The start of Q and A

When I think back to when I met Q it's hard for me to remember all the details.  Our lives over the years have meshed so well together into one life.  I honestly can't remember when we first met.  Oh, I remember when I first had feelings for him...  I just don't remember meeting Q. It's probably because we went to school together in this small town in Alabama.  One of my best friends at the time went to Church with Q and so there is a chance I met him there.  One thing I know for sure, the first time I wrote about Q in my journal was 

April 17th, 1997.

It's just a sentence with his name in it about this friend of mine going to his car to eat because her brother and Q were best friends.

  

Q's not mentioned again in my Journal until July 9, 1997 we were at the same house swimming.  I wrote: "I would like Quinton except _______ and him are kind of going out."  He called me Lee's little sister and I joked with him about being Wades big brother.  

On July 21, 1997 we went on the same church beach retreat.  When I think back in my memory of when I had a crush on Q it was this trip.  He mentioned one day about liking bell bottoms and I just so happened to have some on the trip.  So of course I wore my bell bottom pants that night! Why in the world did I own a pair of bell bottoms in 1997?

Church beach retreat. My friend Joseph, Q, Mandy and Me.

Aug 9th, 1997 I wrote in my Journal about how a bunch of us girls got together and called a bunch of guys to ask them to the movies...not really as a date...just a bunch of friends.

I called Q and he said yes but I don't believe he had any idea that I liked him.

The next few months we became best friends.  He would come pick me up and we would meet a group of friends over at the First Baptist Church to play basketball.  He would talk to me about his girl problems.

Sometime early 1998 he asked me to go to prom with him as friends and I said yes but shortly after he started dating one of my friends.  I thought it was only fair that they go to prom together.

Are you wondering where this is going?? Well...

March 8th, 1998... 14 years ago

Q asked me if I would go with him to help plan a date for him and his girlfriend to go ride horses in Mentone, AL.  I know, I know, dumb idea.  Keep in mind that I was 15 at this point and he was 17.

I had no idea if he liked me or not so I figured if I couldn't date him than at least I could be his best friend...so not fair to the other girl.  I was immature, okay!

ANYWAYS, so we ended up driving out to Mentone, AL.

We went to see waterfalls, we found a Frisbee on a roof and Q held me up to get it so we could throw the frisbee around.  We went hiking in the woods and stopped to sit on some rocks and talked about life.

We didn't hold hands or kiss or anything...we just got to know each other better.

He told me later that is when he knew he loved me.  He ended up breaking up with his girlfriend.

Ohhh, horrible, I know!  Geez, Audrey!  

(For some reason I don't have anything recorded for the month of March 1998 in my journal. It would have been nice to have more details but I do remember it well.)

So he ended up asking me out...I'm not sure if it was this night or not but it seems like when we talked about when we started dating, we always said this date.  I did end up going to prom with him.

And that, my friends, is just the beginning! 

It would take WAY too long to explain the next 7 years that we dated...

We got married 2005, had Deci 2007, Journey 2010, and here we are in Oregon 2012! :)

The whole point of this post was to celebrate today. March 8th, 2012.

It's been 14 wonderful years. Almost 1/2 my life I've been with this man and he's made my life SO much better! Go check his blog out! :)

Dancing in the minefields.

I love this song, and after yesterdays post on Marriage letters I guess it got me all sensitive about my relationship with Q so I wanted to share this video with you.

I was nineteen, you were twenty-one
The year we got engaged
Everyone said we were much too young
But we did it anyway

We bought our rings for forty each
From a pawn shop down the road
We made our vows and took the leap
Now fifteen years ago

We went dancing in the minefields
We went sailing in the storm
And it was harder than we dreamed
But I believe that's what the promise is for

"I do" are the two most famous last words
The beginning of the end
But to lose your life for another I've heard
Is a good place to begin

'Cause the only way to find your life
Is to lay your own life down
And I believe it's an easy price
For the life that we have found

And we're dancing in the minefields
We're sailing in the storm
This is harder than we dreamed
But I believe that's what the promise is for

So when I lose my way, find me
When I loose love's chains, bind me
At the end of all my faith, till the end of all my days
When I forget my name, remind me

'Cause we bear the light of the Son of Man
So there's nothing left to fear
So I'll walk with you in the shadowlands
Till the shadows disappear

'Cause he promised not to leave us
And his promises are true
So in the face of all this chaos, baby,
I can dance with you

Marriage Letters: I knew you loved me when

Join me and Q, along with Amber @ The Run a Muck as we write Marriage Letters on Mondays.

Q,
   I'm not sure when I first knew you loved me...  Was it after our day in Mentone? Or was it actually years later when I finally let you go so that you could realize what you wanted?  I remember there was a change in you, in the way you needed me like I needed you. I knew you loved me then.

   I knew you loved me when I went to Ireland and you wrote me letters to open every day I was there.   I knew you loved me when you proposed, and as we made wedding plans.  I knew you loved me when after only 3 months of us being married, I came home telling you that I wanted to have a baby and you said okay.

   I knew you loved me in those years of trying to have a baby and when we finally did have a baby and miscarried, I knew you loved me more.  You hurt for me because you knew I wanted a baby so bad.

   I knew you loved me those early months of having a new baby.  I looked horrible.  I acted horrible. You were always so patient with me.  You struggled with me but I knew you loved me.  You stuck with me.  I knew you loved me when I expressed that I wanted to have another baby.  You said, "lets adopt" Because you knew everything about pregnancy was out of your control and you couldn't stand seeing me in pain knowing there was nothing you could do.  I also knew you loved me when you encouraged me to quit my job so that I could be a stay-at-home-mom.

    I knew you loved me when you asked my opinion about us moving to Oregon.  You wanted me to be happy.  I knew you loved me when late one night we got in a really big fight and you didn't leave.  You were honest with me.  You went outside and sat in the grass until you calmed down and then you came back in.  I love that we can disagree but in the end I always know you love me.  We seem to always be able to work things out.  Sometimes I don't like it when you're honest with me but that's when I know you love me also.

   I knew you loved me this weekend while you took care of all 3 of us girls while we were sick.  You were pretty much up all night.  Honestly I was so amazed at what all you did and how well you took care of us.  Seriously there aren't enough words to say about how thankful I am for all you did this weekend.

  Thank you for loving me for me.
                                             -A

Marriage Letters: My Job - Your Job

Join me and Q along with Amber @ The Run a Muck as we write marriage letters on Mondays.

Q,
   Let's face it, I'm not sure who has the harder Job.  I would love to be the selfless wife and say that you do but then there are days that I would for sure change my mind and argue that I do indeed have the harder job.  I do know one thing for sure.  I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, appreciate that you go out and work a job where you get paid.  I appreciate that you provide financially for our family because we know that this life of a stay-at-home mom doesn't pay the bills.

   I do know the sacrifice you make for this family.  I know the stress that comes with that.  Thank you so much for always encouraging me to be at home with the girls.  I know sometimes this life would be easier if I would go out and get a job but you understand the sacrifice we are both willing to make.  I LOVE my job.  I love being able to stay at home with the girls everyday.  Thank you.

  Thank you for understanding when you come home and the house is a mess.  I'm glad you don't give me a hard time when I don't feel like cooking every night...even though I'm sure that is in the job description of a stay-at-home mom.  A lot of times you have to pull the load of both of our jobs...like the fact that I HATE going grocery shopping.  So many times you offer to go grocery shopping for me.  You cook quite a bit also and I love you for that.  I love that your expectations of me as a stay-at-home mom are not so high that I feel like I'm failing everyday. 

  Thank you for trusting the Lord enough to follow Him.  To move our family across the county and have to apply for jobs all over again.  I will always love you for that.  As hard as it has been living so far away from Alabama it's also been so rewarding.  You get paid to work with the homeless now.  Who would have thought?  You really do love those guys and are so willing to make them apart of your everyday life.  I know your job isn't easy but I'm so proud of you.  I'm so proud to call you my husband.  Thanks for all you do for our family. 

       -A

Just Q and A: Our love story in Pictures

I wanted to attempt to post our Love story today...about how we met and the years in between then and now...BUT it seemed VERY overwhelming to me to try and get that done today.  This March we've been together 14 years.  We dated 7 years and in May we will have been married 7.  I'm so blessed to have this man in my life. 

Me 15, Q 17 :) Q's Senior Prom

Our Wedding May 28, 2005

This picture is for Deci.  She asked me the other day if we ever kiss. ha! :)

Our Honeymoon.  A Cruise to the Bahama's

Our first (I believe) Vacation after being married.  You don't see them here but we took this road trip with 3 single people...I'm not sure what we were thinking.  But it sure was a fun trip.  We went to Washington D.C. by the way. 

 

 This post was by far my favorite post I've done in a while.  I Loved getting a chance to look back at old pictures of me and Q.  I just wish I had more of our pictures before we got married online.  I'll try and take a picture of a few of the one's we have...because I don't have a scanner.

Thanks Q for all the wonderful memories!  I'm a better person because of you.   I love you more and more everyday!  I honestly couldn't imagine this life without you.

Marriage Letters: Patience

Join me and Q, along with Amber@The Run A Muck as we write our Marriage Letters every Monday.  

Q,
      How do I write a "love" letter to you about patience after a day of fighting.  Our relationship takes a lot of patience.  I don't even know what to say.  It's Sunday so technically I can wait to write this tomorrow when maybe I'm in a better mood...when maybe you don't get on my nerves so much.  I just said to you that if I can't say anything nice I probably shouldn't say anything at all.  I guess this can be my transparency post for the week.

I have to have a lot of patience with you.  You have to have a lot of patience with me.  I'm not sure you understand the demands of a stay-at-home mom and I sure don't understand the demands of a being the chaplain of the Eugene Mission.  We often plead our case to one another hoping one day the other will agree on who has the more demanding "job".

At the moment, it's your work weekend which means you are at work at 6 at night on a Sunday.  You didn't get a weekend.  I know, It stinks for me too.  At the moment, I'm listening to music while Journey plays on the table...and when I say play I mean that she is digging in my bowl of random junk trying to find things that will fit in her mouth.  I've already had to clean a whole bag of potato chips off the carpet in the den.  I'm not exaggerating when I say whole, it was the WHOLE ENTIRE BAG OF CHIPS!  You had to preach this morning.  I had to get two girls ready for church without you...which I HATE.  I'm not sure how single mom's make it.  I couldn't imagine life without you.  We don't have horrible lives.  We are actually blessed.  Sometimes I just let the little things get to me.


I'm not sure how much this was about patience.... My emotions are on my sleeve and running wild tonight.  Days like today I need you to have patience with me.  I need you to listen to me rant and rave about silly things that you can't fix.  I need to be able to let out some of this frustration with you so that I don't hold it in and take it out on the kids when it's not their fault.  If I can't be honest with you, who can I be honest with?  These days I feel like I share everything.  My kids, my home, my husband, my life...I feel like the boundary lines are so thin I can't see them anymore.  You say we are living more like Jesus now than ever.  I just want to be able to curl up beside you, and only you.  I want to be able to tell you my secrets, only you.  I want to lay in bed and giggle as we talk about the day after the kids are asleep.  I don't want to lose all this as we search to find out what it means to be Jesus to this community.   I need you.
                   -A

Marriage Letters: Opposites Attract

Join me and Q, along with Amber from The Run a Muck by writing  Marriage Letters every Monday.

Q,
  Those words couldn't be more true for us.  Opposites Attract.  In some ways more than others.  I'm sure of it, that you're the one who has to compromise the most.  I'm pretty stubborn and you are more laid back (for the most part).  I say for the most part because just the other day we were trying to plan a one day road trip to the Redwoods.  It's 4 1/2 hours there and 4 1/2 back.  I said, "Lets do this!" and you said, "Audrey, that's 9 hours for the girls to be in the car in one day."  Oh, yeah...that could be a problem.  I seem to jump into things when you are the one to really think things through.  I'm so glad you are the one who thinks straight.  I'm sure I could have talked you into the adventure (because you love a good adventure) and then we would have been 4 hours away from home with 2 really fussy girls.  At that point It would have hit me that maybe that wasn't a good idea.  I would have no solution and you would come in and save the day.  Thanks for thinking ahead, babe.  (But seriously, lets plan a 2 day trip to see the Redwoods soon!)

I'm pretty sure I'm the paranoid one.  Flying with our girls stresses me out more than anything in this world.  Ok, maybe it's not the actual flying.  It's more of taking that first step into the airport until we get on the plane.  I'm terrified of what might happen if I take my eyes off either of our girls at any point in time.  This tends to be a problem now that we have 2 kids.  Before I could be the parent that was latched onto the one kid.  Now, I stress you out by telling you not to take your eyes off the other kid. If she does take one step away from you SHE COULD BE ABDUCTED! ok, I'm VERY paranoid around a large crowd when it comes to our girls. You tend to bring us balance.

How about all the other little things like the fact that I would vacation at the beach EVERY single year when you prefer the mountains.  It's our hot/cold issue.  You are always 100 degrees and I'm always freezing.  You always want the air on and I always want the heater.  We really need one of those cars where we each can control our own temperature.

I'm glad I have you in my life to bring balance and stability.  You're calm and I lose my temper.  You're strong and I'm so weak.  You're thoughtful when I can be inconsiderate.  Thanks for being YOU!
                                                                   -A

Marriage Letters: let's just be honest

Join me along with my Husband Q, and Amber @The Run a Muck, as we work hard to preserve marriage by writing marriage letters. There may be only a handful of us doing it, but if you’ve written a letter or a post for your spouse, link up on The Run a Muck and leave me a comment here.  I would love to hear your story.

Q,
   Let's just be honest, life is hard sometimes. You know me, and know that I paint the picture like it really is...I wear my heart on my sleeve, which is not always a good thing. I know I'm hard to love sometimes. I'm extremely selfish, and I know in a relationship I need to put you first. I find this a battle within, like Saturday when I turned down the radio when you were "singing"...even though I swear I didn't hear you. I just hated the song you so happened to love.  Sometimes we are polar opposites.  Sometimes we fight...argue... bicker.. have disagreements in front of other people because I can't hold my tongue and you love a good debate. ;)  I need to work on that...

Me pregnant with baby #2 :)

  Let's be honest, everyone said that marriage was hard. We got married and thought "wow, this is easy." I think it's about expectations.  We expected it to be harder. Maybe it was that we dated 7 years...or was it 8...I lost count.  Dating was what was so hard.  It isn't always easy now but we make it work.

  On the other hand, it seems that I kept hearing people talk about the joys of parenthood. Parenthood is H-A-R-D!  I will never forget those first few weeks/months after having Deci.  I'm not sure how much of it was us not knowing what we were doing or having a colicky/acid reflux/strong-willed baby... but we made it! We even had child number 2!  Let's be honest, having kids is a roller coaster ride, some days we want to get off and some days we can't get enough.  It's challenging and rewarding.  My favorite thing is Saturday mornings when you don't have to work and we all end up in our bed early in the morning. (Except this past Saturday when clearly we needed more sleep.  Why didn't the girls get the memo?)

   We are making it babe, living life 2,000+ miles away from Sweet Home Alabama....away from life as we knew it....away from friends and family....  We knew this would be hard and it is, but I am SO glad that I'm here with you!

                                                                                                                          -A

Marriage Letters: Q and A

One of my favorite blogs is The Run a Muck. Her name is Amber. Erin, her sister, and I were college roommates for one semester at The University of North Alabama. Amber and her husband Seth have started writing Marriage letters on Mondays and encouraging others to do the same.  I LOVE the idea. So today, since it's Monday, I thought I would join.

Q,
          Wow, where do I start...  maybe just saying that I love you.  I really do. What a wild a crazy (almost) 15 years we've been together. I can't believe I met you at 15.  I remember holding your hand while we were having "prayer around the poll" and thinking that I wanted to marry a man like you. I actually wrote it in my journal. I don't think that at 15 I really knew that I wanted to marry you. I know that because we started dating when we were both very immature we had a rocky start but it makes our story and I love that.  I love that you chose me. I love that through our hard times we learned what true love really is. I love that I can trust you 100%. You provide me and our family security. I know our relationship isn't perfect but I do know that our love is real. You are my best friend. I can tell you anything. I'm quirky most days and sometimes I get tired of being around people but you are my constant. I can't be around you enough. Yeah, you get on my nerves sometimes but I still want you near.  Oh and I do need breaks from you occasionally but I always am excited about getting back to you.  I love the father you are to our two girls. I love that you like taking them to work with you and on daddy/daughter dates. Thanks for putting up with me. Thanks for constant love even when I'm not so lovable. Thanks for listening to God and leading our family where He has called us. That is the man I fell in love with and the man I'm still in love with today. The man that follows God's voice.
   -A

Date Day

Since my mom has been in town, Q and I took a whole day to go on a date. We started the day by touring a church then we went to lunch at Agate Alley Bistro which was so YUMMY! Then we went to eat frozen yogurt. Next we went to the movies to watch "We Bought a Zoo." Which was so good! One of my favorite movies I've seen in a while.  It has just encouraged me and Q both to make sure we are having adventures with our family.  We decided we needed a little adventure of our own that day so went out in the rain and mud and "hiked" Skinners Butte. I say hike but it wasn't much of a hike... but what is considered a hike after all?? A walk in the woods? well, we did that. Is there a number of miles you must go? Well, we didn't go far and it didn't feel much like a hike but we were in the woods. We went a little overboard on our date but we had to take advantage while we had someone that wouldn't care to keep the kids all day. It's been nice having my mom here to help with the girls. Especially so Q and I can go out.  We have people here that help us with the girls but it feels less like a sacrifice when it's the grandparents keeping them.  Here are a few pictures of our "adventure".

Skinner's Butte

Eugene, Oregon

U of O Autzen Stadium