16 Years and Counting

This year's anniversary was almost a dud because of COVID-19 if it wasn't for Brian who insisted we still do something special.  It is our anniversary after all.  Plus he knows me too well to do nothing or postpone it only to have to hear about later all the things I 

wish we should've/would've done.  

So out of the blue our neighbor called us to see if Ethan and Gavin would like to come over and make pizza from scratch for dinner with his daughter, Emma.  Talk about God's perfect timing and provision!  Brian thanked him and asked if the boys could stay there a little longer afterwards so that we could have an anniversary date.  To which he happily agreed.

Hiking at Scotts Run Nature Preserve

Curbside dinner from Buffalo Wing Factory

We had so much fun on this much needed date night. Happy Anniversary Babe! So grateful to have you by my side on this crazy journey called life!  Would have rather revisited our 10th Anniversary in the Bahamas, but I'll take what I can get. 

The Bahamas circa 2014

A Decade + 1

I remembered telling Brian the night before he proposed (back in July '03) that I was scared to get married because of the unknown and being fearful of getting a divorce because that's what happened to my parents.  Despite my crazy rambling he proposed anyway and I said yes.  And here we are 11 years later and what an amazing journey it has been!  Yes, we had to put a lot of effort into our marriage early on with communications, commitment, compromise, etc. so that we would truly become one.  But ultimately it was the Lord who work to mold/change us and I'm thankful that we both yielded to this refining process sooner than later.  Because now our marriage just feels natural and easy...not like work even though there is still work to be done.

What's even more amazing is something I had recently grasped through the crazy four months of Brian's work.  The concept of "relying completely on God and not your spouse" isn't something new, but the actual doing on a daily basis is harder than it sounds.  This is what it said in the book I'm reading called A Lifelong Love by Gary Thomas:

 "Today, many of us choose to trust in spouses we can see rather than a God we cannot.  If we're lonely, why aren't our spouses more relational?  If we're poor, why don't our spouses work harder to contribute more?  If we're sick, why aren't our spouses better caretakers?  If we're discouraged, why aren't our spouses more empathetic?  It makes perfect sense for us to look to our spouses first, but to trust in mortal man (or woman) rather than the immortal God is to spurn the One who rules heaven and earth in favor of one whose body will, sooner rather than later, become part of the earth.

We are to love our spouses, and that is very different from depending on our spouses.  We are to put our trust in the God we can't see--even if that feels counter intuitive--because it's far wiser to do that than to trust in the one we can see whose power (and character) is so severely limited."

Yes, Brian is a loving and reliable husband with such a great servant's heart.  But he is not perfect and will bound to fail sooner or later and that is what I've come to realize.  Now I'm not saying that to put him down at all, but in fact to make a point that we are ALL fallible and that is exactly how God made us.  We are meant to look to Him and rely on Him to meet those needs and not on each other.  So during those four months when I wanted so badly to rely upon my husband but couldn't because he wasn't here (even though he wanted to be) and even at times felt resentful about it, I looked to the Lord and He provided!  I posted about it here last month.  What a profound difference it made in our marriage!        

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Now onto the celebration.  We dropped the boys off at a friends house Saturday afternoon for a sleep over and headed to this fancy place for dinner.

 

2941 Restaurant

Afterwards, we went to an acapella concert by Ball in the House at Jammin Java and had a blast!  We came home and went to bed in a wonderfully quiet house and woke up to a wonderful quiet house.  Made some breakfast and headed out for an adventurous day of hiking rock scrambling.  

 

 

 

 

 The Great Falls (Maryland side)

We had a blast despite getting a little lost (after I deciding to hike on an off-beaten path) and Brian almost stepping on a snake.  It was the best 24 hour kid free we've had in a while!

Meanwhile, both boys also had a blast at the Rumbaugh's house and couldn't wait to do it again.  You guys are some awesome, thank you!

 

Two lil' monkeys! 

Happy Anniversary to my Hubby - couldn't have asked for a better 11 years with anyone else!!!

Just the Two of Us

The whole month of May has been anything but low-key.  

• Brian studied crammed like crazy for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (Leed AP) test which meant there were several days of 3 meals and bedtime all on my own.  Thankfully the kids were good, but it was still exhausting.  The days leading up to the test and the actually day created such high anxiety for him.  But thankfully he passed so no more studying ever again!
• My parents came into town the next day to help with the house and the kids.  Right away they got to work replacing the toilets and leaky faucets as Brian and I packed for our 10th anniversary trip.  We didn't know it back then, but the Lord must have because this trip couldn't have come at a better time.  Both Brian and I were stressed out to the max (since the closing, the break-in and everything else after that) and needed some time away to reconnect.  So after prepping my parents with the kids' routines and feeling like everyone's good to go, we left for a week long vacation in the Bahamas.  

 

 Chillin' at the airport

 I've never flown sans kids before - it was SO relaxing!

The view from our room on Paradise Island

 Wasting no time - hitting the beach & checking out the resort

    

 

 

Anniversary dinner

Such a monstrosity of a place!

SUB (Scenic Underwater Bubble) Excursion

The view from our room on Nassau

Yummy local food at Andros

Beautiful, Turquise water on Cable Beach

So long Bahamas - you've been good to us!

All in all, it was such a WONDERFUL vacation and I felt so blessed to be able to take this trip!  Honestly the last time we got to swim in the ocean and just sit & relax on the beach "together" was on our honeymoon.  We weren't on any schedules and literally do whatever we wanted.  Thank you mom and dad for making it happen!  And to my hubby of 10 years, marriage has been more than I had ever hoped for. 

 Our wedding

 Our honeymoon

p.s. Did I mention we had a celebrity siting at the airport?  It was Jennifer Connelly.

Grand Caverns

With Brian being so swamped at work, I was in charge of our anniversary celebration this year.  It is a tad bit late, but I'm glad we were able to go.  Saturday came and we drove to the Brinckley's to drop off the boys and then drove another two hours to the Grand Caverns.  Half way there, we got hungry so I started reading signs off the highway and, lo and behold I saw McAlister's Deli.  Can I just tell you how excited we were?!  Not only do they have yummy food, but the BEST sweet tea ever!  That totally made my day!!!  Onward to the caverns and we were able to squeeze in the 2 pm tour.  So many neat and unique formations to this specific caverns and I'm so glad we were able to enjoy this together.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and Brian's phone didn't come through for us.  Oh well.

LOL

Brian's parents came out to visit for a week and that came with a perk.  They watched the kids on Friday night, so we could have 9 glorious hours to ourselves.  We caught the metro to downtown DC and I made the rookie mistake of wearing heels.  Apparently, that's what NOT to do because you have to walk everywhere.  As I looked around I realized, you either go for the comfort even if it doesn't match...nobody cares or wear flip flops and bring heals in your purse.  Luckily, I was able to find some cheap flip flops that saved my blistery feet the rest of the evening.  We walked to Chinatown and enjoyed a yummy dinner at Pho DC.  (The last time I had Vietnamese food was during high school back in Hawaii. It has been that long!)  Then onto Warner Theatre with 2 free tickets to watch Brian Reagan, a stand up comedian.  Not exactly my type of comedy, but he was still pretty funny and I caught myself laughing out loud until my cheeks hurt along with everyone else.  It was fun! Afterwards, we ended up a Puerto Rican restaurant called Rio for some drinks and dessert.  And then it was time to catch the metro home.  8 years and 2 kids later.  Happy Anniversary!

p.s. How come when you get a chance to stay out late (which is not very often), your kids decide to get up at the crack of dawn?

Another Fabulous Year

Our Anniversary this year was pretty similar to last year. We stayed the night in Naperville and ate at Maggiano's. Then headed to downtown Chicago the next morning. Instead of being on a boat, this time we rented bikes and saw the city that way. It was Brian's idea and I LOVED it! Sure beats walking everywhere. The funniest part was having doubts whether or not I remember how to ride a bike. I think it must have been some 20 years ago that I last rode one. Not kidding. But you know what they say, "Once you learn how, you don't forget it" and it's true! We had so much fun but wow, my legs, knees and butt hurt like they've never hurt before!!!

Young lovers of 7 years
Safety first =0)
Biked to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Zapatista
Couldn't resist this photo opt outside the Shedd Aquarium
Hanging out by Millenium Park the rest of the day
p.s. Ethan had fun with Grandpa and Nana as always. As soon as they got here, he practically kicked us out the door.

Romantic Get-Away

Our first ever - without a baby! Brian's parents were kind enough to come and watch Ethan for a night so we could have a little get-away and celebrate our 6th anniversary in Chicago. However, my all-week excitement only led up to me coming down with a mini-flu on Friday and we weren't sure if this trip was going to happen or not. But after some nitequil that night and dayquil the next morning, I felt well enough to go. We stopped in Aurora and did a little shopping before heading to Schaumburg for dinner. I'm usually not a big food/dessert person, but can I just say their chocolate fondue was to die for! It's SO good I'm still thinking about it!!!

Four course meal at The Melting Pot.
On Sunday, we headed to downtown Chicago and ate lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Zapatista. We then stayed, I mean parked in the famous Trump International Hotel & Tower parking ramp...haha I wish! (The $1000/night stay was a little out of our budget) and boarded a boat tour nearby. It was an awesome way to see the city from the Chicago River & Lake Michigan and a perfect day to be out on the water! Anyway, what a refreshing get-away and my most favorite part of it all: throwing all schedules out the window!


Wendella's boat tour with the Chicago skyline as the backdrop.
Some of you are wondering, well what about Ethan? No, I didn't cry - we weren't gone THAT long. Plus, we knew he was in good hands. I did, however, miss him a lot...more than I thought I would! There were babies and kids everywhere we went and it kept reminding me of him. And somehow our conversations kept coming back to our lil' guy. How funny. By Sunday afternoon, I was pretty anxious to get home to see him. As it turned out, he did great and had a lot of fun with Grandpa and Nana. He ate, played and slept like a champ!

To Us - Cheers!

Friday was our 5th year anniversary and it was full of surprises! Every year I would get all hyped up about it and have all these unspoken expectations. But this year, I'm fighting another cold and just couldn't get into it even though I knew Brian was up to something.

Anyway, Brian took off early from work and came home with 5 red roses symbolizing the 5 years we've been married. Aww, I love sentimental stuff like that =0) He also arranged for his parents to come watch Ethan for the night so we could go out and celebrate. I was instructed to get all decked out and be ready by 6 pm sharp. I jokingly said something about feeling like we're going to prom and next thing I saw was...a limo parked outside our house! I couldn't believe it, what a TOTAL SURPRISE!!! Definitely wasn't expecting that! We rode along the Mississippi River on the way to dinner and I couldn't help but be giddy the whole ride. We ended up wining and dining at Red Crow Grille, which Brian knew I've been wanting to go for a long time now. My hubby surely outdid himself this year 'cause it was the most wonderful anniversary night!!!

A special shout out to John and Krissy: Happy 5 years to you guys too!!!