Last Friday, Chad and I celebrated our ten year anniversary. That's right, people. A decade of marital bliss. Usually we stink at celebrating anniversaries, but since this was a biggie, we decided we ought to do something. We had always talked about taking some sort of fun trip for our ten year anniversary, but I am far too pregnant to venture away from my comfy bed and full pantry. I guess the big trip will have to wait for our twentieth. Still, we couldn't let such an important day pass without some sort of acknowledgment. But what to do?

When Chad and I were first married we were dirt poor. Honestly, I look back now and am amazed that we didn't die. We didn't make enough money to pay our rent, let alone buy food. If it weren't for our generous parents, we would've starved for sure. Our typical date night then consisted of going to the grocery store and looking at all the super fancy cheeses and ice creams. We dreamt of being rich enough to adorn our dining room table with things like Gouda or triple double chunk chocolate overload ice cream. Who could afford such luxuries? Visions of celebrities gossiping over lavish bowls of Dreyer's Double Churned filled our minds as we walked hand and hand down the grocery store aisles. Then we'd go home, cook up a pot of rice and steamed veggies, and adjust the rabbit ears so we could catch a fuzzy episode of the Simpons. And that was date night. (I realize it sounds pathetic, but we were really, really happy). On very special occasions we would save up our money and "go out to dinner." Usually, we found ourselves with about $5 to spend on our night of wild financial abandon. Armed with this small fortune, we would plot our adventure. $1 would be spent on a bargain burrito at El Pollo Loco (the BRC was our burrito of choice). Another dollar or so would be spent on two cheapo cheeseburgers at McDonalds. Another $1 could get us a hot dog at the sub shop across the street. And thus our fast food scavenger hunt would continue until we had spent our allotted sum. Then our loot would be taken home, lovingly divided into two shares, and devoured. And somehow that $5 would buy us a feast worthy of royalty.

We have such happy memories of driving around in our broken down escort wagon, listening to Chad's amazing mixed tapes, and collecting our bargain feast. We were broke, but we were so happy. Somehow we knew that things would get better, and it made the hard times easier to bare. It was also a very formative time in our lives. We used that time to talk about our future--the future we wanted and were determined to build for ourselves. We dreamed about the kids we'd have, the house we'd live in, the success we would relish. I wouldn't trade those early days for anything in the world.

And so, for our ten year anniversary, we decided to pay homage to those original date nights. Except, this time we went to real restaurants. And we tipped our waitress. And we spent a little more than $5. It was so, so, so much fun. We started at Blue C Sushi and split a Cinco de Mayo roll. Then we went to Racha and split an appetizer tower. After which we split a delicious fruit filled crepe at Unicone. After a while, we chased it all down with some frozen yogurt and a pretzel. It was a ton of food and we were uncomfortably full to say the very least, but it felt so victorious to look back on the past ten years and realize just how much progress we've made. So many of the things we talked about on those first dates have come to fruition. We have two perfect kids and another miraculous baby on the way. We are home owners. Chad has a job that allows us to live comfortably and buy experiences for our children. Even better, he works from home! In all our wildest dreams we never would've imagined he could make money and be home. We are known to occasionally splurge on fancy cheese or on brand ice cream. Dreyers is no longer a luxury reserved only for the rich and famous! We are happy and healthy and excitedly making plans for our next ten years together.

I couldn't be more grateful for my amazing husband. I am so thankful for all the people, events and circumstances that brought us together a decade ago. And I am so excited to see what the next ten bring about.

Another One For the Grandmas

Okay, so if you don't happen to be a grandmother to my children, you can stop reading this post right now. I promise it won't interest you in the slightest. I've been running low on both witty and coherent thoughts of late. I'm going to chock it up to slightly mushy pregnant brain.

If you are a grandparent to my children, here is a video of the kids' winter 2009 exploits. First is a snippet of Mikey's school presentation on the Berlin Wall (he built a model out of Legos), next is the finale of the Nativity Play (in which Mikey was a wise man and Natty was a shepherd) and last is Natty's winter dance recital. We love you guys!!!