15 years together and still in love!

   I am just now getting back to blogging trying to catch up on some major events. On July 2, 2009, Bradley and I celebrated 15 years of marriage together. Thinking back to 15 years ago, we started our marriage on less than promising circumstances. I was 18 years old and he was 20. I was just out of high school and way too young to know what I was doing. All I knew was that I loved Bradley and I didn't understand the point in prolonging the inevitable. I was going to marry him and I didn't want to wait. Our meager income was enough to place us in the "poverty" level on any government chart. We lived in a trailer next door to my parents and I was in school full time. Bradley worked as a counter clerk in a parts store and we barely made enough money to get by. But we were in love!

I look back on those days with fond memories. Although those days were the rocky days of our marriage, we defied the odds and made it through. I believe that our marriage is stronger and blooms beautifully today and that is largely due to the fact that we have built our lives together from such a young age. In 15 years we have overcome any obstacles and delighted in many more joys. We bought our first house together, lovingly referred to as "the little house".

The 900 square foot house in downdown Blountsville was a labor of love and made a great home.  We lived here for 4 years. 

We built our current house together, our personal dream house. Almost the entire house was built overseen by me and most of it completed with our own hands.


We have experienced the greatest joy any person could experience by seeing the birth of our 3 sons, Tucker, Sawyer, and Carter. We also grieved the loss of a child together, lost to miscarriage in 2001. We have celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, taken trips, watched school plays, and grown in love. Our life over the last 15 years together as a couple has been a wonderful ride.

To celebrate the life we live together and to cherish each other even more as a couple, we decided that we would take a trip together for just the two of us. This was not a decision we made lightly, since taking a trip with just the two of us meant that we would have to leave our boys behind. We enjoy traveling together as a family, but on this occasion, we decided to invest in our marriage and celebrate US.

We journeyed together to the Dominican Republic on July 1-6. We made memories together that we will recall for the rest of our lives. We truly enjoyed each other's company. We felt like we were in a tropical paradise being pampered. We loved every minute of it. Highlights of the trip were laying on the beach, watching the ocean, eating at the awesome restaurants, taking a boat trip, getting a couple massage and snorkling. We loved it so much and hope that maybe in 15 more years, we can do it again.