October

October's my favorite month of the year. Good things always seem to happen this month. My dad was born in October, his very first grandchild was born on his 50th birthday; my brother was born; Stephen and I were married in October seven years ago; we had a wonderful Lawless family reunion in October three years ago; Stephen, Emily and I went on a much-anticipated trip to Boston and New York City in October last year; it's the beginning of fall (my favorite season); it marks the beginning of the holiday season (I love the build-up and anticipation of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas); and of course, Halloween, one of my favorite days of the year, is in October.


Here's a list of things we plan to do (or have already done) this month:

-- Story Time at the library (this runs from September through May)
-- a short daytrip to Julian for some warm apple pie
-- flu shots and many doctor visits, including "The Big One" (where we find out the sex of BL #2!)
-- Gymnastics Class (which will continue through early December)
-- the Miramar Air Show (Emily LOVES planes, trains and automobiles, so we thought she'd enjoy this)
-- a trip to Boston (Stephen unfortunately has to stay home; just Em and I will go)
-- Discovery Time Toddlers Class (which will continue through November)
-- the Halloween Carnival at the library
-- Halloween! (but of course that's a given :-)


Ah... should be a fabulous (and exhausting) 31 days!

10 Years Ago Today...

... Stephen & I met for the very first time.

We were set up on a blind date. We had talked for the first time on May 22, 1996, and arranged to meet at the theaters on the 25th to see Mission Impossible. We double-dated with a couple who were a year or two younger (and are still together today, by the way -- in fact, they got married late last year!), and, to be honest, we couldn't wait to ditch 'em. ;-)

My girlfriend had to go home (she was 15 or 16 at the time and I was 17, to give you some perspective here), so we dropped her and her boyfriend off at their homes and then Stephen & I went on to another movie. This time it was Twister. Funny, but during MI, there was a scene where Tom Cruise over-acted (no, not Tom Cruise -- no way!) and Stephen & I were the only ones in the whole (packed) theater who laughed!! Cruise's line was, "They're dead. THEY'RE ALL DEAD!!!" It was hilarious. Anyway, the funny thing is that I remember actually watching MI with Stephen and the other couple by my side, but when it was just the two of us, I don't think I watched more than a few minutes of Twister. Actually, I put my head on Stephen's shoulder and fell fast asleep. That's how comfortable I was with this guy, even on Day One.

Wow.


Update (09-03-06):
I just added this picture to the post. It was taken at my prom on June 1, 1996 (a week after our first date on May 25th). Our blind date was actually set up in hopes that Stephen & I would end up going to prom together. I guess the plan worked. :-)

Happy Anniversary, Babe

It's amazing that our wedding was five years ago. Now look where we are in our lives: Stephen's doing well with his career at ASI, we own a nice home in my beloved hometown of Poway, we finally have our dog (Labs are people too! ;-), and we were given the most precious gift -- Emily Grace.

[BTW, it was drizzling on our wedding day (just how I like it!), it was full-on pouring the day Em was born, and it's been overcast & cloudy today! Notice how good things happen on rainy days! :-)]

I sort of hate saying this because it's not good for so many right now, what with the war in Iraq, the tsunami, the Indian earthquake, Hurricane Katrina and now Wilma, etc., etc., but I was going to say that for us, life is good. I will continue to keep those who are hurting in my prayers. God knows there are so many of them.


Update (09-03-06):
I added a picture from our wedding reception to this post. Notice how dark the sky was behind us... when people see these pictures, they think that we're set against a backdrop!

5 Years Ago Today...

... we were at Mom & Dad Lawless' Poway house eating Round Table Pizza pizza and Submarina sandwiches. (What's with Round Table lately? ;-)

That's how we celebrated our wedding rehearsal. Some scoffed at the idea of having pizza and submarine sandwiches for a rehearsal dinner, but we didn't care. That's what we wanted and that's what we got! I had always wanted really looonnngg Submarina sandwiches -- you know, 6-foot-long ones or so, and that was the perfect opportunity. We also ordered tons of pizza, bought tons of beer and soda, and had a blast!

5 years ago today. Wow.