My name is Valerie and I stalk my husband

My blog buddie Chriann had a funny post about early morning and it reminded me:

I don't have to be at work until an hour after Jeff so I'm never awake when he leaves. Yesterday since it was our anniversary I decided to get up with him when he did. He looked at me strangely a few times but I was determined this was what husbands and wives should do......I was following behind him to walk him to the front door imaging that I was some 50's housewife sending him off with a kiss and a wave........... he turned around and asked if I was stalking him! This morning I stayed in bed :)

Did I mention?

Michael comes home from camp tomorrow :)

He hasn't called once! This should be OK because it means he is having so much fun he doesn't have time to stand in line for the payphone. Even though it would be very easy to call the toll free number I had set up before he went to camp that rings straight to my cell! :(

I'm sure when I see him I will be so excited I give him a huge hug and kiss and he will be mortified that anyone witnessed! Actually I'm pretty lucky, he will be 12 soon and doesn't mind so far......he's a pretty cool kid :)

So.......I just thought I would blog about what is most on my mind. FYI........Davis misses him as much as I do I think. We have gotten used to hearing "wait for Michael" "save it for Michael" being applied to watching a show on TV, playing a game or even food we are eating! And he asks me 3 times a day if it is the day he comes home :) Pretty amazing for all the bickering they do when they are together!

Travis hasn't been feeling well this week so he has just done a lot of laying around and not eating much but I think he is turning the corner. I'm just really happy to have the boys at home for a few days :) They leave on Sunday night for their last week with their Dad......the time was interrupted because of camp this week but I am really looking forward to having them home for good!


(I couldn't find one of Travis looking at the camera on this PC)

Happy anniversary David & Kelli

I wanted them to have their own post. David is my brother. Growing up it was just the 2 of us and I never missed having a sister until I became older because he was just so much fun. We had a few skirmishes I guess, but in general we got along so well and were really great friends. He is pretty cool :) He is so great he even gave me the sister I always wanted when he married Kelli. She is such an amazing wife and mother and is so multi-talented that I envy her.

When we considered getting married on this day, we had to talk to them first. After all.......the day belonged to them already. They were so gracious to share this day with us and I will never take them for granted. We were very happy to dedicate their "song" to them at our reception and I wanted to show these beautiful pictures of them dancing to it because when I look at them I see their love radiating.

Happy Anniversary you 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can see their continued love story here: http://www.davidandkelli.com

2 years ago......

On July 22, 2006 I married the man I NEVER dreamed of.

I always had a certain "type" in mind when I pondered on the man of my dreams. It turns out that he is my ideal mate and even though I didn't believe it for a long time it was nonetheless true. Jeff was my best friend, he became that because he listened. He gave me strength and happiness. The best part was that we could never mess it up by being romantic because he just wasn't my type. :)

Wow....did that ever change. When I first started falling for Jeff I tried ignoring it....but then the phone would ring his tune and my heart would start racing. I found myself daydreaming about him. Every typical falling in love feeling was happening to me and it just didn't seem possible!

We were so wrong for each other.........I even made a list. I think God was pushing me to that list because for quite some time I focused on those items and because they were written down it allowed me to have something tangible to see that the impossible could actually be possible as they just seemed to be resolved. If not for the list, I don't know if I would have realized that God had put this man in my life to be exactly what I needed.

He is. He might be the man I never dreamed of but everyday he makes dreams come true for me that I never even dared dream!!! It really is the little things.......it's the things that are too precious for me to put out there in the blog universe but it is those things done day in and day out that continue to amaze me and fill me with wonder and humble thanks that he does just because he loves me and loves to fulfill me.

I have never been happier in my life and even better than what he does for me is what he IS for the boys :) He is a natural. They run and jump to hug him even if they have only been apart for a few hours, they fight over who sits next to him. They trust him with their hopes and fears and they come to him with their needs.

Jeff, The last 2 years since we have been married have been such a crazy circus at times and such a peaceful, content place at the same time and I love you so much I have a hard time imagining our love growing even stronger and more fulfilling.....but I know it will because you have taught me to expect the most. Love, Val

Thank you honey for being the man you are..............Happy Anniversary.

Since so many of our friends and family weren't able to make it to Massachussets for our wedding I wanted to post a few pictures to show our story that day. Enjoy!


We were supposed to be married in the Rose Garden at the park but as you can see there was a bit of rain.......surprisingly I don't remember that very often. We moved the wedding indoors to an old New England community house from the 1800's that was in the park.


It seems like we must have always planned it that way.....the ceremony was so beautiful and I just had to include Travis playing in this picture. He played the wedding march on his guitar for me to walk down the aisle and it was one of the most beautiful moments in my life




The ceremony was so wonderful and it really felt like not only was I marrying this amazing man but that our entire family was being married.

The meeting house had an old bell tower with the rope coming down through the middle of the room. As the ceremony ended and we were walking down the aisle, the boys were able to pull the rope and ring the bell for all to hear for miles.

Here are a couple of pictures of us after the ceremony.......the rain had cleared up and we were able to enjoy the beautiful park and all that was in bloom.

To-do list: one down, 18 to go

My to-do list just lost an item: organize bathroom.

I will confess that I didn't do the yard this weekend but will have to do something with it this week since we have family coming in next weekend and won't have time then.

Actually I didn't do much of anything that I really needed to do after I did laundry, dishes and other random cleaning. OK OK I also slept in really late and took naps too but I wasn't going to post that! Why is it I am hearing my blog buddies in my head as I type like some kind of accountability system!

One thing did get checked off the list and it was sort of strange the way it happened......Jeff had been AWOL for a while and it wasn't until one of the boys last night said "hey Mom...where's Jeff" (yes that's right......they are home for a week as of 6 pm last night!!!) I realized I hadn't seen him in an hour or so, but I was busy and didn't look for him as it is pretty typical for my strong, silent type husband to disappear to some random idea every once in a while.

Jump to later that night as I pause the movie for a potty break and he says...."oh no, don't kill me when you see the bathroom" and I groan. You have to know that since we moved we have done nothing in our bathroom.......we have a long counter with 2 sinks and piled on the counter between the sinks have been "the boxes". Everything we need for our bath is in these boxes so they are randomly shuffled and opened and have things spilling out of them. Each time I need to wash my hands or brush my teeth I have to empty my sink of the myriad collection filling it. Can you picture it? I was picturing some new havoc created that would make it even harder to eventually organize it.

Well........now picture it as I see it when I walk in......I notice that the counter top has a nice pattern to it, I had never really seen it before. WAIT......I can see the counter, and that's not all. The bathroom is clear........it is sparkly.......there are no boxes, there are hand towels in the holders, the only thing on the counter is a vanity mirror and soap container and right in the middle, a bouquet of flowers. Wow you guys........this is my husband! I don't know why or how, I figured out the when.....he had done this amazing thing. I was so impressed and I told him so right then, but now as I type this I'm not sure he knows how much it meant to me so I think I might have to work on the appreciation some more :)

Thanks honey!!!