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Stephanie Howell

reading, organizing, shopping, momming too close to the sun. Home is wherever the Army sends us.

twelve.

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I made this collage five years ago and found it here on my blog for our seventh anniversary.

There have been many more photos since then but these remain some of my most treasured and special moments so I thought I’d use it again.

Bottom row, middle : The minute he walked in the door after missing Sadie’s birth. I tear up every single time I look at it.

Third row, all the way to the right: When we were in college and so completely in love we couldn’t keep our hands off of each other. When I look at that photo, I feel that infatuation all over again.

Seventh row, all the way to the right: When he walked in the room after a deployment I wasn’t sure he’d make it home from.

If I had snapshots of the last five years (I don’t have many of these on film) here’s what I’d see.

+ My face when we found out I was pregnant with number five. Shock and a little bit of fear, and Jimmy standing in the corner of the restroom with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen.

+ Us seeing two heartbeats on an ultrasound in Fort Benning, Georigia five years ago.

+ Celebrating our eleventh anniversary in Paris. Having hard conversations but coming home closer than we’ve ever been.

+ Deployments, training, and constantly being apart. But the reunions, oh the reunions. The sweetest thing in the world. Nothing compares and it truly makes all the aparts worth it.

+ Learning to navigate life in a foreign country together.

+ Having an entire year TOGETHER while he was in Rhode Island for school. Having almost every single breakfast and dinner together for 365 days and driving each other a little bit nuts but mainly just loving it.

+ Lots of everyday stuff. Raising four little people. Disagreements, hard decisions, laughing until we cry. Vacations, texts, being apart a lot, being together some. Frustrations, pure happiness, life.

 

This life together has taken us so many places (literally and emotionally) that I never could have begun to imagine. The past 12 years have held the most intense fear and the most overwhelming joy that I have ever known. Sometimes in the same exact moment.

There is nowhwere I’d rather be than by his side. Whether it’s on the couch holding hands and watching a scary movie…or in a room surrounded by other people.

He is it for me.

Home. Love. Grace.

 

Happy 12th, Jimmy.

 

xoxo

 

 

Comments

  1. Happy Anniversary! Love this heartfelt post. You can feel the love in those words. Congrats on 12 years

  2. You always write so utterly beautifully Stephanie, you move me almost to tears every time you write one of these posts. Wishing you both a very happy anniversary and many more wonderful adventures together. CJ xx

  3. Happy Anniversary! May the next 12 years and beyond hold more joy than pain and more love than you could have imagined!

  4. Felice Anniversario! Wishing you many happy years to come – and and best wishes on number five!!

  5. Happy, happy anniversary, Stephanie & Jimmy. I was just thinking that you don’t need a special “Blog Your Heart” series . . . because you are always blogging your heart. Thank you for sharing these precious memories and making me (us) feel like part of your family. Love ya’, ~ Laura

  7. This is The.Sweetest! You really can tell when a couple just has “it”. Your love for each other just jumps through the screen & makes me smile! Your marriage inspires me, makes me believe. Thanks for sharing these snapshots of your life.

  8. Thank you again for sharing your life with the world! You love for one another leaps off the screen!
    Here’s to many more decades of arrive!
    God bless!
    Kristine

  11. I love this. I don’t know either of you personally but I love reading your blog and your stories about your life. There are many blogs I’ve read for a bit or seen here and there and after a while, I feel like the writer is so full of herself and her family and it just gets tiring so of course I stop reading. But not you…you seem like people I would like to know in real life. I wish you happiness and blessings! Happy Anniversary!!

  15. Happy Anniversary! I hope the next 12 years bring as much joy and happiness as the first 12 have!

  17. Your husband is one lucky guy to have you as a wife and you two are lucky to have found each other! Many more for you to celebrate together. Good luck with your #5!!! I can’t wait to hear more about the baby from you!!

  20. I love this post. You have such a gift with words. Congratulations on 12 years….wishing you many, many more years together.

  23. I love looking at these pictures. It is so obvious that you were meant to be together. God is good. Congratulations on twelve years and I look forward to seeing many, many more photos of you two lovebirds. Blessings!

  24. Beautiful post! I have loved your style for a long time and your story is amazing. Congratulations on 12 years!