It’s been four years since my sweet husband broke his leg.  Friday February 12th was four years to the day.  Derek and I had been dating only about three months when it happened.  He was playing in a church basketball league and during one of their games a player from the other team landed on his leg just right and the thing broke in two. OUCH!

I was at the game, but was in the restroom when the actual “event” occurred.  I’m so glad I didn’t see it.  I would have freaked.  Derek, on the other hand, didn’t shed a single tear.  He just grinned and bared it.  I have no idea  how he was so strong.

He was rushed to the ER and put in surgery the next morning.  The doctor decided instead of putting him in a cast they would put a titanium rod in his leg.  Not to get too gory with the details, but basically Derek now has a titanium rod IN his bone with screws holding it in place.

As luck would have it I had just quit my job at the worst place EVER, and was currently job hunting with nothing to do during the day.  I took care of Derek for the two weeks he was out of work and stuck on the couch, and also in the afternoons once he went back to work.  His parents lived near by so they were a great help and came over to visit often.

I honestly attribute the strength of our relationship to his broken leg.  If it weren’t for the two weeks we spent in SUPER DUPER close quarters I don’t know if we would have been able to learn so much about one another, so quick.  I learned how gracious and thoughtful of a man he was by the way he treated when I was his caretaker, and he learned that he could depend on me even when things were at their worst.

Cohen missed Derek so much he made him a card asking “Daddy, are you ready to come home yet?”

Many new couples may not have made it though this pressure cooker of a situation.  I think it’s real easy for one of the two people or both to become resentful in a situation like this, and resent in a relationship can sour things real quick.

I am so glad that Derek and I had this opportunity to learn so much about each other.  I hate, hate, hate that he broke his leg, but I am really thankful for the relationship that blossomed from the tragic event.

I love you, Derek.

I am thankful for my loving and amazing husband, my two precious pup pups, and my family…both new and old.

My favorite person in the world, with one of his…

My entry this week is of my husband Derek and my brother in-law Davis, and it’s definitely in the CRAZY category.  I captured this loving image when I asked Derek and Davis to pose for a shot portraying what loving brothers they are.  This is what they gave me…

And for the non-judged category, Pets, my entry is of a young boy at the zoo and his dream pet…a polar bear!  I love this exhibit at the Memphis Zoo.

Wanna check out more great entries?  Click here… I ? Faces… and check some out.

We decided it is time to paint the house, and if this is to get done at all…we will need to complete the project in the next few weeks.  Derek starts back to school in August/September (I can’t honestly remember).  I’m sure not going to paint that dang house by myself; unless using a can of spray paint will suffice.  In that case, the brick, siding, and trim will all be a nice glossy black!  Over the past year we have repaired a few minor imperfections to the exterior of the house, but have only gotten around to priming these areas.

While prepping the house for a makeover, we inspected the exterior of the house for any wood that may need replacing before the BIG PAINT.  Lucky us, we found that one of the bay window’s exterior wood was not exactly wood, but interior paneling.  YEA!!!!  Obviously one of the previous owners repaired this window at some point, and thought that using an indoor material to repair the outside of the house would be a smart defense against rain, snow, mildew, mold, and other glorious nasties one would dream to have growing in their walls.  From a distance, being shielded by a curtain of shrubs, the window’s paneling looked fine, but within 5ft of the window you begin to see the moldy horror.

Upon Derek’s initial inspection the paneling was mushy, and appeared to have mildew/mold growing on it.  So, Derek purchased “real” wood, cut it to length, and preceded to remove the nasty old paneling.  After he removed the 1st of two layers of the paneling, knowing my phobia of slugs, Derek called me outside to show me the slug breeding farm lurking just below the 1st layer of paneling.  THANKS BABE…I OWE YOU ONE.

Those little nasties are just icky and slimy.  I swear we have some that are a solid 5 inches in length.  5 inches…that’s got to be some sort of a record, or a genetic mutation at very least. I told Derek not to dump those chemicals in the ditch next to our house.  I mean it was only time till we had slugs the size of stray cats, and stray cats the size of St. Bernards. SERIOUSLY.

Throughout the day Saturday the front yard looked more like a trailer park yard sale as opposed to a quaint mid-century neighborhood.

I guess Derek decided to use this bush as a seat.

By the end of a long, hot Saturday Derek had successfully replaced the paneling with proper symmetrical wood boards.  I helped him caulk, and prime the boards once he finished.  We made sure these board were watertight.  So much that the house would have to flood from the inside, and the water would have to build up so high that it seeped down through the window sill, flow down into the plaster walls, and wet the board from behind to even begin to water-log these babies.

Next step :: paint everything else.

Derek and I have been attempting to get back into shape.  Last night we decided to do a “stretching” workout video.  Well for this workout program stretching loosely translates to Yoga.  Derek was a champ and did the yoga workout with me.  I don’t normally use this acronym, but OMG…I think my stomach muscles got the best workout from laughing at the hilarious faces and positions I saw my husband portraying last night.  I fell out of a few of my positions just from laughing so hard at that boy giving yoga his best effort.  Thanks Stretch, I mean Derek, for getting yoga-tastic!

Notice anything different?  Yes, that’s right, my header image has changed again!  I know, I know…

But I have a wonderful excuse this time.  My georgeous and mondo talanted husband was feeling creative this past friday night and suprized me Saturday morning with this beautiful new header image.