19 Years Later

The mission: find a picture of the two of us together for each of our 19 married years. This was tougher than I realized, especially during those little kid years. Thank God for holiday family pictures! Here's what I managed to dig out of the archives.

August 24, 1991

Bob and I met and ended up sitting next to one another on a long drive to a college retreat on Sept. 28th, 1990. Five days later, he proposed on Oct. 3. Everyone thought we were completely insane. We were together for three months and then Bob had to leave for Ft. Knox and Army Officer training for the next five months. During that time Desert Shield turned to Desert Storm and his orders were to head for the war once training was over at the end of May. Two weeks before he would have left, Desert Storm was over and he got to come home. We had three more months together and then there we were, knowing each other less than a year, tying the knot.

Thanksgiving 1992

I am 7 months pregnant. Bob was working as a correctional officer for TDCJ and we were living in the Turner's little rental house with no central AC. I was in graduate school working as a TA. And we were so dirt poor. We scrounged in couches (not just ours) for change one week to buy groceries. This was the year of Shelby, my first shelter dog who was supposed to be Nana Shelby to baby Nicholas. She died in my arms in the middle of the night Jan. 7. Nick was born Jan. 9. She had slept in his nursery since we'd decorated it.

Christmas 1993

Baby Nicholas is already almost a toddler. We moved into a little apartment (with central AC!!) in Hunstville. Bob was working two jobs, both at TDCJ and as a security guard at the little mall in town. I was finishing my thesis and deciding to move into teaching instead of continuing on with the PhD.

Valentines 1994

One of the few couples pictures we can find, just the two of us, for the next decade. In a few months we'll be moving to Navasota to a little rental house with three bedrooms (palacial!) once owned by Bob's high school football coach. It is the start of a long stay in a very small town.

September 1995

And Baby Samantha makes 4. She is born full term at 4 pounds and the stress of the bedrest and near death is one of the deciding factors deciding these precious babies were going to be it. Bob has transferred to a unit outside of Navasota but has to work the graveyard shift. I am teaching English part time at Blinn. Muna takes care of the kids when one of us isn't home.

August 24, 1996

5 Year Anniversary and our big trip consisted of going out for dinner and a movie and spending the night at a suite at the Hilton in College Station. Livin' la vida loca.

October 1997

Dressing up for a visit to the Texas Renaissance Festival, although Sammi stays behind with Muna. We're in the same house, but Bob has moved into Internal Auditing for TDCJ, driving back to Hunstville everyday.

Christmas 1998

The kids are growing like weeds. Nick will start kindergarten this coming year and is wild into all of Bob's childhood hero, Batman. Sammi is all about the Wizard of Oz. These are the magical kid years.

Thanksgiving 1999

Disney World, Christmas 2000

I finally had moved into a full-time teaching position at Blinn. (hurray!) Bob was still traveling for auditing work and driving to Hunstville. This was the year we finally bought our own house, moving all of one mile across town.

Christmas 2001

We've had Ian as part of the family since 1997, but Katy joins us this fall for Sammi's 6th birthday. Bob gets the job as the Aggie Bucks/Card office director this year and cuts his commute in half by travelling to College Station every day.

Disney, Christmas, 2002

Hey! It's just the two of us in the picture! The kids are old enough to operated the camera now.

Christmas 2003

The year Nick started playing football, was still playing baseball, and Sammi was in gymnastics. This is the only picture I can find with both Bob and I together. We were always splitting time at sporting events.

Disney, Christmas 2004

We go every other year at Christmas until the kids have left home. That means this coming Christmas will be the last one for Nick.

Christmas in Colorado, 2005

Mom and Dad have moved to Colorado Springs earlier this year and we are visiting as often as possible. It was nice of them to schedule snow for us.

Christmas 2006

Probably the most honest family picture we've ever taken. Bob has an interview with the Colorado School of Mines on Jan. 2 after this Christmas, which will take us out of the small town our kids have called home their whole lives.

Thanksgiving in Santa Fe, 2007

In March we moved Bob to Colorado and we joined him three months later in June. It was the longest we'd been apart since those five months before we were married. I am teaching part time at a local community college. Mom and Dad take all of us to Santa Fe for the holiday.

November 2008

I have left teaching after 14 years. Colorado woefully underfunds its higher education. The majority of people are educated out of state, even though we boast one of the highest number of degreed people in the U.S. Time for a new career.

Christmas 2009

Today, August 24, 2010

Half a lifetime together and counting.

Happy 19th Anniversary my Pooter Muffin!