A Decade

A decade sounds so long.  Factor in another ~5 years of dating, that gives us ~15 years together.  And I would have to say that it's been a very lovely, fifteen years together.  

Bill makes me a better person, mom, wife, sister, friend, leader, woman, a better everything.  Our Team Schwangston approach has helped us survive a lot, and thankfully only strengthened over time.  I can't tell you how often I make a comment how our attempts to juggle our lives, boys, marriage, work, etc. only works because I have Bill. That I am so very lucky and what a great role model dad and husband is for our boys.  Of course, it has not always been peaches and roses.

We've survived two boys, a few job changes, and many a move over the years from Greve Hall in Knoxville, to his apt. in Michigan while I had my little pink house in Honduras, to the original North Carolina era starting with his apt. in Winston Salem and me in Cary/Raleigh to our ENGAGEMENT at Carolina Beach with our first house in Charlotte as we got married in Memphis at Brooks Museum of Art.  From Charlotte, I then started commuting to Chapel Hill and my "vacation home" aka tiny room every week during the school year for 2 years, cumulating with a graduation and relocation to Texas. It was almost Denver, Colorado for that relocation.  

Texas brought us our second house and finally family neighbors in Arlington (hi Collums!) and down the road in Houston (hi Hedgies, Colemans, and Sowells!).  Somehow a quick two years stint turned into six-ish years and two little Texans.  After a "no thanks" to the ATL, Bill earned his relocation/transfer request to NC during a FL vacation over the MLK weekend with a move deadline for end of  Feb. 2011.  

At the height of the great recession,  I resigned my job, tried to stage/sell our house, and a became stay at home mom with a then 8 month old Owen (what a change).  Umm, it was a bit scary and risky to say the least. Bill moved into his furnished rental with our now dear neighbor and NC grandma, Oma.  Lots of flights back and forth (we just realized that Bill has never flown solo with either/both boys while I became a traveling circus and have done it way too many times).  

Woo hoo, I got a job in the OC so the boys and I also moved into the basement in May 2011.  After a long summer in too small of space, we finally sold our TX house in late August and bought The Project in Oct. 2011 in Chapel Hill.  I got a new job in March 2012 while Bill is still with the same company since 2000!  We survived our first major project (boy's bathroom) and are about to embark on a major demo/renovation in July.   

In looking back to 10 years ago, Bill commented that we should be eating BBQ on Thursday, 6/6 (yummy Rendezvous ribs at the zoo).  We did celebrate our actual day, 6/7, and revisited our favorite wedding memories while talking schedules for the next week (as Bill said, this is so romantic as I pulled out calendars to review - such is life).  I did celebrate by getting another awful case of poison ivy (oh the irony) - not as bed as my flesh eating case in the weeks leading up the wedding (so itchy under the wedding dress and my scars finally faded mid-2004).  And unfortunately, there was no flight to an all-inclusive Mayan Riviera resort on 6/9 for a week vacation.  We do hope to take a trip in the fall - just the two of us - to celebrate our decade of marriage and best friendship.