10 Years of Wedded Bliss!

Greg and I celebrated 10 yrs of marriage on August 21, 2009. We have a wonderful tradition of planning a surprise for each other every other year. The longer we are married, the more likely we both are to forget some of these fabulous celebrations so I thought I'd share them here; they will forever be saved electronically (or at least as long as Google is alive).

Year One: We lived in East TX so Hot Springs Arkansas wasn't too far of a drive. Greg planned a wonderful getaway to a bed and breakfast in Hot Springs. All I remember was that the beautiful woods surrounding the house were surprising to me and that our room had a huge spa tub with columns around it. Oh, and the breakfast was yummy; we ate outside.

Year Two: I planned an amazing trip to NYC. We were about 8 weeks pregnant with Brett and I was nauseous the entire time. But, we stayed at the Renaissance Hotel on Times Square, saw Aida on Broadway, went to a Yankees game, shopped, and ate nonstop. It was wonderful!

Year Three: We lived in San Diego and Brett was a nursing baby so we couldn't go too far away. Greg surprised me with a hot air balloon ride in Del Mar overlooking Rancho Santa Fe and the Pacific Ocean. It was a truly amazing experience, but equally as frightening. I could write an entire blog about the trauma that nearly occurred when Greg was hanging onto the side of the balloon's basket with his feet off the ground while we all scrambled to jump inside. But I won't. Oh, and this was also the first night Brett slept through the night because we forgot to turn on our baby monitor!

Year Four: We were going on a business trip to Oregon for AdvoCare so I wanted to surprise Greg with a jet boat ride on the Columbia River. It promised views of bald Eagles and all sorts of other rare and awesome animals and vegetation. Unfortunately, a few hours before the scheduled ride, I got a phone call saying the boat did not sell enough tickets so our time slot had been cancelled. We went on a double date instead with our friends at Multnomah Falls. It was beautiful if not romantic.

Year Five: Living in Southern California provided some great opportunities within driving distance. One of them was Las Vegas! Just a five hour jaunt away, Greg took me for one night at the New York, New York Hotel. We had so much fun, but as they say "What happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas!" I won't elaborate!

Year Six: We were back in Texas and I planned a nice getaway to San Marcos to stay in a wonderful (or so the advertisement on the web claimed) B&B. Once we got there, we realized the bedding, curtains, and wallpaper was as old as the 1929 house. We had to help ourselves to food in the kitchen and the sounds of traffic lurked outside our windows. I DO remember a nice dinner and roses in my room. Note to self: only stay in hotels or other accommodations upon referral from a trustworthy friend!

Year Seven: I had just been on staff at the church for two months and life was very busy. Greg surprised me by picking me up one afternoon and taking me downtown for a swing dance lesson. We were terrible, but it was hilariously fun and luckily, it was a private lesson!

Year Eight: I am sad to say that after much thought, I cannot remember what I planned. I think this is because I didn't plan a thing. Yes, it's true. We got so busy (and Brett started Kindergarten the week of our anniversary) that we just did nothing. My fault.

Year Nine: San Antonio Riverwalk! We stayed in a great hotel walking distance to the Riverwalk, ate yummy Mexican food, rode the boat with the funny tour guide, and shopped. Greg did an amazing job planning for us.

Year Ten: Here we are, it's August 22nd, and a theme has emerged. Brett will start 2nd grade in two days, and Stacy neglected to plan anything in advance. She DOES however, have a loose plan (meaning nothing has been formally booked, but she knows where they're going) for a one night getaway on September 17th. I'm really glad I typed this blog because I do not want year 12 to be so pitiful. I am going to start planning NOW! Oh, and even though it's my year, look what Greg bought me:

I absolutely LOVE my Australian Man and cannot wait to spend the rest of my life making fun memories like these every year on our anniversary!

Lake

We had the privilege of going to the lake for a few days to stay at a friend's house. They have two Sea Doos (is that how you spell that???), a boat, a great swimming area right out back, nice lawn, food, and comfy beds for napping and sleeping! We needed some family time away from everything since we have been traveling so much lately so we enjoyed every minute.

I went knee boarding for the first time in years and I must say, the bruises on my shins and forearms are totally worth it! Brett even tried it on a kid's knee board. We went tubing and stayed up late playing Euchre with our friends.

Here's a picture of my little peanut on her first boat ride:

Carnival Cruise

I am now 8 hours off the Carnival Fantasy Western Caribbean Cruise that I had the privilege of embarking on with 10 amazing women. My friend Molly invited us all to come with her to celebrate her 40th birthday. She paid for each of us to go... I just had to get myself to New Orleans last Thursday in order to set sail that afternoon.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into it with virtual strangers. My roommate Chris, Molly's childhood friend from Minnesota was someone I had never laid eyes upon. There was Dianne, an aquaintance from California and Barbara to whom I had heard Molly refer many times in San Diego as her beloved Growth Group Leader for years. Stephanie from Saint Louis and Leslie from Chicago were blond bombshells I met on Thursday in front of the pool on the Lido deck. Kristen, an author and long distance runner roomed with Rachel, another Minnesota girl (Molly's college roommate). Nancy, Molly's sister, was the youngest girl on the trip, just eight months my junior. Would we like each other? Would there be cliques? Would we all disagree on where to go and what to do or would we mesh?

Well, from the first afternoon when we all met up, I knew we were going to have a blast! By Monday morning, we were all friends and I have to say, I would travel with these ladies again! We had an amazing time laying out, dancing, eating breakfast, eating room service, eating lunch, eating dessert, eating dinner... did I mention that we had a great time eating?

Our one stop was in Cozumel and 9 of us signed up to do the Amazing Cozumel Race excursion. We drew names and divided ourselves up into three teams of three. We competed against 5 other teams of 2-4 people and had a great time. From looking for clues at a museum, to snorkeling off a glass bottom boat in order to see the name on the side of a shipwrecked boat to running all through downtown in search of clues, we had a blast! My team arrived at our final destination first and we won the grand prize t-shirt that says "WINNER" on the front (cannot be sold in stores:-))!

Our waiter at dinner, Joseph from India, was fabulous. We took photos each night with our favorite photographer, Jay. We watched all of the shows and danced to a Michael Jackson tribute! We even sang karaoke one night. We were so bad, I think they turned off the song before we were even finished. I lovingly blame Nancy for picking that stupid song!

I loved coming to our room at night to find the bed turned down, chocolates on my pillow, the next day's itinerary waiting patiently for a perusal and some sort of animal made out of towels on the bed. It was nice to sleep in, get a tan, read a book, and have late night girl-talk every day. My blackberry didn't work so I even stayed away from emails, Facebook, and Twitter! A true respite.

Although I missed my family terribly, I am so thankful to Molly for bringing me along. And, I know some of these girls will become friends for a long long time. We created all sorts of fabulous memories and I will post some pictures when they all start to share them... I forgot my camera so only have two over-priced "Jay's photos" from the entire trip. Thanks again, Molly! And, Happy Birthday again! Too bad we don't have any diet cake to share tonight!