Blast from the Past March: Andy and I (Again?)

I know that I just did a Blast from the Past about us in December for our birthdays, but here it is, already March, and we have an anniversary right around the corner.

On Monday, March 16, Andy and I will have been married for 13 years (together for 18). I don't how it's been so long and where all the time has gone, but I wouldn't change a thing.

So as a small pre-anniversary surprise I looked down at my ring last Sunday and I noticed that one of the diamonds was missing. Luckily it was a small diamond, one of the three on the bottom.
It was the one on the far left, and as you can see, they are the smallest little things. I was so horrified when I saw it gone, but I realized that it's been more than 7 years since I got the ring checked. That is bad! (Just a small reminder to get your ring checked!)

The need to get my ring fixed and it's absence, made me wax philosophic about all that it means. I have had people, over the years, tell me I should get a bigger, better ring, but I can't. Then it wouldn't be the ring I got married in, it just wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be the ring we shopped for together, that we spent all our available cash on, and the one that we both looked at each other wondering, "Did we really spend that much money on a ring?"(even though now it doesn't seem like that much at all). I couldn't look down on it and remember Andy asking me to marry him, or me proudly wearing the engagement ring or or Andy placing the wedding band on my finger during the ceremony. I love my ring for all of the wonderful memories it invokes and all of the future it holds.

Then the other thing that pops into my head is, 'why are there three small diamonds on the bottom?'. Yes, I'm aware in designing you always work in odd numbers. But why three? Then I thought: Does that mean I'm going to have three kids? (And no, I am NOT pregnant) I'll tell you where the kid-diamond relation came. Shortly after I was born my aunt bought my mom a statue of a woman holding a child. It was to be representative of my mom and I. And it was basically just my mom and I for almost 12 years, then she got pregnant with my brother (surprise!), and it was not long after she got pregnant that something was quite noticeable on the statue. The statue that my aunt bought WAS of a woman holding onto her child, but there was also ANOTHER child hanging on her skirts. All these years and no one noticed. The statue was of a woman with TWO children, not one. That story has always stuck with me, and the three diamonds-three children was stuck in my brain. I guess we'll see if that craziness holds true. All I've got to say is, it will NOT be 12 years down the road!

So of course in the Blast from the Past I had to include terrible, embarrassing pictures of myself. What kind of good friend would I be if I didn't show you my true self? This came about because James asked me (through Facebook) what we did BEFORE children. So I decided since most of my current friends (who mostly read my blog) only know me WITH children, I'd show you a little of me and Andy BEFORE we had children. It really is only fair. We've had children less than 4 years and Andy and I have been together for 18!! We had a life! We did things! Ok, it was mostly going to college, and then more college, but we did things!

I present to you snapshots in the life of Andy and Amber before children (in no particular order):

Oh! Look at this! We got married! We were married on March 16, 1996 on a beautiful spring day. Can you tell I'm happy? What's with the sly look on Andy's face? (I love looking back at old photos and disecting them!)
We were married in St. Paul's Cathedral in Yakima, WA at around 2 in the afternoon, the same church where Andy's parent's were married ( I think. About Andy's parents, not about when and where we were married). Father Ecker married us. (Absolutely fabulous person, hilarious too.)
Don't we look like babies? And no, we were not teenagers when we got married, and yes, we are that old. We got married when we were both 23, on spring break from our second to last year of undergrad.
Oh My God! Ok, before you look down (I told you NOT to look down!), I just need to warn you that his is a TERRIBLE picture of, well, all of us, but me especially. Don't ask me what was going on with the whole thing, from my hair to my shoes, but it's a wonder that I made it out of high school with a boyfriend. Anyway, this is a tolo picture and Andy and I went with our friend Marnel and her date (I don't remember his name but Marnel could and she could probably tell us where he currently lives and what he's been doing in the intervening years). Let's skip past this monstrosity, shall we?
Ah, at least a little better. We are At Andy's youngest brother's wedding (Damian is on the far right, like you can't tell their related, huh?). L-R: Andy, Amber, Marnel, Winnie, and Damian. Marnel is in a few of these pictures here because I've known her since junior high.
Ok, this comes with another warning. Just be prepared. I really should realize that you shouldn't talk while someone's taking a picture. I also am so glad I've gotten rid of my glasses. Now, as to why we are all dressed EXACTLY the same, is beyond me. (Unfortunately for me the college years are a blur of sweatshirts and jeans)

I THINK this is when we were taking Damian to the airport the first time he went to live in China, although I'm not 100%.
This is Andy and I outside our college apartment. Cute, huh?
Wow, I didn't know these pictures could get worse. This is a washed out photo, don't really know why. Just like I don't know why I cut my hair this short except that I wanted something different. Something different is what I got. I should've went with something BETTER!

This is Andy and I on the day of graduating from high school. The Fab Four, nope those aren't the Beetles, are Andy and his brothers. L-R: Mike, Damian, Erich, Andy and I.
This is a shot of us right before we took a vacation together down to Disneyland. One where I got a very serious kidney infection and threw up in various locations from California to Washington. Isn't that a heart-warming story? (We really had a good time. Luckily I got sick the latter half of the vacation and we were heading home anyway)
The day of our college graduation with my mom and brother. Why does my brother look so pissed? Well that was his thing, he only took pictures that made him look 'tough'. Thank god he's over that. (it's only taken him around 10 years to get over)
Here we are, shortly after graduating college, on our travel to Cleveland so that Andy could start dental school. I am holding our nephew Matthew who is now almost 12 years old.
After Andy graduated from dental school we took a celebratory trip to Florida. We went to Orlando and then headed down to Key West. You might wonder why I'm holding my arm like that. It almost looks like I'm pregnant, but I'm not. The only thing I can think of is that it was because I had had surgery to remove a cyst in my lung about 3 months before. I was still kind of healing. (They had to cut my rib to get into my lung. Just a note: that part was NOT fun)
The tulip festival, before we had even moved up here.
This was taken the first year we moved up here. It's a beautiful day in these pictures but it was SOOOO cold that day!
Here we are on the ferry heading to the San Juans for a day of kayaking on the sound.
See! I told you so! Here we are in the kayaks ready to take off. Really all I could think about the whole time out there on the water was 'what if a whale decides to come up underneath and knocks us over?'. No, I don't always have the most rational thoughts. The ocean is huge. I'm sure that a whale is going to pick this spot, the small spot that our kayak is on to come up for air. I can say that so calmly here, sitting on my couch, but I know that when I go out again I will be thinking the same thing.
We are young here (you probably couldn't have guessed that, huh?). I think we are 18 (or very close to it) and we were in Oregon at my aunt and uncle's wedding. Right after this is when we took off on the fatefull trip down to Cali where I got sick.
Look, I even did things with friends! Here I am with my friend Barb, who (before we even THOUGHT about moving up here) got married here on the Navy base to a soldier. We came up for her wedding. Weird.
This is a random Christmas shot of Damian, Andy and I at their mom's house.
This day I only vaguely remember. This was taken in Cleveland at ??? with the students I taught for student teaching. You've got to love 7th graders! (I had so much fun with them. They were a good group of kids.)
This is a shot of Andy and a couple of his friends from dental school at Niagra Falls. L-R: Ryan, Tom, and Andy.
Here I am with Marnel having a picnic right outside Fort Niagra, July 1998.
This is Andy running in his last race in college. I don't remember what he placed, but he did great. Shortly after this we got married.
Another shot of our college graduation. What are we laughing at? Don't have a clue.
This a picture of Andy, my brother and my mom right before we headed out on a month long trip that took us from Washington to Ocean City, MD and back. It was a great trip and we saw so many things along the way. You may wonder why it looks so flat and not very green where we are? That's because we left from Yakima, which is in central Washington, which is essentially a desert area.
Here is my friend Leah, and I out shopping. Barb was with us, and we were just goofing around and having fun.
So there you have it, a few shots of us over the years (ok I know that was more than a FEW, but they just brought back so many memories!) proof that we had a life before kids.