My Superman

Now, if any of you are following Life With Jen & Ronnie, let me clarify something. I called John "Superman" WWWWWAAAAAYYYYY before she began calling Ronnie "Batman." Actually, calling him "Superman" started because of his being a Superman fan and THAT started long before we met. To make my point here, there is a pic I really wish I had scanned into my library. John still has it framed. It is him as a little boy with his dad flying him around their living room pretending to be Superman. Every time I see it, I smile. But I'm also serious about him being a Superman fan. I mean, it's nearly insane! We have - in our home - 3 copies of the original Superman movie. (And that is NOT an exaggeration.) But enough about his passion for Superman, let me tell you about my "Superman" (as he will from now on be referred).

I first met Superman in April of 2001. I was in my dad's office talking to this secretary when this guy started to just barge into my dad's private office. I had never seen this guy and he was close to my age so I said "umm, can I help you?" (Did I mention that I was single and he was good looking?) A few words were exchanged and as he walked away, I said to Ms Cleo "I'm gonna marry that boy." I learned his name and that he was the youngest son of the pastor whose church was merging with ours. Over the next year, we became very good friends. I was single, he was single. Everyone asked if we were dating and we would both answer "no!" But in my heart, I still knew he was the one.

That first year of friendship brought many heartbreaks. If you haven't noticed, I said I knew HE was the one. He didn't know yet that I was the one. It wasn't until a ski trip with family and friends to Red River, NM in January 2002 that Superman finally realized that he had true feelings for me too. We shared our first kiss there and he officially called me his girlfriend.

We talked often about marriage and the future but nothing too serious. Superman was working on a degree in Graphic Design and we knew nothing would progress in our relationship until he had graduated. Often, the time we spent during our dating years was at his house while he was either working on projects, studying for tests or writing papers and I was hanging out with his parents. But I didn't care ... I liked his parents and I got to spend more time with him! It was during that time, though, that I realized his love for Superman. I watched the original Superman for the first time (you would have thought I told him some horrible thing when he learned I had not seen it) and it created a special bond between us.

I started getting really anxious about if the relationship would go anywhere because I was (in my opinion) becoming an old maid at the ripe old age of 25! When we talked about the future, it always included marriage but it seemed so far down the road. I remember very distinctly going with his family on a camping trip over Memorial Day weekend 2003. On that trip, I overheard his sister saying "those two will be at least engaged if not married by this time next year" and I remember thinking "oh, God, could you please make that come true?!?"

June 20, 2003 was the night Superman threw me for a loop. Unbeknownst to me, he had been talking with his parents and shopping for the perfect diamond and working with a jeweler to design the perfect ring for me (low-set in the band so as to not interfere with my work as an RN). In a way that would seem strange to other people but fit perfectly into our life, Superman proposed to me. He was so sweet. The proposal was at our church - the place we first met! We had already planned a date for that evening but what I didn't know is that he already had everything planned and our parents were waiting for us at Steak & Ale (which sadly no longer exists). We had a lovely celebration dinner!

The next year was a whirlwind. While I planned the wedding, Superman completed his degree and graduated in May 2004. The rehearsal dinner was perfect and the wedding (on June 26, 2004) was absolutely beautiful! However, I only know this from the pictures. Here's where I get to tell on Superman . . . he was our videographer and I have YET to see the footage. He has it but won't show me until it's completely edited. WHAT?!?! I'm being patient though (well, sorta) because I've seen other wedding videos he has completed and if they are that good after only 2-3 weeks of work, I know that mine is going to be spectacular after (now) 6 years of work :-) We honeymooned in Red River, NM (remember the significance of that place?) and enjoyed the beautiful weather with a hot air balloon ride, a night at "Cowboy Evening" and driving around taking photographs of the beautiful scenery.

In the past 6 years, life has brought many changes but the 2 biggest ones were the additions of our beautiful daughters who you will learn about tomorrow. Superman became even more of a hero to me when they joined our lives! He is a wonderful daddy and his girls love him so much . . . and that makes me love him even more!

Okay, okay . . . I know I've probably bored you gushing about our past so I'll keep it brief to tell you about Superman. He is a son, brother, Christian, husband and father. He is also a friend, co-worker and photographer. He will only use Apple computers and is a wonderful designer. He also is a better interior decorator than I am! He ministers when and where needed and God leads. He is the rest of me that God had in store and I cannot imagine life without him.

Now, I couldn't add a bunch of pics to the past because they are archived in a different location of which I'm not sure (Superman moved them somewhere when we got a new computer). But here are some pics of my Superman with people who are important to him ...