10 Years

Ten years ago today, I met the love of my life! (The man, not the goat, obvi 😉)

It took twenty-five whole years to find him, but I'm actually so thankful for that time I had on my own. I know what it's like to support myself and to live all alone, to be successful and independent. It's so curious that I was happily living this bachelorette existence when Max came along! And, life has literally not been the same!

Max has pushed me to do things I never, ever thought I would or could (hello, diving with sharks). He's been my biggest cheerleader, with words of encouragement and actual assistance for any endeavor I'm working on - ordering supplies to teach play-dough circuits to my first graders back when I was in the classroom, setting up photo booths when I hosted staff Christmas parties, gifting me a fancy camera lens for the blog, making sure I have a battery back-up and car charger when I'm traveling solo, even surprising me with the crazy hospital grade pump when I was breastfeeding. I know without a doubt he'd enthusiastically support any idea I came to him with, and it's just the most heartwarming, comforting feeling ever.

A lot can happen in ten years - when we met, neither of us had iPhones. I know, hard to imagine right? They were still new and gaining popularity. I'm pretty sure I had a pink flip phone at the time, and I'm not at all sure how I got anywhere without navigation. 

Max hadn't finished his Ph.D. or Masters degree for that matter - so for a brief period of time, I was beating him in the degrees department 😉 I still have the desire from time to time to return to school for my Ed.D. mostly so we could be The Doctors Klein 😂

Our wedding was pre-Pinterest, and pre-hashtags. I'm actually completely fine with this. We're both from that funny in-between generation - close to but definitely not millennials as we didn't grown up with technology or social media (I believe they call us the Oregon Trail Generation). So being able to hold on to that peaceful, simpler time makes my heart happy.

The years seem to be going by faster and faster. They say this happens as you age - that each year is a smaller percentage of your total life, so it actually feels shorter. It also makes our newlywed time feel like so long ago!

Or maybe it's just the whole "having a child" thing, which makes traveling all the more complicated! Gone are the days of scuba diving vacays, carefree flights and impromptu trips - though we wouldn't trade being parents for anything. 💓

Going back ten years in the past we look so darn young! And well rested. I wish there was some way to do this whole parenting thing and get the proper amount of sleep.

To my partner, and love, and hero, and groom - Happy 10 Years!