you and me

This blog entry is very special to me because its Ozan’s Birthday and our Anniversary. His birthday is Sept 4th and our 12th wedding anniversary is Sept 5th. I spent a lot of time going through boxes of pics of us through the years and I had a hard time narrowing down the pics…I couldn’t narrow it down more than this but hopefully my readers won’t be too bored. Get ready for some big bands, permed hair, and big gold jewelry...lol! And this is going to be long!!!

We met in January of 1992. Ozan was home from college at Indiana State. I had just graduated college a few months before that and was beginning my new career as an xray tech. Ozan’s best friend, Steve, was a friend and co-worker of mine. He thought we would make a good couple and asked us both to dinner. Soon afterwards Ozan asked me out on a date…I had to decline because I was working that night. I don’t think he believed me but it was true.

So we eventually had our first date. We went to a Greek Restaurant with Steve and his girlfriend and then went to a place to shoot pool. Our second date was a movie to see JFK, after that it’s a blur. Lol. We had a lot of fun dating, would head to the city and go clubbing. We were 23 and 24 years old back then and had a blast. It didn’t get serious for a few months, as a matter of fact I actually had the thought of breaking up with him because he didn’t seem to have the same feelings that I did for him. Well, we made it and had a long relationship before we got married many years later.

Four months after we met, I moved out of my mom’s house and into my own apartment. I had every intention of living alone…well, that didn’t last long because Ozan never left and I finally caved in and made it official that we (gasp) were living together.

Fast forward to 1994, we were moving into a different apartment and Ozan had to go to the ER for pain. He had some further testing done a few days later and was diagnosed with two types of testicular cancer. I set him up with a physician at my hospital and he had surgery.

He came home the next day and we thought that we were done and in the clear when the surgeon recommend that he have his lymphnodes removed from his abdomen to prevent the chance of the cancer spreading. We were shocked but agreed. His surgery went OK but he was in our most critical ICU because of the extent of his surgery.

In 1996 we went on a trip to Jamaica to celebrate his recovery and for Christmas I surprised Ozan with a lab puppy, her name was Chloe. Ozan talked about how much he wanted a dog while he was sick. He was so overwhelmed with excitement and she quickly became a part of our family…she was our child.

(This is my favorite picture of us beside our wedding pics and my favorite hairstyle. Plus I found out about my instructor promotion earlier that day :)

Exactly a year later on Christmas Day 1997, Ozan popped the question and of course I said yes but with the stipulation that we would get married within the next year. I did not want to have one of those 2 or 3 year engagements. I had waited long enough.

We had a gorgeous outdoor wedding on September 5th in front of an old mansion that was turned into a Spanish restaurant. After the wedding we had the reception on the same grounds under a white tent and served Tapas and Sangria. I am an emotional person who cries at every wedding but at mine I laughed the entire ceremony. Our reverend was so funny, I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful ceremony!

We had our honeymoon in Maui and San Diego.

In early 2000, I found out I was pregnant. After I told everyone, I had a miscarriage. It was pretty devastating news for us and really hard on me emotionally. Gosh, typing this really reminds me of how much we really have been through...lots of ups and downs.

OK, don’t want to make this too long but we purchased our house later that year. And in 2002 I was pregnant with Kendall. We were elated to be pregnant again. I had terrible morning (all-day) sickness for 4 months and I lost a lot of weight.

(ugh, terrible pic taken at night time, lol)

Our baby girl was born on February 4th, 2003 at a healthy 8 lbs, 3 oz.

Aydan came along on August 24, 2005 at 9 lbs, 11 oz. I had lost a lot of weight with him as well. At 8 months I had an ultrasound to make sure that everything was OK, and it was. Our family was complete. (I still have to get a picture of us with aydan posted).

In 2007, our precious Chloe died. It was the saddest day of our lives, she was our child and I still miss her like crazy! Things have been pretty steady now. The kids are both now in elementary school and they are just the most wonderful thing that has happened to us!

Its crazy to think that we’ve been together for almost 19 years. Its amazing how many life changing things that we’ve been through. It hasn't always been easy and we aren't perfect but we've been through together through thick and thin.

We went to dinner and a movie tonight to celebrate!

Happy Anniversary Honey! I'm sure the tears are rolling like crazy! Thank you for our family and being such a great husband and daddy. We love you!