but my iPhone pictures will be accepted) – on-going!

40. Blog about my progress weekly

Week 1 – Items # 2-5-7-9-21-32-33

Week 2 – items #1-4-15-18-20

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There you have it! Β Now I need to print my list and start carrying my camera!

What about you? Β What’s on your list? Β Is there anything I forgot?