This weekend I was on the lookout for a good picture that I’ve taken. Costco is having a photo contest, and I decided to enter it. I have a few pictures on my laptop, but I knew that Drew had the majority of my really good photographs. He found them on our desktop computer, and I sat down to spend maybe 20 minutes browsing through, looking for a good entry. Over an hour later, I was still there, looking at individual pictures, laughing and “awwing.”

Intermingled with all of the photos I’ve taken of scenery, cute nephews, and lightning, were our wedding photos. I’ve been wanting to find them and start scrap booking these shots, so I was especially excited to see them again. I laughed at forgotten shots and grinned at well remembered memories. I also found a slew of photos from our engagement photo shoot. Rather than pay someone loads of money to take a few cutesy pictures of us with my left hand ever so subtly exposed in every shot, we decided to do it ourselves. We set my Canon Rebel up on the tripod, and using the handy remote that Drew ordered off of eBay, we took shot after shot in Tom Brown Park. We even used some of them for our wedding invite. I forgot how many pictures we snapped to get a good one, and since I have the goofiest husband in the world, there were tons of outtakes. There were also serious ones, where we were gazing into each other’s eyes dreamily and laying tender kisses on each other’s lips.

Looking at these pictures reminded me of my love story and how cool it is. I told the majority of the story here before, but I started thinking about some of the other details this weekend.

– Faking an engagement three months into our relationship on April Fool’s Day. And fooling everyone way better than we expected. Our good friend and pastor told us, “Maybe the joke’s on you. We all know how perfect you are for each other.”

– Going away to Africa and Australia in the middle of our courtship. I received a package at one of the hostels in Australia. I opened it to discover a sweet letter, two CDs (one with romantic songs and some audio from my sweetie, and the other a relaxing ocean waves mix with foghorns in the background), and a ziploc baggie with a cotton square soaked in his cologne. *sigh* I looked up from my package to find four sets of eyes peering over the bus seats. The other aunties on the bus were quite impressed at my beau’s efforts.

– Coming home from that same trip to discover that he had written me a letter every day that I was gone. He dropped me off at my sister’s where I was staying, handed me a letter opener saying, “Here, you’ll need this.” He walked away, leaving me staring quizzically at the random object in my hand. I turned around to discover a huge pile of letters that was about to fall over. I ran across those letters when I was packing to move in December. I read through a few and smiled.

Drew will smile proudly when I remind him of some of these things he did. He will embrace me, look in my eyes, and declare, “It worked.”

I think often marriages start to crumble because the wife doesn’t feel so wooed anymore. The husband has his prize, and he doesn’t need to work to earn it anymore. Sometimes, when I start to feel this way, I remind myself of the many things my husband is doing now for me.

– Working two jobs to diligently pay down debt and build up financial security.

– Surprising me with way nice hotels and way nicer lingerie than I’d buy for myself.

– Buying a beautiful house that I love. Without him, I’d be living in a cheap apartment in a sketchy part of town. I sure couldn’t afford much without him.

– Never refusing a back massage when I ask for one. At least not that I can remember.

– Gives me encouragement and space to pursue things I love; writing, music, photography…

– Tells me, “I love you” about 80 times a day.

Some of these things can easily go unnoticed since they’re not as dramatic and romantic as a letter a day while I’m away. But I’m thankful for them, and know that my husband does them because he loves me.

Thanks babe. It’s still working.