Anniversary Log

A couple years ago, I started something I wish I had done many years ago. I made an official record of all the ways we had celebrated our anniversary. If you want to see them all, here is the original list. Let me just add a few updates.

• 2010--Having moved to Olathe, we made a trip back to Albuquerque to help with the Pendergrass/Stoddard nuptials on the 12th. And when I say help, I mean it was a little bit of a Nelson side show. (Of course, when isn't it with my three lovelies?) Ryan stood up as a groomsman & performed part of the ceremony. Reed & Landis were ring bearers & Ashton a flower girl. Ryan & I even sang. We were blessed to be so involved with Amanda & PD at the beginning of their marital journey! While we were in Abq we were able to leave the kids at Miss Jacqui's (again!) for an evening, go BACK to that fab restaurant Antiquity, and spend the evening at MCM Elegante.
• 2006--Yes, I realize this is out of chronological order, but I have to take memories as they come or they are gone just as fast. Being part of the wedding last year reminded me that we were also blessed to be part of the ceremony of the Frazier/Smith on the 10th in 2006. Ryan performed the ceremony & I dusted off my wedding coordinator skills for the weekend. The evening of our 11th anniversary we enjoyed a delightful rehearsal dinner with Johanna & Ian and the wedding party.
• 2011--So, present day, we spent celebrating a few days early with an evening at the Holiday Inn (we love Hotwire.com) and splurged on room service! Our big kiddos were with Grandma & Grandpa for the week of VBS and Landis spent the night with our dear friends here in KC, the Kelly family. The day of our anniversary, Ryan worked all day on a treehouse for the kids (to surprise them). He, of course, asked for my blessing first. I told him later, I cannot think of anything that better embodies the blessings we have experienced in our marriage.

It is ultimately romantic. The thought would have delighted me on the day of our wedding. In fact, it still does.

A Happy Anniversary

God has blessed me with such an amazing husband! I am proud to be the wife of such a well-respected man! One thing that blesses me is how he strives to be himself no matter who he's with--me or you. I am excited to spend many more years with him, trusting God with our lives.

So I have decided that I needed to write down all the things we have done to celebrate our anniversaries over the years. There are FAR too many that I do not remember, so if you remember something I have left out, please help me out!

• 1995--Wedded Bliss!! We married on Friday night, drove to the Mansion at Elfindale in Springfield, then flew out the next day to the Smokey Mountains in North Carolina (via Nashville) for the week. We were too young to rent a car from most companies! Luckily, Enterprise accommodated us!
  
• 1996--High School Church Camp, at Camp Joshua, Siloam Spring, AR. No, we didn't wait long to dive into ministry. :)
• 1997-1999--Drawing a blank here..... Surely we did something!!
• 2000--This was our first year doing Plumbline Ministres, so surely we were in a camp somewhere!!
• 2001--This is the year that we began sharing our anniversary with Jeff and Stephanie Rickert! (Right, Steph? Do I have the right year?) We attended their wedding in TX, and then ate THE BEST FAJITAS ever!! Really, we talk about them still from time to time.
• 2002--Blank
• 2003--I was 8 months pregnant with Reed. I think we went a steak house in Fayetteville, and I ate a lot and probably got heartburn later (or maybe even right away)!
• 2004--We had just moved to Albuquerque at the beginning of the year, at the same time as Jeff and Stephanie (see above), so it was obvious that we would celebrate together!! We went to Japanese Kitchen, where they cook right at your table, and that night they shared their exciting news of a baby on the way!!
• 2005--10 years! Wow! We had plans to go to a Bed & Breakfast that night, but when we woke up, we had 1000's of ants swarming our bedroom. Really. Walking and flying. Really. It was not how I had envisioned my 10th anniversary! But after we dealt with that, we were able to enjoy an evening at the Lazy K (or some other letter?) Ranch in the mountains east of Albuquerque. This was also Reed's first night away from us. Oh, and I was pregnant with Ashton.
• 2006--Ashton was 6 months old, so I know there was no overnight stay. But I don't remember the celebration at all.
• 2007--Spent the entire weekend performing in the Patriotic Musical at church. I sang in the choir, Ryan played guitar. I don't know that we even had dinner together!
• 2008--We splurged and spent TWO nights at the Route 66 Casino west of Albuquerque. We ate at all of the restaurants on site and enjoyed the great accommodations. We felt as thought we should gamble a bit, so I played a dollar in the nickel slots and won $10! Then I played some more... and finally cashed out a $4.90, I think! Oh, well! Still ahead of the game!
• 2009--We celebrated a day early, took the kids to Miss Jacqui's (Landis too!) and got a room at the Hyatt Regency Downtown. Then we ate at a WONDERFUL restaurant in Old Town called Antiquity. The Green Chile Chicken Stew was incredible and the veal I had was amazing!! And then, today, we found out the GREAT NEWS that we will be planting a church in Olathe, KS!! We could not have asked for a better anniversary gift than the affirmation of our future!!

Thank you, Ryan, for 14 great years! I am blessed beyond measure to be married to you! Thank you for treating me like a queen and showing me what it means to live by faith! I love you!