This is most likely the sappiest post you'll ever see on the Shoebox Castle.

Happy 20th anniversary to Jim and me!

I love being married. I love being married to Jim. I haven't tried being married to anyone else, although I did get unofficially engaged to someone else (before Jim, not after). Jim makes married life pretty easy. He does not have a temper (and doesn't want one. I've said I'd get him one for Christmas, but he wanted Aunt Roady instead), he does dishes, he lets me watch innumerable hours of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes. He holds my hand. He'd rather be with me than his drinking buddies (uh, no brainer. He doesn't have any drinking buddies. Again, I asked him if he wanted some, but he said no). Californian born and bred, he doesn't mind Minnesota; I even think he likes it here. He let me have the number of kids I wanted even though it was two more than he wanted (he does like those 2 extra ones, though, thank goodness). He also let me name one of them after a movie actress (ten points if you know which child that is and who the actress she is named after is).

Our favorite time of the day is nighttime, when the kids have abandoned the basement (it used to be when the kids were all in bed, but these days, Jimmy stays up pretty late doing homework) and it's just the two of us sitting on the couch together. He calls me often during the day, even more so now that he is busy with two jobs.

I'm glad we chose to spend the rest of our lives together, Jim. Thanks for never verbally considering splitting up. You're my best friend, a great father, and much much more, which I won't mention here.

So is everyone ready for a trip back in time? And I will try to refrain from making snarky comments or self-belittling judgments.

The happy couple about 20 minutes into their marriage.
A couple of hours later, Jim reconsiders. What did he get himself into? (I said I'd try, not succeed, to refrain from making snarky comments...)Thankfully he has learned to put up with my family's inability to treat anything seriously.

Jim and most of his siblings. We missed you, Michelle!

And I must give a big ol' THANK YOU to Jim (my husband's father) and Cindy for doing the reception. I was no help at all, unfortunately. I had no idea what to do, how to do it, and what looked nice. And I was not even in the same state until the day before the wedding. But Cindy was very generous with time and ideas and she was very kind to me.
My seesters and me.
This was taken at the reception at my mom's house. Mom is doing a great job of hiding her anger at me in this picture. She was NOT PLEASED that I came home from a CA trip with a ring on my finger. She lectured me for the rest of the summer. But she likes Jim, and I think she liked him from the moment she met him. To be fair, I didn't ever tell her that Jim and I were going out, so when I sprung my CA trip to visit Jim on her, she was probably blindsided. And yes, I would be angry at Katie if she ever did the same thing. But you've got to admit, I made a good decision (to get married to Jim. Not telling Mom that we were dating wasn't a good decision). Thanks for the MN reception, Mom.

I would post a picture of Jim and me today, but I just woke up, have no makeup on, my hair is a mess, and Jim is in Chicago. He'll be back tonight.

Kisses, Jim!