35 YEARS of WEDDED BLiSS!

"Now a soft kiss - Aye, by that kiss, I vow an endless bliss."
-John Keats


"Nothing is more important than reconnecting with your bliss. Nothing is as rich. Nothing is as real."
-Deepak Choprah

Here is a photo from our wedding 35 years ago.
This photo still sits out in our dining room to this day!
November 27th, 1976

35 years later!
This was Brian and me after our dinner last night
November 27th, 2011 

Here are the beautiful flowers Brian gave me
for our anniversary. 

I gave Brian the "Steve Jobs" book,
and here he is well into it already,
with Shuffle tucked between his legs on the couch!!!

Beau in some cute red flannel sleepers yesterday
when we picked up Jana and Nels
 to join us for a
celebration dinner out! 

Mariah yesterday with some special
loving for her
poppa when we were there! 

Us out celebrating our 35 years of wedded bliss
with Jana and Nels.
(unfortunately this camera was on the wrong setting
so my photos on it didn't turn out well, yesterday!) 

Gifts and cards of celebration! 

Four people who have made our marriage so special.
This photo taken last October is of our two kids...
COLIN and JANA
and two grandkids..
BEAU and MARIAH.

(Believe it or not...I think this is the only
picture to date of those four in the same photo!)

TIS the SEASON
for SANTA pics and memories!
Here is a cute one I found
of JANA & COLIN from 1985.

A special MEMORY among many
in our 35 years of marriage!


Today I am drinking my morning java from the red cup with white polka dots that says this inside...


"Life is what you make it"

I am feeling very celebrated today...
and my life is good! 

Yesterday Brian and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary and received many wishes and greetings from loved ones near and far.
I am so grateful for those sentiments, and also for my 35 year marriage.

In this day and age marriages often do not last that long, so I am proud to say we are still very happily married.

Brian and I chatted this weekend about some of the things that have made our life together special as a married couple.
We both agreed that some of the highlights were having our two children,
Colin (who is now 32 )
and Jana, (who is now 30).
Along with becoming grandparents
to our two grandkids...
Mariah (who is now 5)
and Beau (who is now 1).

We have celebrated many things
along the road of our marriage
from Birthdays to Christmases,
Valentine's Days to Easters,
Thanksgivings, Halloweens, Anniversaries,
Mother's Days, Father's Days,
 and Grandparent's Days...
Dance recitals and competitions,
Hockey games and tournaments,
holidays, and vacations.
In addition we have shared sad times such as losses of loved ones along the way.

We have had 3 dogs in our married life...
our cocker spaniel, QUINCY...
our Pug, MOCHA
...and our current little Bug breed...
SHUFFLE!
All of the family pets have been special members of our family.
I know we have had a few other animals...
such as fish and turtles along the way as well.

We have been on trips throughout Canada, the United States, along with being on trips to Japan, Korea, and Barbados.

But when pondering the moments that we have shared together, we came to the conclusion  that it isn't the big things in life so much that we have shared in together, but often the small daily life events that keep us happy as a couple.
I think these things in many people's lives often get over looked!

I was reminded when looking at our wedding photo how the people in our wedding party all played a big role, too, leading up to that special event in our lives.

I tried scanning the photo twice today and after spending way too long trying to add the scanned version in with no success, decided to take a photo of the framed photo
 for the blog, instead!

All four of my bridesmaids were married before me, and I was a bridesmaid for them as well at their weddings.
my maid of honor, Janice,(I call her JAY),
and my friend Marg,
( who was the friend who set me up
on the blind date to meet
Brian in the first place!)
 my sister-in-law, Arleen
(who was expecting my
nephew Jeff at the time!)
and my X-sister-in-law, Carol
(her and my brother Brian
sadly are no longer together.)
I was also a bridesmaid for my cousin Darcy, whose daughter Val was our flowergirl.
I was a Jr. Bridesmaid for my cousin Diane,
too, when I was only 9!

Brian's brother Bruce was a groomsman, along with 3 of his friends... Spence, Pete and Jim.

We received a call from Colin in Montreal, yesterday wishing us happy anniversary.
He is always very good at remembering the important dates in our life.
We always enjoy hearing from him and he sounded very upbeat!

Brian's sister, Bev, babysat Mariah and Beau last night while we went out to MR. RIZO'S for a nice relaxed evening of celebration with
 Jana and Nels.

They surprised us with a week's accommodation in VEGAS,
and Brian is paying for the airfare.
What a lovely gift!!!!
In addition to that I was spoiled by Brian with some beautiful flowers and my favorite chocolates called HARDEN and HUYSE.
I had bought Brian the "Steve Jobs" book as he mentioned it was one he was interested in.
It is hard to find a gift for him,
as he always says he needs nothing!
He is well into the book already,
so he is enjoying it.

As we head toward the next celebration of Christmas in December...
I am reminded to live each day to it's fullest along the way and just live in the moment, because it is the moments that make life
all worthwhile in the end.

"The rays of happiness, like those of light,
are colorless when unbroken."
-Henry Wordsworth Longfellow

so on that quote...
my poem of the day!

I knew that I loved him from the very first kiss,
And after 35 years of our wedded bliss...
So much has happened to
bring us closer and bond,
And so many things that
together we are fond.
From being very blessed with a girl and a boy,
And having two grandkids
to add to that joy,
3 dogs have been in our family, too...
And many a trip ...yes
we've taken quite a few!
But mostly it's the simple things
that make our life so sweet,
All the in between stuff...
the fun and the neat!
Those are the things to make marriages last,
The memories forever
of the present and the past!