In honor of Valentines Day I thought it would be fun to get a little personal and share 18 stories about me & my Valentine  as we celebrate our 18th Valentine’s Day together.

After all, Valentines Day is all about love and let me tell you, I love this man of mine!

1.  Audley & I had a really fast & entertaining courtship…. we “met” in November … well, we were reacquainted in November of 1994 after knowing each other in high school.  I had died my hair jet black …. talk about attention getting!
I didn’t like him back in high school; thought he was a real redneck!
Anyhow, I was dating someone else in late 1994.  I had plans to spend time with the guy I was dating for New Year’s Eve that year and Audley wished me a really “crappy” time.

Yes, I had a really bad time.

One week later Audley hit on me with a “come-on” line at church that I still laugh over today.

That was January 1995.

2.  January 18 was our first date.  We went to Shoney’s after Bible study and spent three hours talking over hot fudge cake and ice tea.

{I paid.}

3.  Audley proposed to me the first time, three weeks later on February 10, 1995 at a Reba McIntyre concert in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

{I said “maybe”}

4.  The first meal I ever cooked for Audley was a fancy taco salad.  I had every ingredient possible layered into that salad and served it with chili-cheese Fritos which were his favorite.  The salsa and Spanish rice that accompanied it was homemade.

4.  Audley proposed the second time on March 30, 1995 in his parent’s living room with a gorgeous diamond in hand.

{I said “yes”}

5.  We were married on August 5, 1995….. less than seven months after our first date and despite the fact his mother didn’t want us to get married.

{I like to remind her just how long we’ve been married as each year passes.}

 

6.  Audley was nearly late to our own wedding!  He had used his tie and cummerbund to tie up the antenna on the TV at the church to watch NASCAR’s Brickyard 400.  The song he was supposed to walk out to was half over before he was dressed and out the door!

7.  We did miss check-in at our hotel on our honeymoon.  Audley and I sat in the truck listening to the last 20 laps of the race … He was pulling for Jeff Gordon and I was pulling for Mark Martin.

Dale Earnhardt won.

Oh well.

8.  Audley loves to tell corny jokes at the craziest of times …. like laying in bed on our wedding night:

That’s my husband.

He still does things like this today, except sometimes his jokes come in picture messages from across the room via iPhone.

Or he dazzles me with his sense of fashion….

 

9.  The night I went into labor with MacKenzie Grace (1 year and 40 weeks after our wedding day….), we went bowling and about five minutes after we got home, Audley (who was an EMT & Firefighter at the time) was paged out on a call for a car accident.

That’s my man in the yellow turn-out gear.

He left that call as they were paged to a house fire, and by 11:00 PM, I was in full labor at home by myself!

I had to call 911 to get them to find my husband and have a police officer bring him home!

10.  For almost the entire 23 hours I was in labor with MacKenzie Grace, Audley and our two best friends sat in the delivery room with me quoting and re-enacting scenes from
“Gone with the Wind” 
“But Miss Scarlett!  I don’t know nuthin’ ’bout birthin’ no babies!”

“Forrest Gump”
“Now Forrest, you lean up against me and I’ll lean up against you and we won’t have to sleep with our heads in the mud.”

and the always colorful “Slingblade”
“Reckon you make me some biscuits.”

“I like them french fried potators.”

“Got any biscuits and mustard?”

11.  Audley delivered partially delivered Madeline because the doctor didn’t believe I was “ready” because she had just checked me 15 minutes earlier.

After the nurse told the doctor to put down her **** cup of coffee and get in there Audley put on gloves …. the doctor walked in as he was suctioning our precious baby and Audley told her that if she didn’t do her job she wasn’t getting paid!

We NEVER got a bill for Madeline’s birth.

14.  I found out that I was expecting Bradley on our fifth anniversary.

We were VERY surprised.

13.  When I gave birth to Bradley (13 months after Madeline was born), Audley “made” me a crown to wear out of a rubber glove.  He was proud of his son!

And very creative.

14.  Audley and I have dated for 18 years now.  While the kids were young we went out at least once a month and now that they are older we go out EVERY week.

We have been known to get in the car and drive two hours one way to go eat for a date.

Our favorite dates have been trips to NASCAR races.

We also love to attend hockey games, minor league baseball games, go bowling, catch a movie, play miniature golf, check out unique or highly recommended restaurants or have a simple carpet picnic in our living room floor.

15.  Since we married in 1995 we have moved 13 times and lived in 6 states….. Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky and South Carolina!

16.  We LOVE to travel.

In our 18 years together (without our children) we have been to Hawaii, Jamaica, multiple vineyards, the Army/Navy game in Philadelphia, the Sugar Bowl to watch Georgia play, St. Louis, Lexington, Louisville, Charleston, New Orleans, the Biltmore House, Honeymoon Beach Florida, the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, shopping in Chicago, camping, races in Atlanta and Bristol with Charlotte on the schedule for May.

Army/Navy Game 2009

 

Sugar Bowl 2006

Rock Climbing on a camping trip in Illinois

He has also attended multiple blogger events with me from a Framing Workshop in Atlanta hosted by Larson-Juhl & Eddie Ross to antique shopping trips.

17.  Audley and I love musicals.
We have seen Jekyll & Hyde, Beauty and the Beast, Titanic, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, A Chorus Line, The Music Man, Little House on the Prairie (with Melissa Gilbert), & Dreamgirls.

Tomorrow night we’ll add Billy Elliot to the list.

He won’t know that until our date (to a hockey game) tonight.

18.  Audley is my biggest cheerleader.

I could not ask for a more supportive husband.  As a stay-at-home-mom he leaves me feeling secure and confident, proud to have a wife that can be home for the children and him.

He supports my crazy whims of redecorating and kitchen experiments, encourages me to get out of the box I often put myself in, and obviously brags on me continuously since every time I meet co-workers of his they always say “I feel like I already know you!”

We garden together all spring and summer, and when I have a large cake to bake for someone ….
Audley rolls the fondant!

He has been the best support on my health & fitness journey …. take this post on his Facebook wall just this week….

 

 

 

Just three days ago …. wearing my first non-plus-sized dress in about 9 years!

I have absolutely loved these 18 years with Audley and I look forward to the many years that lie ahead for us!

Linking up with Decor to Adore for her perfectly fun Valentine Party today!