10 Years Already?!

It seems like yesterday when I wrote this post.

It’s been 10 years since our first kiss. So, what have I learned? That Vodka is a powerful tool in getting a man to fall in love with you (and my Dear Brother I’m sure will agree with me! --- [just kidding – or- maybe not, but then this is another blog post I’ll need to prepare soon] J).

To My Other Half:

Happy 10 Year Anniversary! Time has flown by so fast that I am saddened. If every year continues at such rapid pace, I worry that I will be left feeling like there just wasn’t enough time to see your beautiful face, hear your infectious laugh and learn everything there is to know about you.

You are my best friend and the best man a family could ever ask for.


 

Thank you for being so hard working, caring, happy, loving, playful, strong, dedicated, faithful, trustworthy and hilarious. We love you and appreciate all you do for us. I can't tell you how it melts my heart to see our kids follow your every move.

 

 

 

I am so grateful that our kids have such a wonderful example to follow and hope that they turn out to be as great as you.

Thank you for making me smile every day, for taking all the crazy moment that we are sharing together, for making me coffee, for letting me be me, for all of the small things you do for me that I don’t even see. Thank you for loving me.

And next year?

The kids say you should organize a very big surprise for their "wonderful" Mom and I am totally on board with that suggestion! I even have some very creative ideas. Ahem.

Say if I tell you: One year of unlimited Zara shopping? New Louboutin Boots? A trip to Thaïland/or the Bahamas/or the Dominican Republic? ---- See I can be very helpful :-)

Here’s to 10 more amazing years together.

And yet again...

… I have the best husband in the world!

I found this pic on Internet and it made me smile as My Other Half could have wrote this note no doubt!

Morgane was ill all night but my Other Half (whom I will call "Superman" just for the day) took care of the vomit, the cleaning and the cries while I was sound asleep…

I really do have a great life!

41 Today!

My Other Half turns 41 today. I don’t want to hide his age  because for me he is becoming more handsome, more charming, and more lovable by the years.

So to you my wonderful, hard-working, partner in crime, and wonderful father to our two crazy kids, I wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

There aren’t enough words to tell you how much we love you. Your kindness and generosity to our family and friends is beyond measure.  

I hope this new year brings you more success, love, peace, and happiness than you can handle.

I pray the Lord that He will grant me many more years by your side.

I LOVE YOU YESTERDAY,
I LOVE YOU STILL,
I ALWAYS HAVE,
I ALWAYS WILL

I don’t want to sound like a Party Pooper but…

I absolutely hate Valentine s Day! I don’t want to spoil it for the rest the lovey dovey couples out there but when it comes to me, I don’t need to have a special day to celebrate my wonderful Other Half.

Every morning I wake up and I’m thankful that the Lord has granted me another morning where I wake up next to my husband. So there will be no gifts, no romantic dinner, it will be an ordinary day for us because, love is in our home wither it is or isn’t Valentine ’s Day.

But I’ll tell you this: I'm grateful :

For our evenings together. When we’ve tucked the kids in bed… Rolling into each other...our bodies just fit. Love that we are two and can feel like one all at the same time.

The coffee he makes every morning.

That he surprises me by bringing me food at the office because the one I had wasn’t great. Very unexpected. Very appreciated.

His adoring eyes that are only for me.

The kind words he speaks everyday that always make my heart melt.

Our special moments when we say no to the kids and the rest of the world to focus on the US.

His patience. His understanding. His time. His belief in me.

Watching him cuddle our kids even if at THAT VERY moment when he deserves some quiet time.

This list is just some of the things I am grateful for. What gratitude I will always hold is that he **picked** me.

Now for a special shout-out! Thank you Jesus for sending such a great man to me to be my husband and my best friend!

 

I won’t wish my Other Half a Happy Valentine’s day, but I’ll wish YOU to find the kind of love that will make your world as beautiful as mine is today…. If I could stop the time just now, all would be perfect….

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

I hope you all had the opportunity to celebrate this new year with people you love and who care for you. As for me, I spent it with my Other Half and all the Harry Potter movies! Yup you read this right, we left the kids with the grandparents and locked ourselves in front of the TV for 48 hours. The best time ever!

I was going back in my diary (yes this blog is not the only place I go to write on) and I realized just how much I’ve changed this past year. I had 3 objectives for last year:

1.       Get closer to my kids

2.       Understand the real meaning of marriage and try to become a better wife

3.       Open my heart to God

I now realize that these objectives will take me a lifetime to achieve but this year will all be about working even more  on the 3 points above.

Right now my life is on the brink of change and uncertainty. I am so out of my comfort zone that I really do get scared. Nonetheless, I know that this will only lead to great and better things. I just know. And I have faith that God will provide during these difficult times as He always did.

As a new year has started, I also have some new resolutions:

1.       Continue on my path to forming a more personal relationship with God. Although, I’ve been raised  in the Christian faith, I feel it is only now that I have finally allowed myself to open my heart to Him. I’ve neglected my faith for far too long, and this year God has smacked me upside down in order to get me back onto the right path. I am at a good place now, especially after this very revealing last year, but I want to go further.

2.       Get my sexy mommy back into shape. I gained some weight , and on such a small frame even 5 pounds makes a big difference! So as of tomorrow, I’ll start eating healthier again and squeeze some exercise time at least 4 time a week.

 

3.       Make a conscientious effort to better my relationships: with my Other Half, my kids, and my family.

 

4.       Show my love for the important people in my life I have this tendency to create walls and shut people out. It doesn’t make it easy to make friends so  I need to step out of my self-protective circle and be more proactive. I have met some great people last year, who share the same values as my Other Half and myself and who have kids who have the same age as ours. It would be wonderful if they could be part of our life for the coming years. We are lucky we already have good friends around us but meeting new ones along the way only brings even more love and kindness in our lives.

Whatever your wishes and hopes for 2012, I hope you’ll all get what your heart desires… HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

9 years today...

9 years ago today,  my Other Half fell in love with the girl behind this picture:

and me with this picture…

After a few e-mail exchanges and a lot of courage, I finally agreed to meet the guy in the picture (if you want to know all about it in details, you can click HERE)

This is us 9 years later:

Time sure does fly when you're having fun...

… or compromising.  Same thing or almost. Right?

Anyway, there are things that haven't changed after all these years:

My Other Half is still...

... the cheese to my macaroni

... the horizon to my sky

... the bacon to my eggs

... the laces to my sneakers

... the jelly to my peanut butter

... the gravy to my mash potatoes

... the smile to my face

... the bubbles to my bath

... the hot chocolate to my cookie

... the ink to my pen

... the mayo to my fries

... the icing on my cake

and LAST BUT NOT LEAST:

Happy anniversary to the best compromiser I've ever known.

I love you My Other Half !

“A 'Great Marriage' is not when the 'perfect couple'c omes together. It is when an imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences.”

This day wasn't so bad afterall...

I was in a "panic" mode this morning as I had taken a day off last Friday, which meant that work had piled up on my desk and in my mailbox. I manage to do go through 6 bullets out of 10 on my to do list, which makes me pretty proud of myself.

On top of things, my boss who arrived in the office quiet grumpy almost instantly changed his mood once we started working together… I’m not going to bad mouth him on my blog, I’m tempted but I won’t do it. Why? Because one of my cousin reminded me that even though he seems to have everything in his life to make him happy, he is missing one HUGE part: Faith.

This is what she wrote to me after I explained to her that I was having a bad day, and that dealing with a difficult person was a bit part of it:  "Material things can not fill their longing, only God can. Be lovable to them, not by choice but do it because it pleases our Lord. Even better, pray for these people--- you can not hate them if you are praying for them you know? Try it--- it works!"

And it does work! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that as soon as I got in the office, as most of days, I’ll start my day with a prayer, why not today? Because I let myself get caught with the stress of the world instead of following my faith and its principles… Focus on our Lord and let Him deal with the rest…

Tomorrow is another day, and I promise myself that my first words will be for the Lord… I have no doubt that whatever comes my way, I will face it with courage as I know that I am not alone…

Until then, I am grateful for my wonderful Other Half, who manage to take a few hours off to pick-up the kids and relieve me from the worries of not getting on time at the kids’school this evening. I’m looking forward to a nice family meal and a relaxing eveing with my Other Half catching up on our favorite series and probably falling asleep in his arms…

I hope you Monday has been good to you, and remember tomorrow is full of possibilities…

Looking forward to….

… A week-end where we are all together. I’m can’t wait for my week-end to start. The weather is quiet promising and Other Half will be with us for a whole 2 days.

As some of you know, Other Half is a policeman, which means he sometimes has to work on week-ends. I don’t mind being alone with the kids on weekdays as time flies fast with school, bath, homework, preparing dinner, and cleaning up, but week-ends are different.

It's always so much more fun when Other Half is is around.

Proof?: When Other Half is absent, the kids keep on asking several times a day when Daddy will be home to the point that when they are upset they would cry hard and keep on asking for him. I pretty much do the same thing, but my pity party involves a tub of Nutella and a bag of chips to follow. 

On top of having Other Half around, I’ll be spending my Sunday morning with my best friend. I’ll be taking her to a Zumba class, I’m not sure that she’ll survive it but then again, I’m not sure I will either… Then Sunday afternoon, I have invited a nice family to have lunch with us, which means my house will be full of joy and laughter, and that’s all I need for now…

That’s why I’m so excited that we'll all be together as we did not have the chance to be with Other Half last week. Reunited and it feels so good.... [insert cough here] Sorry, didn't mean to break into a song there.

Anyway, I hope you’ll all have a fabulous week-end filled with good laughs, love,  great food, and sweet friends…

I married my best friend...

I always knew that on that day, my life would never be the same.  However, I would have never imagined that my life-changing moment would happen with the help of an internet dating website almost 9 years ago.  Despite living alone out of a few suitcases, with a horrible job, and not having many friends, I somehow found my Other Half.

Years ago I would have been embarrassed to tell anyone how I met my Other Half, back when meeting someone online was deemed to be taboo or too risky, and merely for the eccentric internet user.  But I have no regrets meeting him in person on a whim. Even though I was planning it to be a "temporary" thing, I took a chance.  I figured my chance was lost when he ended our first date with a kiss on the cheek, but with a stroke of luck, all the odds were in my favor, and another date followed.  Turns out, he was just a geeky gentleman.

Like the Jason Mraz song, I fell in love with my best friend. Lately, I have realized that many of my friends are struggling, some of their relationships or marriages are falling apart, so I often find difficult to answer to one question: "How come you guys are still so much in love?"

 

 

I met my Other Half when I was 21. It wasn’t love at first sight, but talking to him was so easy that somehow I felt attracted to him. We started dating, and curiosity and lust gradually turned into love. A deep and committed love. The kind of love that I witnessed as a child, growing with parents whom, after more than 40 years of marriage, are still in love.

When he asked me to marry him, I said yes, but quickly got cold feet. I needed time – I was only 25– I was way too young. What if he wasn’t Mr. Right? Can we take a year off? I begged, and he, wisely, said no.

Five years later, I have a crystal clear image of myself, in the dark, sitting in the living room, and thinking, trying to make a decision. When suddenly, I knew what I needed to do. I closed my eyes and imagined my life without him. Packing up, renting a new apartment, with a baby in my arm. Going about my daily life without him. Preparing and eating meals with only my son, shopping, going on trips or going out at night when Arthur would be with his dad, doing things without my Other Half included.

I couldn’t imagine it. It felt so empty, so meaningless. Even the promise of new experiences, of meeting new men and dating again and "making the most of my freedom" did not feel so exciting anymore. Leaving him would be like giving up a part of me – a big part of me. He was the one – and I wasn’t going to turn him into "the one I let go".

So I married him, at the age of 25. He was 35. We’ve been together ever since, raising two children, building a life, deepening our commitment and our friendship, keeping the lust, and – most importantly – laughing and having fun together. We make each other laugh, we make each other think. We have a ton of respect for each other. He’s my best friend and I think I am his, and the gender differences make it all the more interesting.

When people ask me, "What’s your secret? 9 years together, 5 years of marriage, 2 kids, and you guys still look very much in love?" I tell them that yes, we are very happy together, but I’m not sure if I can share any secrets or give any tips. A lot of it is luck, after all.

Or maybe not? I made a conscious decision NOT to let him go. And throughout the years, we have made repeated decisions to keep investing in the relationship, to keep it alive, to work at it, to keep ourselves interesting, and as attractive as age permits – for one another. I try not to push his buttons and him mine.

Will our marriage last forever? I hope so. As I have seen too many of my friends separating or cheating on their partner, I’ll never be able to believe in "happily ever after" the way I used to. But for the past nine years, and for the foreseeable future, I am so very grateful to be in love with my best friend.

Happy Anniversary my Other Half! I love you… Always….

Lucky....

After work this evening, I’ll be heading home to my 2 kids and my Other Half. As I’ll open the door, I’ll hear  Arthur and Morgane shouting joyfully: "Mommy! You’re home!". Other Half will come towards me embrace me and kiss me the forehead. Dinner will almost be ready and the kids will have taken their bath and will already be in their PJs ready to be tucked into bed after dinner.

That’s a usual weekday for me… A beautiful picture isn’t it?

Yet sometimes, I’ll admit, I take it all for granted. I hang on to little things that irritate me, which turns me into a total frustrated psycho bitch. So what if the house isn’t clean when I get home? What is so bad about Arthur getting told off at school because he was just well… being a kid?!

I was surfing on the blogosphere yesterday afternoon and found a post from a wife who lost her husband. a while ago He committed suicide and left behind a wife and 2 young children. This couple used to be happy, but then depression kicked in for the husbandand at one stage he just couldn’t handle the pressure that was in his life and ended it all…

And this is what his wife wrote:

I am so jealous, of everyone.

I dropped a friend of mine home a few days ago, and watched as she entered her house. Where her husband and children were waiting. The house lit and alive and warm.

The house I come home to is cold and dark as I bundle my children inside. It warms soon, with light and laughter. But it is up to me to do that.

I miss the feeling of coming home to safety and security, the home fires burning. Ever since January, all I've wanted to do is go home, where it's safe, and escape all this pain for awhile.

I miss being married. It was never a huge thing for me- "It's just a piece of paper." It wasn't until I got married myself that I realised it was so much more.

That was one of first things that hit me, about losing Tony- I was no longer someone's wife. I was no longer one of those special women, so loved and adored that someone wanted them all to themselves.

I loved referring to Tony as 'my husband', and he loved calling me his wife. ("You know what I always remember him saying, about you? Laughing and saying 'Fuck, I love my wife'", says one of Tony's friends). We loved the idea of being married, that actuality of it... we adored each other.

"I will spend the rest of my life, waiting to die, so I can see him again. I'll never find anyone I love that much again."

"I know," says my best friend. "I know.... you were the best of mates, when you weren't fighting."

Source: Random Ramblings of SAH Mom

This post brought tears to my eyes… I felt her pain and loneliness…

I just couldn’t imagine not having my Other Half next to me when I wake up. Having to walk through life without him by my side.

Of course our marriage is not perfect, and we do fight, and I’ll confess to considering leaving him at some point. But there is this voice in my head that keeps on telling me that I can’t give up on us. When I read a post like the one above,  it reminds me that what Other Half and I have is precious. It reminds me that the Lord has been very generous with us and that I shouldn’t take for granted all the blessings I have in my life…

Tomorrow Other Half and I will be celebrating our 5^th wedding anniversary. I love being his wife, I have found peace in my heart by being a wife and a mom and I wouldn’t change anything in my life at this point…

I thank You Lord for answering my prayers 9 years ago, when in the darkness of my room I was angry and crying. I asked that you finally send me someone nice, who would see my imperfections but yet would accept them, and love me unconditionally... Thank you for all the good people surrounding my family and supporting us throught his beautiful journey... I pray that you grant us many more years of happiness together and that we may all experience you grace and your love. Amen

It is no secret for those of you who read me regularly that I am a Christian and I believe that all the beautiful things that are in my life come from our Lord Jesus Christ. It is even more evident for me as I find proof in the Bible that if we act in a Christian way towards our husbands and children, the promises of the Lord will be on our side. He may not answer when we want Him to, but because of my faith I know that I am not alone facing the bumps on the road ahead of me... It is no coincidence that I saw the post above as I am celebrating another milestone in my marriage. My questions have been answered and I know that there is nothing better than my marriage and the family I have out there...

But for the non-believers there is also an answer for you: "Cherish what you have as much as you can, as in the blink of an eye everything could be gone. " 

The Wedding Anniversary Countdown has Officially Started!

Other Half and I will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary on the 16th of this month. So, I thought I would start the countdown with a little bit of humour…

Enjoy and have a good laugh!

 

 

After almost 9 years together, I’m sure some of these thoughts are sometimes crossing my Other Half’s mind, and I’m grateful to him for his kind and loving heart… I’m looking forward to the many more years together to come…

 

And last but not least:

Sometimes my Other Half is right about stuff…

It kills me to admit this, but sometimes my Other Half is right. That means that I am sometimes wrong. So, as we approach our 5 year wedding anniversary, it is my duty to be honest and admit that sometimes I am the a(biiippp)hole.

So here goes the top 10 things Other Half is usually right:

1. Yes alright. Fine. I haven’t noticed that my tire is almost flat. But hey, it’s not like using the GPS or having a flashing light or a really loud beep or anything that tells you that you need to check it out!.

2. What the *BIP?! Not it’s not that time of month. For the love of God, what are you talking about? I am not being bitchy and I have no idea what you're talking about. Of course, I do not need to look at the calendar. Oh... Oops… Ok so maybe I’m a little bit on the edge right now…

3. I spend too much money at Zara for the kids and myself  on clothes that maybe we could live without. But your children are growing really fast and sometimes those tees at  € 15 are really awesome.

4. Of course you do tons around the house, I mean it, and you really do. BUT I still do more … OK, it’s true, without you it would probably all fall apart. Or at least be a lot more embarrassing than it already is.

5. While I totally disagree that 4 times a week is average, I do agree that we should always be looking to keep our stats up.

6. I actually do have some idea where that new Zara bag came from.

7. Of course I listen to you! I know exactly what you just said. Something about some new sci-fi series?! Alright... Maybe I do tune you out sometimes but its only after a long day of hearing annoying people chatter at me constantly and asking me to get them things and telling me that someone did something that they shouldn't have and it just gets really tedious and ohey! Hello?! Are you listening to me?!

8. I never snore. It's the dog. Or the ventilator, maybe you should have it looked at before it—alright alright fine, it's me.

9. I'm on the phone too much?! How dare you?!-- Oh! That's my mom. Hey Mom! What were you saying?

10. You are totally a bossy boss-man sometimes and I am --- often worse. I'm just used to talking to the kids all the time and they're supposed to do what I say. But I get it - and I swear every time I hear myself using that tone of voice with you, you get to slap my ass. And every time you use that bossy voice with me I get to go to Zara... without limit on my spending, deal? Deal.

What a Great Week-End!!!

I'll just say this:

- 3 days sans kids
- A house only with Other Half and me
- X-men First class movie
- Gym subscription for 2
- Pizza
- Chocolate mouse
- Waking up after 9 am

and for the rest, I leave it to your imagination... But I'll just say, if this was a movie, no under 18 people would be allowed! Oh yeah... It was that good.... Perfect bliss!!!!

Happy Birthday my Other Half!!!!

40 years ago today, the world became a better place with the introduction of Olivier Van Campenhout. Today is my Other half’s birthday. I am dedicating today’s blog to all the things I can think of that make my husband so wonderful .

 ·         He loves his comic books and has literally accumulated thousand of them

·         Him and Morgane lookalike.

·         He is his son’s hero.

·         He loves his children more than words can say.

·         He will do anything for the ones he loves.

·         He snores A LOT!

·         He is truly devoted to his family.

·         He loves the foods I make for him.

·         Nothing will keep him from playing with his kids.

·         He can fall asleep almost anywhere.

·         He talks in his sleep.

·         I had a dream and he made it all real.

·         He build us a house with his own two hands

·         He made me a better person.

·         He loves me with all his heart and soul and makes me feel special every day… For that I pray the Lord that He may bless us with many more years together…

I LOVE YOU OLI. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

No money in the world…

… could ever cover all the happiness I already have.

So yesterday, Other Half and I made the sad decision to cancel our trip to Tunisia for this summer. As much as we wanted to go on vacation, we also have another priority, which is to finish all the renovations of our home this year.

The text in this picture made me smile and also reminded me that I am still rich. I often act like a spoiled little child but the truth of the matter is that I have all that I need in my life and I am grateful for everything my other half has done to make our lives so comfortable and full of joy and love.

True Happinness is when my Other Half and children are by my side, I don't need anything else...

Life is short. Have an Affair!

Story:

Me: standing with my salad in front of the elevators while waiting for the door to open

Him: well that doesn’t look like a great lunch! You should come and have lunch with me…

Me: (smiling and trying hard not to blush) thanks but I’m fine

Him: no really, I’ve been working here for a month, I’m on the *bip* floor and I have tried to talk to you several times. Asian woman are really beautiful.

ME: thanks, I think my husband will agree with you on that matter (HIM GETTING THE HINT I HOPE!!!)

Him: so would you be free for lunch?

Me: hum, no not really I don’t have much time during lunch

Him: dinner then?

Me (slightly irritated): have I mentioned that I’m married?

Him: well he doesn’t have to know [insert wink], so can I have a number?

Me: sure 100 (being the emergency number in Belgium)

Him: 100?

Me: yes that’s what you’ll need once you have met my husband…

That’s when the security guy comes in and tells the other guy: hey be careful she’s married and her husband’s a cop, you don’t want to mess with him. (This man is my new best friend!!!!)

An affair???? Not for me Thank you very much!

Thank God It’s Friday!

Why:

1.       Because it’s Friday!!!! 2 Days off!!! Yes! Yes! Yes!

2.       Wine time means adult time. And adult time is what I need!!!

3.       I discovered that like my kids, I too need a comforter. And vino is my version of a blankie. It calms me down. It shuts me up. And it helps me sleep through the night.

4.       Someone once told me that when I’m about to lose my temper I should take a deep breath and count to ten? Well, it only takes me about ten seconds to open a bottle of wine, so by the time I’m done; I might as well enjoy it!

5.       Whining adults, spoiled bosses, and sometimes shitty stressful days are part of our job. And we deserve to be rewarded for going above and beyond with our efforts. Amen to that!

6.       Seriously, do I really even need to come up with more valid reasons to why I love Friday and wine together I love it, and I want it, and it’s almost 5 o’clock right now and I should really be getting ready for wine time instead of typing this blog post.

Have a beautiful week-end everyone!