State of Our Union

Today is our second anniversary and in my role as First Lady, I feel I should offer a “State of our Union” address. In the last two years we’ve faced challenges, fought our way through life sometimes together, sometimes individually, and sometimes against one another but in the end, we’re better as a team. We’re better together and we’re better today than we were two years ago. We have much to work on, much to improve in our lives and a path that dictates we’ll do it together and be just fine.

From our humble beginnings two years ago, we can reflect back on living in another home, having another career path, and another way of living. We can celebrate successes at having faced down issues with family members, issues with his ex-wife, and issues with raising the girls. We survived his ex-wife’s fake cancer; we overcame her efforts at ruining the girls’ academic success, and quashed her attempts at ruining our marriage. Each time we faced down her challenges, we grew from the experience and we became stronger together. In many ways, I should thank her for the success she has offered our marriage. Maybe I’ll do that…

The girls are stronger today and better adjusted than two years ago. We’re still working through some stuff and facing future challenges as one grows in her confidence and the other continues to exert her independence. God help us, someday they’ll be teenagers! So far, they’re on a good track and we’re giving them a good life. Our marriage has benefitted from the world we’re creating for them and because of the life it’s offering our family and our marriage. We’ve surrounded ourselves with a wonderful community of friends who want to live well, provide for their families, and experience happiness each day, each moment possible. We are better for having our friends as role-models, having their families enrich our lives, and having this social structure for our family.

We live in a new home that is the first place we can call “ours”. The girls have a space that is clearly theirs and is reflective of them as little girls. Matthew began his time in the world in this home and has a space that will grow and change with him. We will build memories within the walls of this home and will look back at the time in this home as wonderful and memorable. These walls protect us, give us stability, and envelop us as a family.

Mark and I each have different jobs than we did two years ago today. I actually HAVE a job with a wonderful company that allows me to make a difference in the world each day. We expand our family to include many of those in the company I work for and the Hobart family helps enrich our lives. They contribut to our lives with the making of memories, offering of opportunities, benefits (YAY!HEALTH INSURANCE), and certainly the peace of mind in knowing my job will help provide for our family. They are supportive of the girls’ education, of their growing faith, of our family, of Matthew’s development, and they are supportive of our marriage. Ultimately, they are a part of the life we are building and without them it wouldn’t be as rich a life.

Mark’s new job is providing in ways we never expected. He’s found his niche in route sales and is very successful in his endeavors. He works long, hard hours but is fulfilling his role as father, husband, and provider. Mark is giving himself so much in the work he’s doing because he’s working toward things he wants more than anything. He’s making a life for the girls, for Matthew and for me. We don’t have much and we work hard for each thing we have but it’s well worth the effort.

Looking forward, we have new dreams, new goals, and new ideas for the direction for our lives and for our family. Overall, it’s an improvement in what we thought we wanted, in the direction we thought our lives would go, and ultimately an improvement in the life we live together. I await each moment anxiously and with giddy enthusiasm for the memories we’re creating each day.

In all, I think the state of our union is wonderful, tumultuous, exciting, challenging, fulfilling, warm, humorous, and overall it’s pretty remarkable! I know today that we will have a successful term that is our marriage, our life together.