12 Years

Matthew and I celebrated out 12 year anniversary this weekend, Sunday the 19th to be exact. I babysat kids from the co-op I am in all week last week to earn enough coupons so that we could have a date night on Friday (4 kids for three hours = 12 coupons and that is a lot of babysitting for me!). We had a wonderful night, but we laugh at how most people would find a date nights rather mundane. We went to Blue Baker (love it!) and split a BBQ chicken wood fired pizza that was EXCELLENT! It was so good to get to sit and eat without having to refill cups, grab some more napkins, wipe up spilled drinks or dodge food being thrown by Philip. We actually got to have some "adult" conversation, although I admit it often turns to talking about the kids. After we ate we went browsing through Hobby Lobby, (again, not saying "walk behind me" and "don't touch anything!" was very nice), Sam's and finally made a quick run to the store. After we picked the kids up and got home, we put the kids in bed, put on a fire log (yes, that's right it was 100 degrees during the day, but we love the "ambiance" - don't judge us!) and watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire while we snacked on some Gouda and crackers. It was a very good night.

This is not to say that we would not love to get out of town, stay in a nice hotel, eat at a fancy restaurant and get each other nice gifts. But, we love being able to do what we can and feel blessed to have what we do.

I am just now starting to understand what people mean when they say "it feels like it was just yesterday". It truly does. We have been through so much together - four kids, several jobs, school, health troubles, and more good times than I can name - and I feel so blessed to have Matthew as my best friend and truly thank God that He sent him to me.