Seventeen Years

Saturday, Shad and I celebrated our seventeenth year of marriage.  Seventeen years!  Yes, that is a long time.  I know it, you know it, we’re getting old…either that or we just got married reeeeealy young.  OK, maybe it’s a little of both.  When I got married at age 19, I thought I was so mature and totally ready for marriage.  Looking back I am so glad I did get married at age 19, but I wonder how I would feel if Hannah came to me at 19 with a ring on her finger.  I asked my mom about that one time and she said that it was OK because Shad and I had been together for a long time already and that we were ready.  Wow, I hope I am that accepting when my kids get older. 

Rabbit trail:  We were driving to church yesterday and Bethany kept saying, “faster Daddy!”  I lamented to Shad that we are going to be in trouble when our girls get older because they both love it when Daddy drives fast.  I told him that they are going to bring home boys that are just like he was when he was a teenager.  I said, “they are going to drive big trucks that are loud and peel out all over the neighborhood just like you did and the girls are going to like it…just like I did!”

I feel so blessed to be married to Shad.  He is a loving husband (and dad), a man of integrity who works so hard to do his best at everything he does, he loves God, and I love being with him.  Every year for our anniversary we make it a point to celebrate it.  A wedding anniversary is very important and should be celebrated.  It’s a special milestone that needs to be recognized and we don’t let one go by without, at the very least, a date.

This year I had to laugh.  It was a true testament to the fact that we have been married for a long time and that we have 3 kids.  While I was in the kitchen preparing a meal for the kids to eat with the babysitter because we wanted to save a few bucks and not order pizza, Josh was doing yet another experiment from his Totally Irresponsible Science book (important lesson, if it says irresponsible on the cover, probably should try to avert your 8 year old son’s attention to a different book at the library) and Bethany was up in her crib yelling because she was clearly not going to nap that day, Shad walked in with a lovely card and a bouquet of flowers.  It was like a scene from a sitcom.  As I hugged Shad in thanks, I quickly remembered that I forgot to wrap Shad’s gift and sign his card.  So, while the cheese sauce was only moments away from scorching I quietly grabbed the first gift bag I could (Doc McStuffins!) and ran upstairs to “wrap” Shad’s gift.  Thankfully, he loved the 2 new dress shirts and the new Third Day CD (yes, we still buy CDs).  Phew!  After the babysitter arrived and I was sweating from trying to get ready, we were off.

One of our favorite places to eat at gorge ourselves at is the Cheesecake Factory, so we headed south for about 30 minutes.  Yes, we sat down at our table at ten minutes to 5, just like the old folks that we are.  (We actually discussed whether that was too early, but we were hungry so we decided we didn’t care.)  Dinner was so good and way too much, but what we really go there for is the dessert.  Shad had his usual white chocolate raspberry cheesecake and I tried a new one that sounded interesting, mango key lime cheesecake.  Oh.my.goodness!  It was so delicious.  It had a thin layer of a mango glaze on top of an inch thick layer of key lime cheesecake on top an inch thick layer of a mango swirled cheesecake with a coconut macaroon crust.  After my first bite and allowing each flavor to make itself known all I could say was that it tasted like I was eating Hawaii.  Oh it was so good!

Since the restaurant was conveniently located at one of my favorite malls and because Nordstrom is just down the hall and because that Nordstrom just happens to have one of the best shoe departments ever, we headed there next.  I finally decided to jump on the band wagon and wanted a pair of Toms shoes.  I tried on a few different styles and, in true Becky form, the ones I liked the best were too big and it turned out there was only one pair of 7.5’s in any Nordstrom in the country (Florida!), so they had to order them for me.  (They should be arriving in the next few days!)  Shad was not surprised by this turn of events.  One thing I love about Shad is that he knows me.  I have always said, and will probably always say, the best gift anyone can give me is the gift of guilt-free shopping.  He’s just so good that he doesn’t just give me a gift card, he TAKES me shopping. 

After wandering around the mall, our next stop was a movie.  A movie that did not involve princesses, Lego guys or minions and was not animated.  It was a very grown up film with important life lessons…we saw the Lone Ranger.  And, while it was definitely not an Oscar worthy film, it was action packed, funny and entertaining.  It was just what we were looking for.  Alas, after the movie, it was time to head home and relieve the babysitter.  My favorite part of the date was this part, driving  home.  Shad and I telling each other what a gift the other is to us, remembering how young we were when we got married but also being so thankful that we got to get married so long ago, and discussing how far we have come.  Being married to Shad has been a gift and the fact that we have grown closer together over the years is the icing on the cake.