Happy Birthday Marty!

Every year, Marty asks me, ''Where is my birthday blog?'' to which  I reply, ''half of my blog is about you!'' so this year, I finally will write his birthday blog for him.

Behind this loud, emotional, crazy girl is a quiet, steady, strong man and this is his story:

Martin was a cute kid, named after his father Martin, they were called ''Big Marty'' and ''Little Marty'' by their family members. His parents divorced when he was only three, after third grade he chose to permanently live with his Dad and Grandmother in the family home in Fullerton.

Little Marty and a neighbor friend

Marty's dad was ravaged by Type 1 diabetes and was a good caretaker for Marty who had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes himself at some age between 5-9.  He remembers living a life of measured kashi cereal and eating cake gels as glucose to bring his blood sugar up.

Big Marty and Little Marty

The Timms Men

He was a very doted upon only child, I actually have lists that his parents saved from their toy hunting adventures. They were known to drive all over southern California to buy Marty a toy. He had every single Star Wars toy in its original box....every.single. one. That also crossed over to GI Joe and Transformers. He had a five foot long toy box on casters. What happened to those toys? his Dad and Grandma eventually donated them. It's a story of legend.

He grew up bowling with his neighbors Albert and Tony. Star Wars toys gave way to skateboarding and having the best gear.

Marty and friend Albert

In junior high, I started riding on the same bus as Marty, we never spoke. It's funny, we have pictures from the same place and time, going to school together from 7th-12th grade. We had the many cross over friends but we never spoke.

Marty lived a different lifestyle than I did in those days. I do remember his daily treks to Taco Bell, once walking behind him and thinking he was stuck up. True story.

In 1994, a few months after we graduated high school our paths crossed and we finally saw each other. It was a rough start involving a one month break up. Three months after that we were engaged and so our lives began.

our engagement photo

We were young but had plans, both growing up in tough situations, we both grew up very fast. We knew what we wanted and stuck to it.

Our wedding day

Marty and I moved in his family home to care for his dying grandmother and father. Often we failed, we were 19 years old and even our parents hadn't gone through those things. I remember watching Marty make the toughest choice of his life in a hospital emergency room at 20 years old to let his Dad go. It was a heartbreaking moment to head home without his dad.

Marty and his parents

At his funeral, Marty said, ''If I can only be a 1/4 of the father my Dad was to my kids someday?'' A month later he wrote me a card and asked me if we could have a baby? he really wanted to have kids and didn't want to wait anymore. We had that five year mentality because of our ages but his dream of seeing his father hold his grandson was shattered. Just ten months later, Conner was born.

Proud Dad

Marty had never been around small kids but was a natural dad. He would take care of Conner in the mornings before I worked. Later when Elizabeth was born, she immediately had him wrapped around her finger. He would care for them during the day while I worked and he worked at night  to be home during the day.

First day as a Dad

We made our first big leap and moved 300 miles away from our families to start a new life. It was a tough journey that we accomplished together. Starting from nothing, Marty worked hard to build a life for our family alongside me. So proud of all he accomplished going to school to start a new career.

Marty and baby Conner

Together our lives came crumbling down in 2007 with a horrible diagnosis. Marty held his head high, worked 80 hrs a week and very rarely complained. It was me who often crumbled and lost it, Marty stood strong only breaking down twice in our four year journey.

He is a good husband, very patient with me, loving, and kind. He has always supported me, helped me through some really dark things and made me a better person  Never telling me ''no'' when I want to go on an adventure with friends,traveling to see my family or meeting up with my beloved tweeps. He always goes right along with me. He never once has told me to lose weight or anything about my appearance except that I am beautiful to him. God knew the day I met Marty, he told me that was my husband and chose well for me. I never have had to  wonder where he was? he has always been right by my side.

Never have I felt anything but that of a treasured and well loved wife, I am his world and he graciously shares me with the world. I asked him a few months back, when crying about something that happened to a twitter friend, '' Does it bother you that I let others in?'' and he said, ''That is what makes you who you are and I know you wouldn't be happy if you couldn't love others.'' I told you he is pretty darn wonderful!

Marty and I during our darkest times

I love coming home to the laughter of Marty and the kids. They have lots of laughs together, inside jokes and fun times. He is a wonderful father and an even better husband. Thanks to a boy named Jerry, we get to keep him longer than once expected.

Marty's favorite picture of the kids

Ours isn't a perfect life of rose colored glasses or easy, we have lived a hard life filled with much love and respect. I know my life would not be the same without this lovely man and I count myself very blessed to have him.

He makes me laugh, he tells me when I am wrong, he loves me unconditionally, worships the ground I walk on, is a wonderful dad, hard worker and just the even keel I need.

Happy birthday baby, I thank God for you each day and for the life we continue to live. It's been hard and uphill but we made it together. So thankful today we get to celebrate your 8th annual 29th birthday!

This one gets me everytime. Marty and our babies

Marty and the kids in front of his childhood home

Marty and my cousins

Daddy and the kids

Marty and his Poohnky

our first date

Marty took me to the Madonna Inn for my 30th birthday

I've been married how long?

Today is our 17th anniversary, I have been married as long as I was single ( I started dating Marty when I was seventeen years old) and it hardly seems possible that it has been that long. We have really been through  so much in those 17 years. We've loved, we've lost, we've moved, we've survived. Time really does fly by and I have a feeling it will only go faster. Happy Anniversary Marty, love you.

Here's a look back at the anniversary blogs throughout the years:

10 years ( 2006): I was pretty excited on our 10th anniversary, Marty bought me a new wedding ring that year: http://www.julesmpg.com/2006/03/yeahcheercheer.html

11 years ( 2007): Little did we know that Marty didn't have a cold like we thought. He was in renal failure and we had no clue how sick he was:http://www.julesmpg.com/2007/03/11-yrs.html 

14 years ( 2010): It was a very dark time. Truly in sickness and darkness, I couldn't even write but I shared a song: http://www.julesmpg.com/2010/03/i-will-be-here.html

15 years (2011): Marty had just received his transplant and I made him a slideshow of our years together: http://www.julesmpg.com/2011/03/happy-15th-anniversary-marty.html

16 years ( 2012): Thinking of Jerry and his mom, thankful for the gift of more time: http://www.julesmpg.com/2012/03/16-years-and-counting.html

16 years and counting

Today is our 16th anniversary. I can't help but think of Jerry and Debbie, their gift makes this day possible. Last year, I made a slideshow last year to commemorate our 15th. You can watch it here:

Happy 15th Anniversary Marty

We are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate 16 years. Hard to believe in just three years, we will be married as long as I was old when we got married! Time flies.

Wordless Wednesday: Where forever began....

Happy 15th Anniversary Marty

Create a digital slideshow

Hard to believe it has been 15 years. We have lived more in those 15 years than many live in a lifetime. So glad we have been on this journey together and can say we love each other more today, than the day we got married. I love you very much and here is to many more happy years together!

I will be here

Today is our 14th anniversary a very proud day for us. I woke up and played this song for Marty this morning, truly speaks of where we are at right now. I will be here no matter what, in sickness and in health. Steven Curtis Chapman wrote this song for his wife Mary Beth.

I totally forgot where I was headed with that last post

I was inspired by a jewelry commercial to write the last post. It is a Jared commercial where the boyfriend is taking the girlfriend to the places where all the firsts happened. So I started thinking about all of our first and decided to write them down.

The night we got engaged, Marty took me to Sizzler for dinner. That is a long standing joke with us nowdays but hey, we were 18yrs. old. Then he took me to the Huntington Beach pier and we walked down about halfway. He sat me down on a bench and gave me a card, he told me to open it and read it. I read it and at the very end it  said "Will you marry me?" when I looked up he was down on one knee. It was very sweet and romantic, I remember walking back to the car talking about the future. What a wonderful memory to have and hold on to.

The story of us

I have been blogging for many years and never told the story of Marty and I. So it is time to write down once and for all. First, I will fill you in on where I was at when we met and where I came from. Then the story of that day when we fell in love.

 I was a girl of many crushes, my first crush was in elementary school and the list went on. I had a phone boyfriend by the age of 12. My first real boyfriend was from 12 until I was 15. I then made a decision to not date anymore. I decided to enjoy high school and just be myself, I still did have boys that I liked but I didn't seek out relationships. I figured it was like being lost in a forest and eventually I would be found. I spent much of my senior year with unrequited love for my good friend. I spent all of my time trying to wait for him to like me back.

 During these years, I knew Marty. We weren't friends, but had many friends in common and rode the bus together during our junior high years. I remember walking near him, sitting next to him in a car ride one time and being at a after prom party with him. I really thought he was snobby because he didn't talk to me.

 The summer we graduated found us both spending time at my friends house. She was friends with Marty's friend Albert. So one day, they all came over to hang out with Jenny and I was there. I remember Marty coming into the room one way and I came in another. He looked at me and I looked at him, my heart was gone. There was something in that look that sealed my future, I now know it was God and his plan for us. A friend of his Jaron's dad was getting married and he needed a date. Albert actually asked me to go with him, so he could go with my sister Carrie.

 I agreed, even though I thought Marty had a girlfriend. In fact, I saw him with her twice and one time he kissed her on the cheek when I was sitting in the car! He says that was a goodbye kiss because he wasn't dating her anymore! okay, moving on from that now. We went to the wedding which was in a Christian church, I remember holding his hand and knowing we would be married someday. Once again, God at work.

 We broke up for a month because of a misunderstanding and untruth. We decided we couldn't be apart and that we needed to always be honest with one another from then on. We dated for three months and decided we wanted to get married. December 7th of 1994 we got engaged with the premise it would be a long engagement. We promised our parents we would wait two years and be married December of 1996. They wanted us to be sure and not jump into anything. Since we both came from broken homes, this was a good idea.

 We grew and blossomed in our relationship, eventually I was helping Marty care for his dad and Grandma. His dad was very sick and after his grandma died, we knew it wouldn't be long. So we moved the wedding up to the first date the Disneyland hotel had available. We went from having a year left to plan to having four months to plan. Everyone was wonderful and helped us get things together. In fact,my aunt Al picked my bridesmaid dresses out and my cousins always hassle me about them, I say, "Talk to your mother." because I agreed to them on short notice.

 We found a minister via Disney since we did not attend church at that time. We picked a religious service out of his book. It was a true covenant before God that we made and I am so glad with the words we said. It was a beautiful, windy, clear day in March and something we have fond memories of forever.

 It was our fairytale wedding and we have always been happy with how it turned out. Even though we were young and not clear on life, we made the right choice. I know that I married the person that I was supposed to. We have had many trials that most people our age have never faced. We have buried his Dad and faced many things our parents didn't until much later. We have struggled to make a life for ourselves. We are so proud of the fact those things brought us closer and made us stronger.

Many marriages would have crumbled under the stress. The best decision we ever made was to move away and make our own life. We decided to put Christ at the center of our marriage and allow his help to be our strength. We are blessed and we know it, we are blessed with love!

11 yrs

Today Marty and I have been married 11 years! Wow, last year at 10 it never hit me we are in the double digits now. It has truly been 11 wonderful years that we have been able to enjoy together. We are a team together we can accomplish anything. We have never struggled in our marriage with each other.

 We have faced many other obstacles with health, money and people but never with each other. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who works so hard for our family and loves us so much. We fight for our time together and really try to be protective of that so that we can continue on in happiness.

 We look forward to this day each year with excitement that we have made it another year longer. Being married at 19 a lot of people really did'nt think we would make it or thought we did'nt know what we were getting into. We did we told them that we were sure and look at us now! We really did know all the way back then and not much has changed to this day. I love Marty more and more each day and that things are only getting better.

So to Marty, I am sorry you are sick today and I hope you get better soon. I love you more and more each day and each passing year. Happy Anniversary, Julie