Ten years ago today...

... Aaron "asked me out" at the Fairhope vs. Daphne Varsity football game.

Little did we know that our little eighth grade romance would progress into a DECADE of friendship, true love, growing up, "awkward stages", learning lessons, change, and everything else you experience from the ages of 13 to 23... and believe me, we are still living through all those things!

I was looking through some old pictures of us from way back when until now, and I have to admit, I am very embarrassed to display some of these but I am going to be an honest person with a decent self esteem :) and just "grin and bear it" while hundreds of you people I have no idea who you all are view these!

After all, I want to always be REAL with y'all so here goes nothin'!  Just go ahead and say it...

We've come a looooong way.

Don't worry... it's ok to laugh. That's exactly what I've been doing!

Eighth grade... definitely my most fun year of school ever.

And may I mention that Courtney and Clay, our best friends since the beginning, have been together since the seventh grade. They will be popping up in some of these pictures.

Sleeveless turtlenecks!?!

Sophomore homecoming... Thankfully, I couldn't find our freshman homecoming pictures. Y'all would be DYING right now... and you probably already are!

Junior year

Senior Prom

These are just a few old pictures out of hundreds!

The day he proposed!

The happiest day...

I love him and he loves me... We are each other's bestest friend... It's been ten years and he still makes me giddy... and mad as a hornet at times... We just thought we knew each other when we were dating... and then we got married.... still learning!... He's the finest lookin' guy I know, inside and out... I'm the most beautiful girl he's ever seen, inside and out... And the kicker is that we have always seen each other that way... Yes, even in those first pictures... :) ... He makes me so proud... He loves to show me off... I am confident he will always provide for me and take care of me... He loves the cooking, cleaning, (future) mothering, domestic side of me... even when I set the smoke alarm off...We have always just fit together... like we were made for each other... What is neat is that God has known that this whole time... Doesn't mean it's been smooth sailing... But after everything we've been through together... and believe me, you can go through a LOT in a decade... at the end of the day all I know is that... I just love him and he just loves me. It's just that simple.

Are you gagging yet? If you aren't, I guarantee you, you know this kind of love.

And let me just write a little sidenote on Aaron for a second...

One of my favorite things about him is the fact that I can post pictures of him sewing on the world wide web and it does not bother his "manhood" one bit.

I can post pictures of his skinny little thirteen year old self for all of you to see and he doesn't care. He loved me and still called me his girlfriend when some of the little punk kids in our class tried to tease him for having a girlfriend... He didn't care what they thought... obviously.

He made me a picture frame and a pair of flip flops (decorated with stick-ons) for my sixteenth birthday and gave me my gift, not in private, but in front of the whole crowd (his friends included) at the party... Yes, that made a huge impact on my Dad, so much so that he told that story at our rehearsal dinner.

He was always making things for me in Art class... He created and painted me two pieces of pottery (jewelry boxes to be exact) that I still have in my room!

Sure I may be bragging on him, but that just has always been one of my favorite things about him and it still is! He has never felt the need to prove his manhood, he just is and that's that.

Now just so you know, I could write a list that long of things that bug me about him too (and I guarantee you he could do the same for me!)

Everyone has their own special story... Ours just happens to start a tad bit earlier than most.

I am so thankful for this boy in my life and often times I hear he is thankful for me. Our relationship is anything but perfect, but praise God it doesn't have to be! I hope you enjoyed laughing looking at all our old pictures... I should say, "Don't hate, Appreciate!" :)