Anniversary Plans

Today is our wedding anniversary.  Seventeen years.  Wow.

I was thinking last night about previous anniversaries.  Certainly I can’t remember each one, but several come to mind.

There were a handful of years where we seemed to be moving right on/around our anniversary.  Our first anniversary, we’d just moved to Mississippi, for my first job.  We celebrated with dinner at a new restaurant in a new town.

Our second anniversary, we were still in Mississippi.  We ate dinner at a restaurant we’d never been to before.  I remember ordering an appetizer off the specials menu, and we were both shocked when we got the bill to learn how much it was.  (HA!  I don’t remember what it was, or if it was good, but it was expensive!)

Our third anniversary, we’d moved to North Carolina.  I remember the restaurant where we celebrated.  It was one of our favorites there.

Our fourth anniversary, we’d just moved into our house in Kentucky.  We had a hot and sweaty day of unpacking, but we cleaned up to enjoy a wonderful meal.

It’s funny, looking back on those years.  We worked hard, and we played hard.

I think we celebrated some later anniversary in New York, but I can’t quite remember which. 

The next anniversary I can remember is when I was newly pregnant…maybe 8 weeks along.  Heading out to dinner, I put on a dress that was getting a little bit tight, and I felt so proud of that fact.  I wondered if anyone would notice.  I remember the wonder we felt as we talked about our life together and dreamed of what was to come.

The next anniversary – our tenth – we took our 5 ½ month-old twins to dinner.  We went to one of our favorite restaurants for a very early dinner.  I remember where we sat, at the very front of the restaurant, the girls in their carriers.  I think they napped during our dinner.  I remember we ate pretty hurriedly, for fear they’d wake up.  I felt almost giddy that we were “sneaking” in that dinner with our twins in tow.

The next few anniversaries are more of a blur.  I seem to remember take-out from our favorite sushi restaurant one year.  And a couple of years ago, we had a sweet family date…breakfast out, and hiking at our favorite park in town.

This year, I’m heading off to work today.  We’re planning to go out for dinner, the four of us.  I’m hoping I can coax the girls into wearing a sundress.  We’ll head downtown and have a nice meal.

The girls were whispering last night.  I expect they’ve made us a card of some sort, and they are super excited to give it to us.

We’re not going to enjoy a romantic getaway to NYC, or let go with wine and live music for an evening of fun.  But I’m really excited for the four of us to go out…to fully share this occasion with the girls and to celebrate as a family.

To everything there is a season.  And I am thankful for this season we’re in.

Happy Anniversary to my love!