Then and Now

January 18th 1997



January 1st 2009 (the most recent picture I have)

Here is some more "then and now" for your reading pleasure:

Then: Matt and I lived in a 1 bedroom 700sqft apartment in Lacey, Washington
Now: Our master suite is probably about 700 sqft located about 30 miles outside of Washington, DC.

Then: We had a 1990 two door Nissan Sentra that had a quirky little seatbelt alert. It would randomly go off whenever it wanted and wouldn't stop until it felt like it. Shortly after we got married we bought a shiny new blue Mazda Protege.
Now: We have that not so shiny Mazda Protege with broken a/c, it has been in 3 accidents, has over 150,000 miles on it and has worn the plates of 5 different states. We also have the "mom" van, silver with 2 car seats, a few cheerios on the floor, and children's finger prints on the inside glass.

Then: Matt was a PV2 infantryman. He road marched 7-15 miles a week. He did field problem's regularly.
I worked at Alaska Airlines as a customer service representative for the mileage plan.
Now: Matt is now a Warrant Officer, flies UH60 Blackhawks, never road marches, and hasn't been to the field since Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. I . . . do what all stay at home moms do.

Then: We spent our weekends going anywhere Alaska Airlines flew. Anchorage, Sitka, San Diego, Sacramento, Las Vegas, Puerta Vallarta . . .
Now: We go to the playground, sleep late on Saturdays, and get donuts.

Then: We had dial-up, pay by the minute AOL service.
Now: Thank you God for Comcast high speed.

Then: Matt and I were ridiculously goofy. We would pile pillows on the floor in the living room and watch TV into the wee hours of the night. Any situation was an adventure. We found humor in everything. We were best friends and loved each other deaply.
Now: Nothing has changed except we know eachother more and love eachother more, we are still pretty immature and goofy and just recently piled all the pillows and blankets in front of the TV to watch a movie until wee hours of the morning.

Then: Our house was filled with hand me down furniture and a few photographs.
Now: Our house is filled with laughter, memories, school projects, lots of toys to trip over, dreams, hopes, love and joy.

Then: We thought we were rich.
Now: We know we are rich, in all the things that matter most.

Thank you God for the Blessings of the past 12 years and for all the things you have in store for us in the many more to come.