Dear Daddypotamus . . .
Dear Daddypotamus,
We spent the morning of our wedding day roaming a foreign city in search of stamps. Not to mail postcards, of course, but to appease the crazy tax laws in Vieques. Do you remember us? “Colecturía? Colecturía?” I’ve never been so happy to be a clueless tourista. It was the beginning of so many adventures.
However, my FAVORITE memory from that morning was our trip to the doctors office to get our health certificate. With a serious smile and a thick Puerto Rican accent, our physician spoke fifteen words I’ll never forget.
I have to make sure you’re not drunk, not crazy . . . . and you don’t have syphillis.”
Check. Check. And . . . oh wait, about that crazy part.
Just kidding. But truthfully on paper it doesn’t look good for us. It’s not just that I spent my last night as a single woman sleeping behind a bar or that we didn’t have a wedding cake. Forget that you’ve had your brain zapped and we named my last physician “Dr. Quack.” The fact that I wash my hair with mud and brush my teeth with clay? Not even worth mentioning.
As I dug through photos to put this slideshow together I realized some very important pictures were missing. Not just the ones of us rolling on the sand like beached whales . . . the real bummer is that neither of us thought to make our huge fights a Kodak moment. There are no pictures of our “enthusiastic disagreements,” but there have certainly been plenty of them along the way. And honestly they deserve their place here because they are as much a part of our story as anything.
That’s where the crazy part comes in: If I had known what was coming on that bright morning in Vieques I probably would have thought we were nothing less than certifiable for going forward. Love takes more work than my “Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast” upbringing prepared me for. Remember me trying to stow away in your bags as you headed to The University of Copenhagen for a semester abroad?
Nothing but smiles there, but what was supposed to be a simple four month adventure turned into an excruciatingly painful test of our relationship that lasted much, much longer. As I held that picture I thought to myself, what if it had ended there?
There would have been no dance under a hundred-thousand blazing stars on our first night as husband and wife.
And remember how hard our first year was? What if it had ended THERE?
We would have missed not one but TWO of the sweetest blessings on earth.
Think of all we would have missed. Saturday morning pancake breakfasts, naptime snuggles, chasing seagulls on the beach. Are we flawed? YES! This year has been one of the hardest of our lives. Sure, it’s all well and good to meet the love of your life when you are 10 years old, but years later when you’re facing overnight job loss* and a very uncertain future the story doesn’t seem to matter so much.
There are times when I’ve looked at you and thought that I barely recognize the man I married. Not that you’ve changed for the worse – quite the opposite, actually – it’s just that we are both so very different now.
Though it’s kind of scary, it’s also amazing in a way. We get to grow, change, and fall in love all over again. If I had to count, I’d say this is our third marriage. 
And now, without further ado, a few of my favorite moments from the journey . . .
* Just in case you are wondering, we are OKAY! Daniel is working as a consultant while we transition into something new
**Look closely at the slideshow and you might capture a glimpse of Food Renegade during our college days. Yes we’re cool like that.
Dani
Such an amazing video! Congrats!
Dani´s last [type] ..Mini Meatloaf With Liver
Rebecca Miller
Love, Love, Love!!! I watched one of those christain movies that is awesome because it doesn’t challenge you standards with language etc, but not necessarily awesome because of the acting, ya know? Anyway they were talking about a couple getting married and they said most people don’t get to the good stuff in marriage because first you have to get through the bad. I loved it too many times we sugar coat it and say marriage is sooo wonderful, and it is, if you make it through the bad it is. They also said it isn’t only good, when you make it through the bad, but it is better than you can imagine. Again I so agree. 14 years in and it is soooo much better then I thought it would be but we had our what if we had given up moments too. So grateful we didn’t! Happy anniversary!!!
Brittany
Brought tears to my eyes. You have a beautiful family
Angelina
The slideshow is so beautiful! And I love how real you are and how true it is, if you had quit when it was hard, when times were really difficult, you wouldn’t have created this precious family. It was all worth it! Happy Anniversary!!
Marianne
Aww! <3 Beautiful! Wish you a happy anniversary!
Sara
Beautiful. Sweet pictures of all of you:) Happy Anniversary!
Sara´s last [type] ..Kale with Beurre Noisette (Browned Butter)
AShley
What fun to see your family. Wish you all were still here:( I showed Ca pic of K and she remembered her and said “we played together at H house when we were babies.” So sweet. The things they remember!
Katie
This is so sweet! Made me well up a little; hope you two have a blessed anniversary!
Katie´s last [type] ..No-Grain Breakfast Crumble (a great alternative to granola!)
tammy
Beautiful!! Happy Anniversary! May you both be blessed with many more years of this grand adventure. We will be celebrating our 20 year anniversary in August of this year. There’s a photo that was taken on our wedding day and I’m in the Rosie the Riveter pose standing next to the hubby and every time I would come across that photo, I always wondered what possessed me to take that pose. A few weeks ago, I was thinking of what 20 years has meant and immediately HARD WORK/Rosie the Riveter came to mind. I’m going to have that photo blown up and framed for our anniversary party and hopefully, I will be able to come up with beautiful words to go along with it! xo
Sabrina
I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Thanks for sharing and many more happy years together!
Noel @ the Shepherd's farm
That was wonderful and I loved the slideshow!!!
Noel @ the Shepherd’s farm´s last [type] ..Are You Ready For Spring?
Kim T.
Love your gorgeous family!!! Adorable video! Thanks for sharing.
Heather
Thank you, Kim!
Georgianna
That’s a beautiful story! I love the music you chose too! Who’s singing?
Heather
Thank you, Georgianna! It’s Jack Johnson
Sandrine Love
My dearest Heather — this moved me to tears several times over. Thank you for the openness and authenticity you have offered us readers … and happy, happy anniversary! Much, much love to you both!
Heather
Thank you, Sandrine! <3
Kristen @ Food Renegade
Hey! I got circled in that college retreat photo! Why am I circled?
And am I right in guessing that Steve must have been the one taking that picture since he’s nowhere to be seen?
And TRINITY. She was a good dog.
She looked so young and healthy in that pic, not at all like in her later more pathetic years.
Look at me, talking about ME! Happy Anniversary, you two.
Kristen @ Food Renegade´s last [type] ..How To Kick A Soda Habit
Heather
Lol, I meant to put a note in there that everyone needs to look for you! I’m going to put it in now.
Heather
Yes, I think it WAS Steve behind the camera! Lots of good friends in that photo, eh?
Leah G
Happy Anniversary! We just celebrated ours and I have to say I had many of the same thoughts. It is an amazing feeling to wake up next to the one (well ones) you love every day. Watching them change mentally and physically on this journey.falling further in love at every turn..even the hard ones!