Eleven Years

Well, I wasn't able to finish my armoire doors, so I'm just going to have to share the reveal a little later.  I know--you're on the edge of your seats.  (Humor me, alright?)

And I never got a chance to tell you that my parents and youngest brother, Seth came to visit at the beginning of February.  It was so wonderful!  I hadn't spent time with Seth in like a year and a half, so that was really a treat.  My kids about ran him ragged, but I'm so grateful for his being such a good sport.  What a good kid man he is.  My dad is always really fun company, and I don't have to tell you how much I love my mamacita.  I am so grateful to have had all of them.

Look at THESE beauties!  My kids did our hair like this and then my mom paid me 20 bucks to go grocery shopping like this.  A little uncomfortable, but not too bad :)

Oh, and my boy Skip turned 1!  He is so stinkin' darling.  We all seriously love that boy.   At now 13 months, he has finally started walking and we are all very proud and delighted.

And after about two minutes of trying, Danin started riding a bike without training wheels.  Her little training-wheeled bike had gotten a busted tire, so I picked up another bigger one at Good Will just to give it a whirl.  That is one tough, capable girl, I tell you.  She even learned to get on and get started on her own that very same day and is now riding all over the place everyday.

Aaaannnnd, Brian and I celebrated our 11th anniversary.  Let me tell you about my anniversary.  I had been looking forward to our 10-year wedding anniversary for some time.  I don't really know why...maybe because ten years is a significant milestone, or maybe because 10 years justifies my celebrating by treating myself to some shopping...But whatever the reason, I'd been excited for that 10 year anniversary.  And I know this is super lame, but one of my wishes for my tenth anniversary was to really look good for Brian and to feel like he was still attracted to me and happy with the decision he had made to choose me to be his wife--not that he chose me for my looks; I'm confident he didn't--and not that attraction is what will make a marriage last--we all know it isn't.  But you know what I mean, right?

Well, as fate would have it,  last year was our tenth wedding anniversary and I was not looking my best.  I had just had Skip---enough said;  aaannddd, we were in a fight.  Nice, I know.    So that left this year--our 11th anniversary--to be the year of redemption.    I needed it to be great.

Engagement picture

At some point in January, I was thinking about our upcoming anniversary and decided to get on Allegiant Air to see if there were any screaming deals on flights out of Eugene.  When I saw $29.99 one way tickets to Oakland/San Fransisco, I knew I needed to jump on them.  I'm not a super spontaneous kind of person--so this was a little out of my comfort zone-- but I felt like planning a trip would be a way to show Brian love.   I fear he sometimes laments the fact that he did not choose a funner wife, so this was my way of really doing something crazy and exciting :)  I decided that the only thing that would make an anniversary trip more exciting would be to have Jen and Tim with us, so I called them and asked them if they wanted to go with us.  They are super fun people, so they only had to think for a second before jumping on board.

This was taken right as we were boarding our ship on our Honeymoon

And let me tell you---we...had...so...much....fun.  Oh, my heavens.  It was so wonderful.  We walked around and ate down at Fisherman's Warf; we went to an old penny arcade; we rented bikes and rode all over the presidio and over the Golden Gate Bridge and down into Saucilito; we went to a movie; we went swimming; we took pictures in the same location at which they filmed the opening to Full House; we drove down Lombard Street; we visited a science museum and the Japanese Tea Gardens near Golden Gate Park; we ate at a fantastic taco shop down in the Mission District and at In'n'Out Burger at least  a hundred times (or maybe 3 or 4).....we talked and laughed and just enjoyed every minute together.  Man, it is so fun to have friends--another couple--with whom you can feel so comfortable and so relaxed.   Not counting a little freaking out on my part RIGHT at the end of the trip  (after being so good about not worrying so much about money the whole weekend, I totally lost it when I realized how much our rental-car upgrade cost...sigh....sorry, Jen and Tim), the trip really was perfect.   And you know what one of the best parts of it was for me?  I felt pretty!  I felt pretty...  Man, what a treat.    I got up for 4 mornings straight and showered, and did my hair and make-up, and put some real clothes on--and it felt great.  I looked pretty for Brian--or I felt pretty for Brian, rather.  But I'll take it.  I got my silly wish after all.  It was just a year late. :)

These are from a photo booth at the Penny Arcade.  They did not cost just a penny.

Did you know giraffes are my favorite animal?