Once and again....

Not a super sentimental type of human here, but there are some things that do bring it out in me. Anything to do with my kids can cause a warm and fuzzy moment and of course the love of my life. Sigh, it is true what they say, it is definitely different the second time around. The are so many reasons why. You're older, wiser, I think the second time you feel like it's an actual choice instead of anything else. I know for all of you one-timers, you just don't get it. How can you possibly ever consider loving anyone but the one you're with? Well, the answer isn't a simple or easy one, but suffice to say, things happen for a reason. I had always told people that after my divorce I would probably never get married again, and I believed it. I figured, tried it once, didn't go my way, move on. Kind of like what I imagine going to a Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift concert is like. You tried it because you heard all the hype and hoped for the best but in the end it cost too much, took too long and you really could have just passed altogether. But then, cliche, cliche, cliche and Mr Right and soulmate and blah blah blah. I took the plunge. I remarried (queue the horror movie scream). I actually despise that word "remarried". It implies that you did something again for the sake of doing it again. Retry, restart, reboot, etc. What I should have said was that I got married, again. Although really, I don't think my relationships need a qualifier. Like when I get pissed off at my friends and don't talk to them, I don't "refriend" them. I just say we're friends again. Anyhow, you get the point. I also didn't think that when I decided to get married it would be a big affair, but it was. Well, at least to us it was. Did we get to invite everyone we wanted to? Nope. Did we spend the "budgeted" amount (as my husband rolls on the floor in fake appendicitis like pain)? Nope. Did I absolutely love the wedding planning aspect? FUCK no! But would we do it all over again? Absolutely to the tenth power. I could write a whole other post on the drama that is a wedding, but that's not what this post is about. It's about doing something you thought wasn't for you, again. Having the fairy tale ending. I am happy to say that I did and I do! Most of the people that read my blog are friends and they do it because when I see the counter on my blog go up I feel important. For those of you that weren't there at the wedding to share the moment with us for whatever the reason (you RSVP'd but didn't show up, you weren't invited, or fuck, I just don't fucking know you) I am pasting my part of the vows at the end of this post. While vows are somewhat personal, I just wanted to share what this moment meant to me, regardless of whether it was my first time or 152nd time, this is the man I am going to spend the rest of my life with and this time I am 99% sure (LOL). Nobody does I do better than we do!


I decided to approach writing my vows like I would write one of my blogs. That is to say, with passion and humor. I mean, if we both didn't have a sense of humor, we wouldn't be standing up here now would we? I can't describe in words our journey. It's a simple story really, boy meets girl, girl overlooks the fact that boy is a Lakers fan.  It sounds corny and cliche, but an absolute truth. I don't know that I can say it was love at first sight, but I can say that when I realized what it was, the word Love didn't seem to do it justice. All of the ideas I had of love seemed to pale in comparison to what I was feeling and feel now.  Someone asked me how I knew it was the "real thing". And the only answer I could come up with was that I finally stopped looking. You know that feeling of constant searching for the next best thing, the next "one". It stopped when I met you. I couldn't remember the times before you or imagine a future without you in it. You make me feel like the sun rises above my head and the stars shine just for me. The best part is knowing that you will be the last thing I see before I go to bed and the first thing I see when I wake up. In traditional vows it references being together for better or worse and through good times and bad. To come through what we have and still have the energy and desire to be where we are is a testament to our feelings and commitment to each other. So more than anything what I'd like to say to you is that I, Jennifer Michele, take you Julio Alexander in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in championship and non-championship years until the very last day I take my very last breath on this planet, in this wonderful lifetime that I have been so very very fortunate to have found you in and shared my life with. You are my moon and my stars, the Jack to my Sally, and I  love you.