Lucky Number 13

I have a friend who reads my blog who told me that it seems to him that I have a perfect life. Perfect marriage, perfect family.

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It was never my intention to portray perfection- because I am far from it. But, I was hoping to achieve a sense of reality on this blog, and that means taking the good with the bad. Naturally I have a tendency to focus on glasses 1/2 full. There are times I experience perfect moments with my family. And I love those. But, there are also times when our experiences are less than perfect- times my mom card is in serious jeopardy of being revoked. This past weekend, however, was not one of those. It was perfect.

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The husband and I celebrated 13 years of marriage yesterday. Over the weekend we snuck away to a beautiful resort in Scottsdale, while my kind sister watched after the children.

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We had moments to reflect on our 13 year journey and came to the conclusion that we have been blessed beyond our wildest comprehension. But there is always room for improvement. And so we set goals and committed to do better and to be better.

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And we talked. The deep soul to soul discussions I so desperately want to have everyday but are often interrupted by the children when we are at home. And I told the husband that I often feel a sense of pride when he succeeds. Or when he is able to solve a problem. Or when he is entrusted with sacred responsibilities. And I often find myself exclaiming,

"THAT is my husband"

in those proud moments.

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And we played basketball in the pool. And I remembered what a hottie athlete the husband is.

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When I was in high school, I penned an impossible list of qualifications for my future husband.

Some of those qualities I set for the imaginary man were:

someone who respects his priesthood and family

self-respect

sense of humor

kind thoughtful

sincere

good listener and talker

love for the gospel

active in the church

goals

spontaneous

respectful

gentleman

responsible

understanding

adventurous

creative

good looking

intelligent

share feelings openly

hard worker

respects my decisions

spiritual

friendly

supportive

and on and on and on

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The day I got married, I had only known the husband for just under 4 months. And it didn't take me long to discover that I had been given the bonus husband. I came to find that he not only matched, but far exceeded, every quality on the list. Daily, as we interacted, my internal dialogue went something like this:

"WHAT?!? He has that quality too???

I never knew he could do/ say/ be like that!!

How am I so blessed?"

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And I am. Blessed.

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This evening as we celebrated our family's 13th birthday with the children- a tradition we have had for the past 4 years- I looked at their sweet faces, thrilling at blowing out the 13 candles and thought to myself,

"Yes, this is pretty nearly perfect!"

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Post-edit (9/1/09): this morning oldest daughter said, "I can't believe our family is a teenager now!"