10 Years!

Last week (June 5) Brad and I celebrated ten years of marriage!  It's hard to believe it's been that long and crazy to think how much has happened since then.  We really wanted to take time to celebrate and do something special but in our life stage it's hard to make it happen.  I would have loved to head off for a week to an all inclusive resort on a beach somewhere but that just wasn't in the cards for now.  I also would have loved to have a night or a weekend for just the two of us but that wasn't going to happen either.  With Mason being so little still it's hard to leave him over night.  He has had a lot more separation anxiety than the other two did so it was hard enough to leave him for a day!  We were able to leave him with a friend for the day (Thanks, Anne!) and the big boys (and the dog) spent the entire weekend at Grandpa's house! 

The actual day of our anniversary was more like any other day.  It was pretty busy with things to do.  It was the first day that both Brad and Micah were finally out of school.  Brad got up that morning to take the GRE which was the final piece missing from his application to graduate school.  That afternoon I drove the kids to my dad's and then came back that evening to work at the church.  I was pleasantly surprised though when first thing that day I received an anniversary gift!  Brad gave me a tradition gift of tin/aluminum!  I thought it was sweet and creative!  I didn't get him anything....oops!

The next day was when we officially celebrated.  We dropped the baby off in the morning and I felt encouraged that our parting was peaceful.  When I left him in Anne's arms he wasn't screaming or crying for me at all (so rare)!   Then we headed towards Indiana to visit Turkey Run State Park.  First on our agenda was another surprise from Brad.  Horseback riding!  the only other time I've been on a horse was ten years ago on our honeymoon.  At that time I had to ride in the pouring rain so this was nice since there wasn't a cloud in the sky!  I have to admit I was a little nervous since I don't have a lot of experience.  At the start of the ride I was worried I would fall off but I listened to instruction and as the ride went on I was able to relax and enjoy it!  My horse was very good too.  He followed right along the trail just like he was supposed to and only attempted to stop for a snack once!  His name is Jack.

After that we headed off for our picnic.  Since it was our anniversary, I insisted we should have a "fancy" picnic.  We got some fancy cheese, crackers and meat, a bottle of Moscato and some fancy chocolate!  We even borrowed a nice picnic basket but never actually used it since everything was already in our cooler. (Hey, we've been married ten years some things you just don't worry about!)  We enjoyed all of it but not so much the bugs!  We should have packed a citronella candle!  After lunch we headed for a hike.  We had planned to stick with the moderate trails but then decided we would start out on one of the more rugged trails.  This was Brad's first time at Turkey Run and something about the outdoors really opened him up!  Once we started on the rugged trail he was just like a kid!  He loved all the climbing and plunging through the water.  He kept talking about how he wanted to bring the cross country team out there (even though he does not coach cross country) and he also kept saying he felt like he wanted to go for a run!  We hiked on part of the rugged trail and then crossed over to a more moderate one but we hiked for about 2 hours!  We really enjoyed ourselves but by the end of the day I was tired!

We had hoped to hang out by the pool for a bit but it was closed so we headed back.  When we got home we headed out for a pedicure (and yes, Brad got one too!)  I'm not sure he will admit to it or not but he really enjoyed it!  Then we had a nice dinner before picking up the baby.  Even though we didn't get to do anything extravagant we had a really nice day together doing things we don't normally do.  I love that we were able to be active and totally relaxed since we didn't have to worry about kids.  We didn't even have cell reception out there so there was no way I could get distracted by the kids!  I'm so glad that I've been able to be with my best friend for the past ten years and look forward to the next ten!