love-love

Last night, August 1, 2011, marked 10 years that I have been wearing the same thing.  My engagement ring.

10 years ago, in Denver, Chris asked me to marry him.  I remember music, candles, one knee, dessert, and tears being involved.  I don't remember saltine crackers and Diet Coke, but based on the picture above, they were there too. Oh dear, and I am definitely wearing the same dress I wore to a baby shower last weekend. Note to self...GO SHOPPING!

Anyway, 10 years ago I said YES.  And then 2 weeks after I said YES I got on a plane and flew to Kenya, while my fiance returned to his job in Kauai.  Not an ideal arrangement for a newly engaged couple. We had faith then that distance (10,000 miles, actually) wouldn't be a problem, just like we have faith now that it will really be "forever" for us.

We celebrated last night with a surprise date (for Chris) to a tennis tournament.  A friend from Book Club gave me tickets to The Mercury Insurance Open, a US Open Series event for professional women's tennis.  We used to play tennis together when we were first married, we enjoy watching tennis on TV, and we are suckers for "big events," so we were excited to watch our first professional match together.

We didn't realize you can't really talk during a tennis tournament, which isn't ideal for a date. But you can whisper, which requires sitting very close to each other, and that is ideal for a date.

It also turns out they have a lot of rules for the spectators at tennis tournaments, and a lot of people enforcing the rules.  Like the guy who tried to make me sit in a separate location from my husband because the game was starting up again and apparently you are supposed to SIT DOWN...immediately...wherever you are...no matter what.  I pretended not to hear him.

Anyway, I had two thoughts last night while watching these athletes duke it out.

#1  I am getting old.  My back really hurt after sitting in those bleacher seats for a couple of hours.  And the competitors were 10 & 11 years old when we got engaged in 2001.

#2  There were a few years where our marriage was kind of like a singles tennis match. Two people on opposite sides of a net facing each other and trying desperately to WIN.  It wasn't our best season of marriage. We were on opposite teams looking out for our own interests.  At the time, a good friend who knew we were working on being more of a team would check in with us and ask how "Team K" was doing.

I am happy to report that on the TEN YEAR anniversary of the night we officially decided to become a team, we actually have become a good team.  Not a perfect team, but a good team.  Although we still need a lot of practice and coaching!

Oh my word who let these CHILDREN get engaged???