Walk Down Anniversary Lane

Brent woke me up this morning with a huge smile, a cheerful "happy anniversary," and a present wrapped in a paper towel. Oh how I love my husband :)

I spent some time this morning trying to remember how it felt to wake up four years ago on the biggest day of my life. I was nervous, excited, anxious, and so, so SURE. Not for one moment did I ever wonder if this was the right guy or if I was too young or if I would regret this day later. I was worried about my hair and if Brent would like my dress and if I would trip down the aisle...but the man who would be standing at the alter? That was the best decision of my life.


There are times when I look at Brent and think of how deeply I love him, how painful it would be to loose him, how much he does for me, how blessed I am have him...and my heart swells, melts, and crumbles all at once. I'm not sugar coating things - we do have hard days with short tempers and ridiculous fights, but those times leave me wanting to be a better wife and person in general.

It's been an amazing four years. Brent and I challenge each other and help each other and encourage each other, but mostly we have so much fun together. It doesn't matter where we are or what we are doing, as long as we are together. We always turn our anniversary into a holiday, sometimes taking two days to pack in all the celebration. I thought it would be fun to take a walk down anniversary lane to remember the last three years.

2007
A couple weeks before our first anniversary, I cut the tendon in my pinky finger and had to go to urgent care (never ever ever try to break apart frozen chicken with a table knife). They stitched me up and sent me home, but when I returned a week later to get the stitches out and I still couldn't bend my finger, they suggested I see an orthopedic surgeon. The surgeon said I had indeed cut through the tendon and since I had been using the hand for the last week, the tendon had now retreated into the palm of my hand. Great. I needed surgery, six weeks in a splint, and three months of occupational therapy. The surgery was a couple days before our anniversary.

Right after surgery:


I was mostly sad that I couldn't do my own hair for our date...I asked Brent to do it for me and he did a pretty awesome job. We wanted to spend our first anniversary in downtown Cincinnati since that's where we spent our first day as a husband and wife. We went to Palomino's for dinner, which became a part of our yearly tradition.


2008
We did a two-day celebration for our second anniversary, the first night being our downtown date. We went to Palomino's and watched ice-skating on Fountain Square. My favorite part was getting Starbucks hot chocolate and taking a carriage ride through all the Christmas lights.


The second night we went The Melting Pot, our favorite restaurant. I love a good excuse to get dressed up!


Two years!


2009
We had so much fun in 2008, we decided to repeat the formula in 2009. Picture of us before heading downtown:


The next night, before dinner at The Melting Pot:


This year we are waiting for the weekend to do our date night. It will be different from our normal winter wonderland, but fun to celebrate our first anniversary on the island! I am so glad Brent and I are taking two years to have this adventure and create all these awesome memories. I love that we are embracing a life of simplicity here, a "less is more" separation from the material world. It's my prayer that this time strengthens our marriage and teaches us to love one another even better.

Happy, happy 4 years, Brent!