March 25

I lost my wedding and engagement rings a few weeks ago. I'm significantly thinner than I was 18 years ago, so I didn't notice when they fell off my finger one morning. Though I tore my house apart, crawled on my hands and knees at Walmart to look under shelves, went through the trash cans at Starbucks, and combed over the parking lots and my driveway, I was never able to find them. Although I was sad over the loss, my engagement ring was --fortunately-- insured, so I reminded myself that they were "stuff" and that it was okay. And I told Adam to feel free to pick out something new for me, since he selected my original bands. And then I went on with my ring-less life.

Fast forward to today. The doorbell rang this afternoon, and Adam literally thundered down the stairs to get it. Although he's not typically a big fan of answering the door, I didn't think much of his urgency at the time.

After he finished work, he announced that we were all going on a field trip and ushered us to his car. When I asked where we were going, he looked amused and told me it was a surprise and that it had something to do with the Fed Ex delivery. I had no idea what was going on and was --quite honestly-- annoyed over the whole thing, because I was hungry and in general, I'm not a big fan of not knowing what's going on.

Anyway, we pulled up to a local park, and after a beat, I realized what he had planned. Sure enough, we made our way to the bench where we got engaged on my 24th birthday, and he --with BearBear's help and as the kiddos and Lambie looked on-- shared sweet words and re-proposed with brand new rings. And yep, I said yes, with my no-makeup face and my Valentine's Day socks that once belonged to Abby and my partially-brushed hair. It was a far-cry from our original exchange 18-plus years ago, when he wore a suit and I had on a skirt and some lipstick, but this... this was lived-in real. And honestly, it was better. As were his heartfelt, unscripted words.

This life we've shared has featured some pretty horrible moments, but it's also featured some amazing blessings. So as I sit here this evening looking at my beautiful new blingy-bling, I'm thankful for him and for our kids and for our life --even the hard parts-- because they're all pieces of a wonderful existence.