A birthday post: A look at the past

So, my beloved’s birthday was this past weekend and I was going to write a sappy post about how he means to me, how much I love him, blah, and blah, blah. But, I thought my fans (yes, I do believe I have fans):

a) Already know this about me

b) Think it would be boring.

c) Would be nauseous.

And honestly, I tell J nearly every day how much I love him and how much I love being married to him, how wonderful he is because its true and my hormones are totally out of wrack these days. So, I thought a sentimental post would be overkill. In addition to it being J’s birthday, this October marks eight years dating. So, I thought I’d commemorate this year’s October festivities with a series of moderately embarrassing photographs instead, in which I reveal that not only did I need to desperately wax my eyebrows, but that J badly needs some new shirts. The above picture, taken this past weekend, is to demonstrate how much better we are at the self-portrait. And, also to mark how much we’ve changed. Note my hair is much darker, and less straight while J has much less hair on top, but more on his face…and let’s be honest, we both have much cuter glasses.  (Although, I’m not wearing any in the below pictures). 

This photo is one of the earliest I could find in our courtship without having to scan anything (because frankly, I’m being a bit lazy, and well, we didn’t take too many pictures together the first eight months or so of dating). This was taken in Chico, fall 2002; I believe we were at the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. We thought we’d spend a wacky afternoon taste testing beer, initially we were going to walk the town, cruise through Bidwell Mansion and play in the park, but it P.O.U.R.E.D. the entire day...so, we tasted beer instead, and coffee later to sober us up.

The following summer (August 2003 to be exact), we took a spontaneous road trip up to the Redwood Forest, because we thought the perfect way to spend a weekend was to drive. In fact, we left Sacramento, drove up the coast, hiked a bit through the Redwoods and on Sunday decided that instead of driving back down the 101 (been there, done that), we’d drive north to Oregon to Grant’s Pass and then down I-5. All in all, it was about a million hours of driving (to be exact), and to this day we still can’t believe we did that. Yes, you can blame us for single-handedly contributing to global warming. Also, do you see the hat? (Which is the exact same from the picture above), he used to wear that hat all the time. He was so proud of his beloved Giants. And, truth be told...the hat doesn’t fit his head anymore. It got bigger; I think it’s from his MBA.

This was taken in February 2004 (although, it certainly doesn’t look like February with my shorts and t-shirt attire). We were out for a hike in Point Reyes. I remember taking this photo, and wondering if this would be one of our last photos together as I was moving down to LA, and J had just informed me that he doesn’t “do” long-distance relationships. I remember being very sad, and stressed out on this particular day, and the hike was J’s way of making me feel better. Of course, J was still wearing that backwards Giant’s World Series baseball cap and look; he’s wearing the same shirt first in the Chico picture too! We really need to get him some new clothes (especially since he just wore that shirt again this weekend!)

And finally, this was the night that J had proposed, March 2004, just a few short months after that hike. You can see the ring on my finger is you look close (but luckily, you can’t see the masking tape holding it in place). Thankfully, J decided to leave the Giant’s cap at home for our fancy dinner. This is one of our only pictures from that evening (even that entire day), and I’m a bit sad because I feel that we’re both super shiny (I’m blaming the lighting!) so it’s not the best picture.

Eight years ago J sat behind me in our marketing class telling me about his upcoming trip to NYC, asking if I wanted to meet at Starbucks to “study” with him for the first exam. We’ve come an awfully long way since that awkward study date (where I was the only one to bring our class textbook and notes!). And while eight years isn’t a huge milestone and 32 isn’t a “golden” birthday, the significance of this month hasn’t escaped me. Eight years of loving someone, and seven birthday celebrations is just the beginning of our long time together. And despite the rough roads behind us, the sleepless nights ahead, the cover stealing and the WHEN YOU SET THE TABLE WE NEED PLACEMATS, NAPKINS AND SILVERWARE, HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?, this much is absolutely and unequivocally true: every single minute of it, I’ve loved him more. To steal the words from the Beach Boys, “God only knows what I’d be without you.” Happy Birthday, my love.