6 Years Baby!!!

Well, we have successfully been together for 10 years.... 4 years of dating and 6 years of marriage. It's almost hard to remember life not being married!! Okay, so lets talk about marriage. I wanted to start out with two kinds of married couples that annoy me:
1. People who LOOOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEEE being married, how perfect it is, how perfect they are, and they love eachother, love eachother, love eachother. Okay, you know people like this. It is fake, annoying, and unrealistic. While these "feelings" may be initial, they are not real committed marriage and these people just get on my nerves.
2. People who are married and hate it. they act like someone dragged them down the aisle, forced them to say i do, and are now being held contempt. They automatically are defensive and just like fighting about everything. They are always "against" their spouse and everything is a fight, not a discussion. They act as if their spouse is an opponent. Ridiculous and an unproductive way to live.
We are fans of marriage... you just gotta take it head on and get some other good people in your life that have great marriages. And if you are either of the 2 couples I mentioned up top, Boo to you... and stop it.
Okay, so we decided do an interview style post to commemorate our 6 years of marriage. We just like being real. We are very much in love, but also work really hard on our marriage. It takes work, so we are honest about our issues and where we are.

What first attracted you to Jennifer?
Jennifer has always been up for anything, anytime. She has a lot attitude, curly hair, and i thought.... this girl is a lot of fun.

What first attracted you to Tim?
He had the best smile. He was Mr. Smooth and wasn't afraid to talk to anyone. He was really funny and extremely flirty.

What is your favorite dating memory in college?

Tim- It could be that we had an ongoing list of all the places we made out over 4 years even though there was no PDA b/c I was in uniform. Haha, i just remember the crazy dates I planned. One of my favorites was our annual Pumpkin carving/ Pumpkin seed fights. Also, at Christmas we'd always go downtown in Dahlonega.

Jen- Mine was that Tim switched his major and we had all the same classes. We actually were a really good pair at studying and both did awesome... good teamwork. I loved Mondays watching him do "drill" on the drill field. There is just something sexy about a man in uniform... haha. He has always made me feel like I'm the only girl that exists and I love that. I also love that we both saved ourselves for marriage, lame to some... but, so meaningful to me.

What is your favorite memory since you've been married?

Tim- Our honeymoon was a blast. It was just a flawless awesome trip. We went to Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Bahamas, and the Keys. Also, i loved the years we had a motorcycle and a sail boat. We just packed up and went!

Jen- I love every adventure we've been on! I loved our wedding, our honeymoon, living on Lake Lanier the first few months we were married, Athens, and now Canton. I just love that we create a life and friends wherever we land. We've developed a team like marriage and all these moves/ transitions test this.

What is your favorite memory of being a dad so far?
Taking David on his first go cart ride, taking david to the driving range, and how Mackenzie has wrapped me around her little finger with all the hugs and kisses she gives.

What is your favorite memory of being a mom so far?
I love that I stay at home. I will never regret being here to train, feed, teach, love, care, and play with them all the time. I love that only mommy can make something all better and even in the morning, I can't wait to go get them up and see them again. They are precious children.

What do you like and dislike the most about being married
Tim- I like having sex. (smirk). I really like being married because I've always felt like I having a "safe- haven" with Jennifer. I don't have to try to be somebody, she's encouraging, and it's just really easy and fun to be around her.
I do miss sometimes how simple life used to be. Married with children cause things to be a little more complicated to find time just to chill.

Jen- I love that we are best friends. We both sacrifice for eachother. He is onboard with the kids and helps me tag team when he is here. I love having a family and it's neat when you have kids because when I look at them, they are us. It's really neat having a family. I too, also like having sex.. thanks, tim i put that last.
It does get stressful sometimes and I selfishly want just time alone. It's hard to find alone time with little ones and a husband!

What do you seem to fight about the most and which one is most memorable?

Tim- I remember fighting when we lived in Athens while we were remodeling the house. One time Jen went for a walk and never came back so I had to drive and find her.

Jen- I tell Tim he is messy and have freak outs sometimes because I can't stay on top of all of it. The last big fight I remember throwing Taco Bell across the room at him. I think that was the first time Ive thrown. I also never cussed until I got married. Amazing what it brings out ;)

How has marriage made you a better person and what advice do you give to all the critics of marriage out there?
Tim- I am a much more confident person. We've always made having fun a big part of our marriage. We've also always done Dave Ramsey and never had fights about money. It's easy not to fight over money when there isn't a lot of it, haha.

Jen- I agree with all that. I also think people exhaust their spouse. I think being Christians has been what has made us last. You can't possibly expect one person to make you happy all the time..... we look to the Lord for our fulfillment, to ourselves and deal with issues, and lastly to each other. You can't expect someone to fulfill every need you have. You have to be independently dependent. And, seeking the Lord for happiness and purpose will take strain off someone else trying to give you that.... which FYI, they cant anyway.

Well, that's us!!!
My concluding thoughts: Not that anyone wants my two cents, but besides the Lord being numero uno in our marriage, we kinda coined "Team Willis". I think if you just decide you are a team, you are. We also, honestly, just have lots of fun. Laughter truly is the best medicine and we love to laugh. We try to keep our love life exciting (there are plllllllllenty of things out there), and just date eachother still. It's hard to get a sitter and yada, yada. But, your alone time with eachother is crucial, even more so the longer you are married and the more babies you add on!

Here is also Tims proposal I shared last year.... props to you again, babe.