Tomorrow is our twelfth anniversary, my husband Zeb, said at the dinner table last night.

"What's an anniversary, our 5-year-old daughter asked.

"It means Mommy and Daddy got married 12 years ago tomorrow," he answered her.

"I want to go with you!" She yelled.

"Honey, we're not going anywhere. Daddy has been sick, we're just going to be at home."

"Oh," she looked confused. "Well, what's going to happen?"

Twelve years ago I would have been confused, too. An anniversary and no romantic dinner or extravagant gift? It's not exactly what every little girl dreams of when she marches down the aisle with visions of "Happily Ever After" dancing in her head.

After my husband and I married at 19 years old, we moved to Fort Worth, Texas, to go to school, work and to grow up a little. We packed our sparse belongings into a U-Haul and headed west. In our excitement to start our lives together we poorly planned our departure time, and ended up at a rest stop outside of Fort Worth at 2 a.m.

Our budget didn't allow for more than two meals a day, much less a motel room for only a few hours of sleep and we couldn't get into our apartment for several hours. Zeb pulled over on the side of the road, turned off the truck and announced, "We'll sleep here and be at the office first thing in the morning."

I didn't want to disappoint my new husband but he was about to learn a lot about me. I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but we did have central heat and air. And I have sleep issues —if you consider requiring a bed, no mosquitoes and not sleeping with an army of truck drivers less than a stone's throw away, "issues."

My bottom lip quivered as I tried to snuggle into the sweaty vinyl seat. Apparently, our budget didn't allow for enough gas to run the AC all night, either.

Zeb, as it turns out, has no sleep issues…unless you count narcolepsy. He can fall asleep anytime, anywhere, and that is exactly what he did. He rolled down his window, leaned his head against the head rest, closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Now my top lip was quivering too, and I was beginning to sniffle, but I didn't want my husband to think I was a wimp.

I brainstormed.

I could lie in the grass outside of Zeb's door and not only would I be able to stretch my legs out, but I might possibly catch a breeze and if his door was open it would decrease the chances of someone snatching me off the side of the road and tossing me into their trunk.

I told Zeb what I was doing and climbed out of the truck. I spread my small quilt in a patch of grass and lay down- in an ant bed.

I lost all composure. My husband woke up at three o'clock in the morning to find his new bride sitting in an ant bed, on the side of the road, wailing, "I want my Momma! Just take me home! Take me back to my Momma's house!"

We've had a lot of moments that topped that one, the births of our three daughters, working our tails off to finish college and seeing each other graduate, getting our first real jobs, and buying our first home.

We've also had moments that made sleeping with fire ants look like a walk in the park: losing my grandparents, dear childhood friends, and my mother's house burning to ground.

Even though they were some of the most difficult experiences of our lives, they have shown us the true depth of our relationship. I'm not glad any of these things happened, but to have my husband with me, beside me, constantly loving and supporting me, well, it blows me away.

What I understand now as a not-so-blushing bride, and what I hope all of my daughters will understand one day, is that life is so much more about mundane everyday moments than it is about fancy dinners out and shiny new baubles.

My husband shines in everyday moments. He can make a ponytail, paint toenails and console an inconsolable toddler. He thanks me for ironing his clothes. He mops- without me asking him to. He eats whatever I cook, and can pour a bowl of cereal if I don't — without ever complaining.

The morning of our anniversary Aubrey rushed into the bathroom as Zeb was finishing his shower and I was about to take mine.

"Momma, when you married my Daddy did you take a bath with him?" She asked with mischief in her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess I did."

She waggled her strawberry blond eyebrows at me and asked, "Did ya like it?"

To be honest, I've liked everything I've done with the man for the last 12 years.

"Yes. I did and I'd do it again."

(Robin O'Bryant is a former Mount Pleasant resident and mother of three. Visit her blogat www.robinschicks.com ;e-mail at zebandrobin@hotmail.com.)