After All These Years

Jay and I checked out a local village this Saturday. They were having an annual wine festival featuring three vineyards in the area. We had high hopes for the event, however once we arrived, we think we may have over shot our expectations. However, it was entertaining, and we definitely had an experience; therefore, we felt it was a worthwhile trip.

The wine and food were sub par, but the people watching was highly entertaining. The scenery was really charming as well, seen in this beautiful chapel atop the festival courtyard.

We didn't stay at the festival very long since college football and Yankees' baseball were calling us back to the house. The unexpected heat was also pushing us back into the air conditioned car, so we headed back for a classic Warren Family Saturday night...snacks, bevies, games, sports, and puppies! Our neighbor joined us for part of the evening and taught Jay a new board game, which required crazy concentration and counting. Good thing Jay and I had only had a couple of drinks. :)

Just another weekend of reminding me of how lucky I am to have found Jay. He has made me the happiest woman in the entire world. We have the most fun together doing whatever, whenever. Which is definitely one of the best perks of our relationship, since we have to be creative with our time together. Between deployments, temporary living situations, long weekend visits, and living on only one income, we're not always given the classic fairy tale or romantic movie setting. However, Jay has given me the most loving, romantic, and fulfilling

life, better than I could have ever dreamed up. Example (one of many): Our first wedding anniversary fell on the same date as a family reunion. All a bride and groom who hadn't even spent 5 months of their married life together wanted was a little time alone. So what did my resourceful hubby conjure up for us...a sweet moment alone in the storeroom at his mom's house. We cuddled up close in lawn chairs and toasted our first year of matrimony with champagne in dixie cups. But all I saw was two of the happiest people in the world reliving every moment of joy over the last year and feeling more blessed than ever.

No matter where Jay and I are living, Augusta or Clarksville, in an apartment or our parent's house, separate or together, I know our love for each other is so strong it will forever keep us bound together and close at heart.

A faded wedding photograph
You and me in our first dance
Our eyes are closed
We're lost in one sweet embrace
Since those days the world has changed
Our love remains the same
God knows we've had our share of saving grace

And I'm proud of all the blessings
You have given me
The mountains we have climbed to get this far
You learn to take the laughter with the tears
After all these years

You make it feel brand new
After the fires that we walked thru
Against the odds we never lost our faith

In a house we've made our own
Where our children all have grown
Precious moments time can not erase

Make a livin' up and down the gypsy highway
Seasons that we've beared to share apart
Somehow in my heart I always keep you near
After all these years

After all these years
You stood by me
The days and nights that I was gone
After all these years
You sacrificed, believed in me
And you stood strong
Cause with our love there's nothing left to fear
After all these years