So This Guy I Know...

 So, this guy I know became a doctor this weekend. NBD.

In all seriousness I thought I knew what I was signing up for, marrying a guy that was in the middle of a masters degree with full intentions of completing a doctoral degree directly afterwards. And then seven years later... to say that this degree was anxiously anticipated is the understatement of the century! Though this weekend, as this phase of life was coming to an abrupt end, I found myself reminiscing about all the things that have happened in these last seven years.

I feel like this journey really began nine years ago when Ben started his maters degree and half way through that we got married, because most people just get married in the middle of graduate school.

During this time we moved into our first place, then purchased it from the landlord, then six-ish weeks later bought a house, spent time doing small-ish home remolding, then graduating with a masters degree and promptly starting a doctoral degree with no break.

Then we thought why not start having kids? So we had one of those.

Turns out she was kind of a handful...yeah, that seems the easiest way to describe that.

In the midst of all of that...why not just have another kid...seems legit!

Then he decided to be a handful as well...to which we thought, here we go again but alas he didn't have it in him...maybe we didn't either... glad we didn't have to find out! His little episode barely counts when we look back it.

Then there were, papers to write, practicums to do, an internship (gross), gas bills, hours to log, lessons to learn, birthday parties to be had, Christmas programs, emergency room trips, Easter musicals (yeah that "part-time" job), more driving, oh and lets move AGAIN into another house and do some MAJOR renovations... WHAT. THE. JUNK were we thinking?!

Then came the dissertation, this soon became an off-limits topic, well unless one of us was up for a good fashion argument... yeah, we'll call them "arguments."  I know I wasn't' the one writing it, but I sure did have some strong feelings about it and though the strength of those feelings may have been shared by my one-and-only the expression of those feelings played out in polar opposite ways.

Though there were some "not fun" times, one might even say stressful times, there was never a day that he didn't stop and tell me he loved me, hug me good and long, help with dishes/dinner/cleaning up/putting the kids bed. He helped with many a midnight feeding, cleaning up bodily fluid from a little one that I was having no part of! Sleeping in chairs and/or little beds with sick kiddos, only to get up and drive to class or work or both, plus church. He still gets up every morning and gets the kids cleaned, dressed, feed and out the door... the list is enormously long! I guess I could sum this up by saying there was never a day that went that by that the three of us didn't feel loved, special to him, and supported by him. He is more than awesome!

So here we are nine years later, classes are well over, internship has been done for a while, the dissertation is complete, and Dr. comes before his name!

This weekend people kept asking me questions like, "Oh, I bet you are ready to have your husband back, huh?" My initial response was "oh yes!" but then wait, I've never had a husband that wasn't in school or working on a degree or had something to turn in or finish, and somehow (because he is so amazing) I don't feel like I missed out on anything!