Happy Marriage, Happy Family

August 3, 1990

....ahhhh, the memories of Todd and I's wedding day. It is amazing to think that this summer we will celebrate 20 years of marriage!

So much has happened in the last 20 years of my life, but it feels like it has only been a small moment of time. I chalk that up to the fact that I am happily married (and that I've had 11 pregnancies and homeschooling along the way to keep me "busy"). Had this past 20 years been a drudgery, it probably would have seemed like 40 years-so I am thankful for the joy Christ has given to me and my family.

As the first nestlings begin to "fly" away from home, I still have toddlers at my feet, so I am not experiencing the empty-nest syndrome by any stretch of the imagination. The way Todd and I see it with our current family configuration, we'll NEVER experience the empty nest. In fact, it will probably coincide with retirement (and the end of homeschooling) which will be pretty cool!

What are some of the things that keep us happy, you say?

Well, over the years, I've found that trying to keep basically the same daily schedule with Todd (and knowing Todd's daily work schedule) produces some great family and couple time (although it tends to delete some sleep time-but we have nine children, so sleep is a privilege we don't experience in great amounts).

Each morning at 5am I treasure the "talk about the upcoming day" time where Todd and I sneak into the bathroom after the alarm gets us up and discuss what's expected from life on the current day. This helps so much-especially when I have a huge reason to call him during my school day-I don't interrupt his classes or meetings or wonder why he is not answering his phone. It works the same for him because he knows we break at 11am for lunch, so he doesn't call until then. (Because we all know what happens with school as soon as mommy gets a phone call: non-scheduled recess!)

Knowing each other's schedules is a very minor thing, but for us it reduces a lot of stress and double-scheduling of events. It is one element of our relationship that keeps us "happy". There are plenty more, but for now I thought I'd share this one with you.

Enjoy!

Angelle