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!!!

Natty Patty Pumpkin Head

I apologize up front for all the Natty quotes I've been posting lately. I just can't help it though. She is going through a phase where everything out of her mouth cracks me up. Today's top picks:

To me (after holding the bathroom door open for her at school): "Why thank you, my darling."

To Chad: "Our love will make a bridge"

To Mikey: "I'm actually really glad I don't live in Hawaii. They don't have any beds or houses and coconuts are their only drinks. I don't think they've even invented clothes yet." (apparently her knowledge of Hawaii all stems from reruns of Gilligan's Island)

Wait--it's December?!?

Seriously? December already? How and when did that happen? I wish there was some way to slow this time of year down just a little. I love the holiday season so much and there is never enough time to enjoy it all! I vote for an extra month of Christmas this year!!!

The week of Thanksgiving, we decided to head out to Portland with Mac & Ange and do some tourist-ing. We've driven through Portland several times, but never actually stopped there. We found a killer deal on the only five star hotel in the city (called The Nines). It was a super swanky hotel in the heart of the city. There was a sexy little restaurant in the middle of the hotel and all the rooms had windows looking into it. It was always dimly lit, with candle light and the whole nine yards. In a few spots there were balconies on the upper floors that overlooked the restaurant so that you could stand there and listen in to the hustle and bustle. It was on such a balcony that Natty leaned over and announced for all the diners to hear: "Hey--I just farted!!!" Also, the Bulls just happened to stay there the same night we did. I don't know anything about basketball at all, but we rode in an elevator with someone on the team and we watched them load up their tour bus/trailer. It was pretty cool.

While we were there we visited a couple neat Portland places. First, we hit up Voodoo Donuts. We learned about the place on a Food Network show called Man vs. Food. I think it was also on Donut Paradise. Anyway, it's a totally cheesy bakery that specializes in weird donuts. They used to make donuts with things like peptobismol in them, but they got in trouble for that, so now they stick to ingredients like Tang and Fruitloops. Their claim to fame are little voodoo doll shaped donuts filled with raspberry jelly and served with a pretzel stick (so you can jab the doll and make the jelly ooze, of course). The donuts were really, really good. And just plain fun.

We then headed over to Fabric Depot--perhaps the largest fabric store in the nation. It was seriously huge. Chad patiently let me mill around for awhile and gawk at all the patterns and fabrics. I picked up a super cute pattern for baby girl dresses. Now I just have to get ambitious enough to make one. After the fabric store we jetted over to Powell's--the largest book store in the nation. Powell's made Fabric Depot look like a coffee shop! It was literally the size of an entire city block. And it was full of the coolest new & used books ever. We found some old choose your own adventure books (remember those?) and I got a book on making cute stuffed animals out of socks. So fun. Finally, we headed over to Ground Kontrol, an old school arcade where all the games were either 25 or 50 cents. They had all the classics like PacMan and Bubble Bobble. And the ultimate highlight of the trip for me--I got to play Paperboy (my favorite game in the world) with bike handle controls. Oh so fun!

(Swanky restaurant in hotel)


(Mikey eating a Voodoo Donut)


(Natty doing a happy dance at Ground Kontrol)



Overall, it was a really fun trip. We were super curious about Portland because we'd heard from so many that it was a cooler, hipper, more artsy Seattle. We love Seattle, so if there was a chance there was somewhere better out there, well, we just had to give it a try. But, poor Portland doesn't hold a candle to our beloved Emerald City. There is just something so magical about the Puget Sound. I can't imagine a better city existing anywhere!

After exploring Portland, we hurried home and cooked up a Thanksgiving Feast. We cooked all the traditional dishes on our own this year. It was delicious and it was all done at the same time. I was very happy with myself. However, in typical Perkins fashion, we over did it by a tad. Suffice it to say, it took us two days to clean up and a week to eat all the leftovers.

And, a few of my favorite kid moments from November:

Mikey to Natty: "Well, I'm a very temperate man."

Natty to mom: "You're the bestest mom in all of history. Even China"
me: "Really? You think so?"
Natty (shrugging): "I don't know"

Natty to Mikey: (in a very confident tone) "Oh no. It's a very delicate pen...(shouting now) Mom! Whats delicate mean?"

Natty: "Sometimes when people talk about love it makes tears in my eyes"

Another Natty Moment

It seems like lately I've spent more time at the dr's office than I have at home. Between routine visits and sick visits, I've been there nearly every week for the past few months. At least that's what it feels like. So, today when Natty woke up her left eye was pink and swollen shut. Which meant another trip out to Valley Medical. Natty is fine. It is just eczema on her eyelid, so she's not contagious and doesn't need any medication. Just ice packs and unscented lotion. I'm glad she's not sick, but I always feel like a chump when I sit at the office for hours only to be prescribed ice and lotion (both things I had at home already, thank you very much). Today's trip was worth it though, for the cute conversation Natty had with the doctor.

Doctor: "Okay Natty. I want you to look at this chart. There are ten faces on here. This face (pointing to the far left of the chart) is smiling. It isn't feeling any pain. This one (pointing to the far right) isn't happy. It doesn't feel good. Point to the face that shows me how you feel."

Natty points to the far left smiley face.

Doctor: (looking at Natty's very swollen eye) "You mean your eye doesn't hurt at all? It looks like your eye must hurt a little. Look, this face is happy."

Natty: "Well, I can still be happy."

What a cutie!!!

Back In The Day

Natty: "Mom, did you know in the '80's they didn't even have toothbrushes? They had to make their own out of wood. That would be hard to live in the '80's, huh?"

Me: "Wow. That sounds tough. How long ago was the '80's?"

Natty: "A real long time."

Me: "Was it before or after the dinosaurs?"

Natty: "Before. Before the dinosaurs. It was a real long time ago."

The Ramblings of a Wee One

Natalie: "Mom, I'm bored and hungry." [we were sitting in a piano store waiting for Chad and Mikey to pick out some Christmas sheet music] "Can you give me a million dollar bill or something to love?"

Me: "Sorry Natty, I don't have either."

Natalie: "Really? In your purse?"