five years!

If you are a reader of this blog, 5 years ago today you were most likely all dressed up getting your picture taken, or getting ready to be a part of our wedding in some way. It's hard to believe it was just 5 years ago right now that I was slipping my wedding gown over my head, excited for what was to come. And at the same time, I can't believe it's already five years since that wonderful day that I will forever remember fondly.

I had a post started that was, well, a little sappy. I decided that those words were better shared privately with my husband rather than the world wide web. But, not wanting to let this 5 year anniversary pass without a post of some sort I thought I would keep it a little light-hearted. Maybe after 5 years you want to learn some things about us that you didn't know...

How did you meet?

Steve and I met at a mutual friend's cabin in Wisconsin on the 4th of July 7 years ago. Steve was friends with a girl named Steph whose parents owned the cabin. I was friends and went to college with Steph's older brother. We were each invited through different avenues, and ended up at the same place at the same time

Was it love at first sight?

Um, no I don't think either of us would call it that. However, I do remember Steve was wearing a yellow hat and I asked a friend "who's mr. yellow hat over there? he's cute". Later it was I who approached Steve to talk with him. We ended up having a very, very long conversation one evening, and it was this conversation that initially attracted me to him.

When was your first date?

Hard to say. The day after returning from the cabin, Steve had his friend Steph call me to invite me over to his house with the rest of the crew (remind you of 6th grade??). Was that our first date? We then had lunch downtown later that week. I remember that was the first time I had seen him wearing something other than mesh shorts and a t-shirt and I thought, wow, he's even better looking than I thought.

What did you wear on your first date?

Well, I have no idea. Especially since I am not sure what our "official" first date was. I have no idea what I wore, but I do remember Steve had on khaki pants and an orange dress shirt when we went to lunch. Our "other" first date was dinner at Lucia's and Steve instead of flowers brought me an umbrella since I had gone into work soaked one day that week having not had an umbrella. I thought that was pretty romantic. Oh and he had on linen pants and a light blue shirt that made his eyes stand out. Funny the details we do remember!

When did you start "dating"?

Ahem, Steve's version of this tends to differ slightly but I do very vividly remember sharing some wine on his deck on our 3rd or 4th date and him asking quite boldly and out of the blue "So, are we exclusive?". Not prepared for that I wasn't sure what to do...but we were pretty much dating exclusively from there on out. With the exception of the week that I "dumped him" (as Steve says) for no apparent reason.

Did you know that Steve was going to propose when he did?

After enduring many "false" proposals (Steve would stop in the middle of dinners out and say he had something important to say, or would start to get down on one knee and then get back up again) - I did not know when Steve was actually going to propose. Steve actually did propose when we were in New York for a weekend, and without knowing it I made this feat much more difficult that maybe it should have been!

At the airport on the way there he stepped away from his bags for a minute to get a drink and I told him that I had dug through his bags and didn't find a ring so obviously we weren't getting engaged that weekend. I had not gone through his bags, and was completely joking but Steve freaked out (b/c there WAS a ring in there) and told me that if I was going to act like that then we might as well just not go because we were NOT getting engaged that weekend.

Later in the flight I further agonized him (unknowingly) by taking the joke further and telling him that if he had been planning to propose it would have been pretty romantic to propose on the ice rink at Rockfeller Center.

A few days later I found out that was exactly what he had planned. Guess I made him sweat a bit! But I was surprised, shocked and thrilled when he did.

What is your favorite date you two have been on?

That's a hard one because we have a lot of pretty low key dates...I enjoy these because they are relaxing and it's nice to get away from the kids and just have time with the two of us. I do remember fondly a date when he left the house, and came back and rang the doorbell of our home and "picked me up" for our date with flowers. This was sometime after Anna was born. I remember it made me feel like "more than just a mom" which I needed at that point. Our trip to New York still stands out in my mind as my very favorite weekend spent together - even if you take out the getting engaged part. We just had a blast the entire weekend.

Does Steve still own his red mesh shorts? If so, why haven't you thrown them out?

If you know Steve, you know and have seen his red mesh shorts. He had them on the day I met him 7 years ago and even then they must have been about 10 yrs old. They are now pretty much pink and yes...he still has them. He even wore them a few days ago. Really?!!

I can't bring myself to throw them out. That would be like throwing away someone's lovey. Steve loves his red mesh.

That's all I can think of writing about for now...at least without getting myself into trouble. Not something I want to do on my anniversary! :)