Getting onto my blog yesterday and seeing that sweet entry by my gorgeous man has sent the sap factor of this site into the stratosphere. Of course, I don't mind that because I have never been as happy in a relationship as I am with Chris. He is an amazingly kind individual, and while he never holds back affectionate words to me personally, he IS English. The English are great, but they don't tend to be very demonstrative. Thank you, honey, for writing your feelings down for the world to see (or all 5 of you that read this blog). You don't have to though. I love you the way you are, but I have to say that I am a little bowled over. You must really love me. In response to Chris' entry, yes, I had about 3 and 1/2 years of feeling quite lost in my life, but I didn't do anything spectacular by coming home for my family. It was the right thing to do. Starting in the Fall of 2004 after a year of grieving for Dad. God helped me find myself again and then not too long after that sent Chris to me. It breaks my heart every time he leaves, but I have to say that we handle this pretty well. Chris flattered me way too much in his entry. I do try to treat him well and be the best fiance on the planet, BUT it's actually him who gives me the freedom to do those things. If a boyfriend in the past freaked me out, lied to me, played with my head, or turned into a different person after we broke up, I wasn't great at all! Oh no, I felt a little crazy. Chris isn't weird or two-sided. I feel confident that he is always the same person. He doesn't act one way around some people and one way around others. He doesn't lie or cheat and is kind and courteous to everyone he meets. With almost every guy I have gone out with in the past 3 years, I worried about introducing them to certain people. They weren't so adaptable or as easy to get along with as Chris. They were fine people (most of them anyway), but they just weren't right for me and I wasn't right for them. Chris, on the other hand, is the perfect man for me. I am very proud of him - not just for his impressive life accomplishments, but more so for his impressive character. God is so good. Boy, what a silly, hurting woman I was for a while. But such is life for all of us at some point. Now I wake up every morning with a smile on my face and words of thanks to God for blessing me beyond measure. It's nothing I deserve, but has increased my faith tremendously. It wasn't hard to have faith as a child and a teenager, life was grand and nothing bad happened to me. Pre-millennium Stephanie is back (well, she started making appearances in Fall 2004), just hopefully with the added elements of wisdom, perseverance, and strength. The year 2005 was so thrilling and unexpected.

I miss you, honey. You are always in my heart. xxx

Thank you for indulging us in this bit of sap and now back to our regularly scheduled programming.