Happy 24th!

Disclaimer: slight mushiness ahead

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday. It's a good excuse to express just how much this guy means to me. I am so grateful James was born on this day 24 years ago. I am even more grateful that our paths crossed and we met 5 years ago.

I started working in the HR office at a call center, and James was a manager for one of the teams. There was an obvious spark between us when we first met, but I was still with someone else at the time. Over the next couple months there was a TON of flirting between us (I know, hard to imagine right?). Every time he would walk by my office he would wink at me. I would make up the dumbest reasons to go out onto the call floor just so I could walk by his desk and stop and talk to him. If I needed something from him, I would always go talk to him in person rather than instant message him which is what I did with all the other managers. I just always felt drawn to him.

I finally decided that I wanted to see what I could have with James, especially since my other relationship just wasn't right and wasn't working out. I fell so hard for James. We had only been dating for about a month when I found out that I was pregnant with Riley. For obvious reasons, I knew that I was not pregnant with James' baby. So, I broke up with him. No need to go into details of the next few months, all that's important is that James was still there for me. For months he tried to tell me that he didn't care the baby wasn't his, that he still wanted to be with me whether I kept the baby or not. And truth be told, I really wanted to be with James. But I was trying to work things out with the dad and after realizing that would never work I was focused on the adoption and my baby. Finally after getting me the sweetest Valentine's day present James told me that he was giving up and that he would always be here for me. After I had Riley, I tried to talk to James but he had started a new relationship and was happy with it (and still mad at me for breaking his heart). His girlfriend didn't want him talking to me at all, and so that was that. I moved on and dated plenty and even got engaged to Andrew.

November 4, 2009 James sent me a message on facebook saying hi and that his relationship had just ended and that we should get together sometime. We messaged all day long and exchanged phone numbers. We proceeded to text non-stop and the next night (Thursday) had our first date (again). Seeing him and hugging him and just being with him... it was like nothing had ever changed between us. We were literally inseparable after that. We went out the next 2 nights in a row and I was unemployed at the time, so I went to see him every day that next week after he got off work.

The rest is pretty much history. We now have the most precious baby boy, and are sealed together as a family for time and all eternity. Of course we've had our bad times, but there are more good times. I am so grateful for James and everything he has done for me, and continues to do for me and our family. I love him more than anything. I can't wait for all the many more birthdays that I'll get to celebrate with him. Hopefully at least 80 :) I love you forever, James!