15th Wedding Anniversary....we still do!

Some days it feels like its been 15, yet others it feels like just yesterday.  Being married has been one of the best decisions of my life and one of the biggest blessings!  So thankful for Jay and what he means to me!  Let's do 50 more!

Our 10th Anniversary!

 Jay and I's 10 year anniversary is Friday, June 7th, however since we will be traveling on that day we decided to celebrate a few days early while the kids were away at Lolli's house.  We had been wanting to try out a new restaurant called Flight so we went there for dinner.  

The weather was beautiful so we sat out on the patio and people watched while we ate.  We saw carriages and trolleys stroll through

We agreed not to do gifts and to save our money.  However he surprised me with something far better than money could buy.  On the night before he proposed he sat down and wrote 3 letters: 

1. He sent a note home with me the night he proposed by sneaking it in my purse.  When I got home I found it and cried lots of tears of happiness that God had given me such a wonderful man!
2. He also sent me one to my hotel room the morning we married.  Lots more tears of course!
3. Then, he wrote a 3rd (and final he says) letter for our 10 year anniversary. 

So when we sat down to exchange cards, he had two to give me.  The first was a letter (card) he had made for me which was precious but then he gave me a second.  It was the letter he wrote the night before he proposed {now 11 years ago}.  I really had to hold it together since we were sitting at dinner and there were people all around us.  I was biting my tongue, swallowing hard and trying to act normal when our waitress came to refill our drinks.  I was in awe of his thoughtfulness and so thankful he is mine hopefully for many more years!

Flight is a cool restaurant!  They offer "flights" for all courses (wine, appetizers, soup, salads, main course and dessert) which means a small portion (1/3's) of meals so that there are literally 5000 options for dinner.  Three flights together make the size of one entree.

We shared a salad flight and all three were delicious but the one I thought would be my least favorite was both of our favorites...the watermelon balsamic salad...YUM!

I chose 2 flights for my diner instead of 3 because I knew I wouldn't eat 3 of them.  I ordered the chicken and waffles on the left and the sirloin on the right...both were great!

Jay ordered a flight of 3 starting with flounder, then lobster, then the bison ribeye.  He liked all three but the middle wasn't his favorite because it was sweet.

Instead of traditional dessert, we chose to get the fruit and cheese flight for dessert instead.  It was good!  The cheeses were very different but all delicious and the duck sausage was good too.

I didn't get a single good picture of us out of several but that is what you get when someone else is taking the pictures.

After dinner we decided to go walk around near Harbortown and it was beautiful!  We walked around down by the river and drove through looking at some of the houses.  It is such a neat community but not a place we will ever be able to afford ha!

We had talked about going somewhere else to share a dessert but after walking around we were still so full that we just came home and had coffee at home.  I sure do love that we have fun no matter where we are and thankful for the 10 years I have had with him!  Hoping for MANY more!

Last day at sea

Today was a Sea Day and it was wonderful!  And although many of the days were overcast, today happened to be really sunny most of the day until a storm rolled in that afternoon.  Great day for laying out in the sun!

 Over the course of the whole cruise, I read 2 books.  I read The Vow first and it was great.  It is a Christian novel based on a true story and is a story of what love should be for all of us, unwavering and unconditional.  If you haven't read it, please do. It is an easy read I read it in one day.  There is also a movie out based on this book and I can't wait to watch it!

The second book I read was The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks.  I read it in a couple of days and it took was a great book.  I can't wait to see the movie for this one also!

 Late afternoon a storm rolled in and it was so neat to watch.  I am normally terribly afraid of storms but these were great to see.  

Our last night on the ship before dinner...

These were some of our appetizers that night...

It was a wonderful anniversary trip...very relaxing time for this busy momma but most of all, enjoyed the time spent with Jay.  I am one lucky girl.  :)

Our 9th Anniversary in Key West, FL!

First of all, Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband!  So thankful for him and for the years we have already spent together.  Looking forward to many, many more!

Jay has been to Key West before but it was years ago when he was in high school, but I had never been.  I heard it was beautiful and couldn't wait to see it!

Sunrise....

Waiting to get off of the ship....

Key West is such a neat town.  We had planned to just rent mopeds that day instead of doing an excursion but decided to do a train tour so that we would know what we were looking at.  The town has so much history and although I don't remember a lot of it, it was very interesting.

The presidential gate....they only open it for U.S. Presidents when they come to town.  It has only been open for 22 that have come to Key West.

Their houses are beautiful and so unique.

It is very common to see the porch roofs painted blue....

This is the local Elementary school and today was their last day of school for the year.

We drove past the beach on our tour although we didn't get to enjoy it.

The landscape and plants in Key West are just amazing!  So beautiful!

 Ernest Hemingway's home...

A bar that was opened in 1890 and still running....

Highway 1 that begins and ends in Key West and goes all the way up to Maine!

My favorite part of Key West was getting to go to the Southernmost Point in the United States.  Of course we had to wait the line out and take our picture there!

 This guy was making bowls and hats out of these leaves....so neat!

We walked down to the harbor and at lunch at the Conch Republic Seafood Company...Jay had to get his seafood in since I can't eat it.

 Interesting tree....

Our tour guide was telling us that this house was the most recent sold in Key West for the pocket change amount of only SIX MILLION...yikes!

Headed back to the ship...

We docked at the Naval Station and got to see the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard didn't play around.  As we were coming in to port and leaving, they rode next to us all the way in and out armed with machine guns.  Glad they were there to protect our country!

For our anniversary evening, instead of doing the dinner/show thing, we changed our minds at the last minute and decided to just get comfy, eat pizza and spend some time together on our favorite Serenity deck.  It was just what the doctor ordered.

Happy 9th anniversary to the love of my life!  I love you babe to the moon and back!