thirteen years...

Thirteen years ago today I married Chris.  I believe that God brought us together...at the exact right time...at the perfect moment.

Yes, we got married very young (some might have even said we were crazy).

No, I wouldn't recommend that to everyone... but it worked for us.

We have shared unbelievably good times, rough patches, the birth of our beautiful Ashlyn, the purchase of our first home, the birth of our funny boy Landon, the loss of our first home, and most recently the loss of Chris' brother.

Marriage is hard...it takes work...we have let each other down countless times...but God used all of the difficult things that we have gone through to bring us that much closer together.  Chris is my best friend.  I love him.  I can share anything with him.  He has seen the good and the bad in me and loves me anyway. I am so thankful for the husband God had specifically for me.

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I wanted to make something special for Chris for our anniversary.  I wanted it to say all the things that I always wanted to say but never could find the words.  After searching around a bit I decided on a subway sign but still wasn't sure what I wanted it to say.

As I tried to be supportive of Chris during his brother's last few months of life there was so much I wanted to say but didn't know how or exactly what to say.  One day while we were driving up to see Craig a song came on the radio.  It was "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel.  Chris told me it was one of his favorite songs.  As I listened to the lyrics, ones that I have heard countless times in my life, I really heard them for the first time.  I realized they were exactly what I wanted to say to Chris to let him know how much I loved and supported him.

I got the materials that I needed and started by sanding and painting my 24x36 piece of heavy plywood.

I created a layout with the font that I wanted on Silhouette and printed them out on four sheets of adhesive vinyl.

Next, I peeled away the negative space (the space around the letters)...

and using transfer paper I layed it out on my painted board.

Then I painted over the vinyl letters with cream colored paint.

After the paint was dry I peeled off all of the vinyl letters...





I wanted the subway sign to look worn and weathered.  I took some burnt umber and black paint and thinned it out with paint extender to make a stain.  I painted it on with a foam brush and using a dry cloth I  rubbed it off to create the "antiquey" look of an old piece of wood.

After the stain dried I sanded the board to make it look even more old...

and Basil was, as always, my constant companion.

I had stained and sanded some pre-cut borders and after nailing them in place Chris' anniversary present was complete....

I am so happy with the way it turned out.  I am even happier that Chris loved it.

And if you are reading this, Chris, I love you from here to eternity.  Happy 13th Anniversary.