14th anniversary

I can't quite believe that we celebrated 14 years of marriage!  That just sounds like a long time, but when I stop and think about the years before kids and the years with kids, it seems more possible that it could have actually been that long.

In those years, we lived in a pink house in Provo, UT a townhouse in Arlington, TX, an apartment in Grand Prairie, TX, an apartment in Doral, FL, a townhouse (which we owned) in Pembroke Pines, FL, Jerry and Bev's house (about 4 months) in Flower Mound, TX, and our current home in Grand Prairie, TX.  

During that time, Kevin graduated from college and took his first job at Certifit, I started my Master's Program at UT Dallas, Kevin asked to be put on the bottom of the "moving list" so that I could hopefully finish my program, Kevin was promoted to Store Manager of the Miami store, I graduated remotely (I had one semester left!) from my program in Communication Disorders, I passed my exit exams and officially had my license to practice Speech Language Pathology, I completed a Half Marathon with Daleth, Kevin completed a Triathlon with Andre, we bought our first home, we pursued fertility treatments, moved back to Texas when Kevin was offered the Dallas store,  got pregnant with our first baby,  purchased a business in Missouri, served in numerous church callings, dealt with the closing of the aforementioned business, had a baby boy, adjusted to life with two kids, got pregnant with a baby girl which we lost at 16 weeks, continued to work and serve and raise our busy kids, got pregnant with a baby boy which we lost at 14 weeks, and through it all, we've been able to grow closer together and build upon our love for one another. Those years have been filled with unbelievable happiness, but also trials and sadness.  But I can honestly say that the sad times have forced me to rely on Kevin even more and I think our relationship is stronger because of it.  I am incredibly grateful for the life we have created together and I feel so much peace knowing that we are sealed together for time and all eternity to each other, to Brooke and Colby, and to our two angel babies. 

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Our anniversary was on a Wednesday this year, and since we had our anniversary weekend getaway to look forward to, we didn't really have any plans for that day. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do something to celebrate our family's "birthday" since that's essentially when everything started.  We used to love going to P.F. Changs when we lived in Florida, so I thought it would be fun to order take-out and eat dinner at home together. 

I ordered a "Dinner for Two", which included egg drop soup, lettuce wraps, Mongolian Beef, chicken lo-mein, and of course, some fortune cookies.  It was perfect for our family, and the kids were totally into the chopsticks. I only have a picture of Colby, but Brooke's favorite was the soup and Colby's favorite was the beef. They were both willing to try everything, which completely surprised me.  Maybe we need to branch out a bit with our weekly menu so we can increase their exposure to new and different foods :)

Our weekend getaway was so wonderful!  We stayed at a Hilton in the middle of the Southlake Town Center.  I love that plaza, and the fact that it's only about 30 minutes from Grandma and Papa's house was perfect in case the kids needed us.  We checked into the hotel, then decided to walk out and do some shopping,  The Governor of Texas had recently re-issued a mask order, which meant that we had to wander the outdoor shops in our masks.  Obviously, that's less than ideal, but I didn't want that to spoil our weekend.  I was giving Kevin a hard time that his mask perfectly matched his shirt (Cookie Monster blue), but then I realized that mine matched my shirt as well, haha. Let's just pretend that it was intentional, okay??

After shopping for a few hours, we headed back to our hotel to change and head back out for dinner.  As we left the lobby, I spotted a couple trying to take their picture by the fountain.  The girl had propped up her phone with her purse and they were trying to get the angle just right.  I offered to take their picture, which they were super happy about, and then I didn't feel silly asking them to take ours. 

We were pretty indecisive about dinner because we had a few really great options, but we settled on Brio Tuscan grille, which was right in the town square.  We had to wear our masks into the restaurant and they had every other table blocked off so that we could adequately "social distance" from other restaurant patrons, but other than that, it felt like a normal date, haha.  We shared a wedge salad, I ordered a spicy vodka pasta with pancetta, and Kevin ordered a filet mignon with roasted potatoes.  The food was delicious, and even though we talked about random stuff, like Kevin being the Homecoming prince, school dances, dating stories, and first kisses, etc, it was so nice to have uninterrupted time together.

We intended to browse Barnes and Noble after dinner, but I didn't realize that everything had modified hours due to the virus and most retail stores were closed.  Luckily, Milwaukee Joe's was NOT closed, so we shared some yummy ice cream on our walk around the town square.

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, going to the pool, and reminiscing about the last 14 years.  I definitely married a good one, and I hope he always feels the same about me, haha.