The Elmens: Day 1: Your Current Relationship

Having not blogged for over a year I was excited to find this challenge on a friends's blog and hope to use it as a way to get back into things. So here goes..

Day 1: Your Current Relationship

Homecoming 1992

Jon and I started "dating" in 9th grade. He sat behind me in our journalism class all year and I'll be honest, I didn't really pay him very much attention, he was pretty quiet back then and I wasn't.. One day I was at the mall with my Mom, next to Mrs. Fields to be exact, when Jon walked past and said Hi. I said Hi back and thought nothing of it until my Mom said, "Why can't you like a boy like that??" I'm assuming she said that as up to that point I had always liked the boys no parents would ever want you to bring home. I just rolled my eyes and thought nothing more of it, because at 14 who likes any boy your parents like?
But it must have stuck in my head, because after that I noticed him more and more, and talked to him a little more, and then called him a few times. (No texting back then!) We went to our 9th grade promotion together a few weeks later and after that I was hooked! To this day my Mom says she picked her own Son-In-Law. I'm not sure if she considers that to be a good or a bad thing??

We were 17 and 18 in 1995, the year we graduated, got married and had Cody. What a scary time that all was and while we were so young and so naive then, I think we have come a long way since.

We have had some really bad years, and some pretty great ones. And now I think we have finally settled in a pretty good place. We respect our differences and capitalize on the things we have in common. And most days we end up on middle ground. We definitely spend less time fighting and more time talking than we ever have in our lives. I think we have finally grown up!

My two loves!

We live in a beautiful home and the bills are paid, and we have good jobs and I think we have it a lot better than most do these days. We are definitely blessed with two really great kids that keep us busy and going all the time. Something we wouldn't have any other way.

My favorite Coach!

Cheering with Kelz!

So many couples that get married and have babies so young don't seem to make it, and to be honest there were years (and still times) that I wonder if we will. But I count myself lucky to say that I am still married to the boy I met at 14. And so lucky to still be in love with the man he is now 17 years later. The kids will be gone soon enough, something we talk about more and more, and I don't know where we will be after that. I always say that we had them when we were young and broke, so that when they are gone we will still be young and have the time and money to enjoy being just us!