Our days have not all been filled with sunshine and rainbows. But, we have had 10 amazing years and I would wager that we have managed to laugh at least once a day at something, even on those not so pretty ones.
Al is a wonderful partner-he is loving and sincere but never takes himself too seriously. We love to have fun together. We have just as much fun alone as we do in a large group. Together we are working to build a home where love and laughter abound.
Over the last 10 years we have built a life in Dallas that we cherish. It would take an amazing opportunity for us to even consider relocating. While we dated, Al talked often about working and living overseas. At the same time, I was dreaming of putting down roots and raising our family in one community surrounded by people who become lifelong friends who we consider family. Don't tell Al, but it looks like I might have won that one!
Certainly, the greatest joys have come with the pregnancy and birth of our 3 wonderful children. After living through a miscarriage in 2009, we are even more aware of how precious our little ones are. Hands down, Ely, Luke and Molly are our greatest gifts.
We certainly have shared many more wonderful events than tragedies but it has been both that have cemented our relationship. To date, the toughest thing we have gone through was loosing my dad 6 years ago. He had a huge impact on how we live our lives today and we owe him so very much.
When it came to planning my gift for Al, my thoughts went straight to our biggest passion-traveling. We have been fortunate to be able to travel a good bit since we married. Better yet, each time we took a trip together Al sent me a daily postcard journaling our location and daily activities. We have cherished these as much as we have our pictures. Since we were not able to travel for our anniversary, I decided to send Al down memory lane by making a book of all of our trips. The book includes a copy of each of the postcards and our favorite pictures from each and every vacation we took. Although it took quite a bit of time scanning all the postcards and pictures that were taken prior to digital cameras, it was so much fun reliving each and every trip. Al loved the book and I know we will enjoy it for years to come. It is our goal that our next 10 years are filled with wonderful family trips!
You might be wondering what Al did for me to celebrate our big day. Well, he gave me the perfect gift... A day off from my real life! A few weeks ago, I was sitting at the computer finishing up a blog on my busy day when all of the sudden, Al came home early. He told me to get dressed...right then. He had planned a perfect day for me. At 3 pm, my dear friends, Joanna and Lindsey popped into the bedroom bearing several bottles of champagne. They told me to pack my bags for a night away. Al had organized all 3 of us to have manis/pedis at Cold Water Creek Spa (the best pedis in Dallas!). Afterwards, we headed to the Galleria for some shopping. Al had given them some spending money for me to get some new clothes. The girls are Fabulous shoppers (Joanna is an actual professional) and in an hour and a half I was decked out with 5 new dresses. It was the best shopping trip I had ever been on. If that weren't enough, we then headed to the adolphus hotel to change and freshen up. Dinner was at Stephen Pyles in Dallas. We ate fabulous food, drank amazing wine, talked and laughed like only good girlfriends can. The night was capped off with a slumber party at the Adolphus Hotel. We slept in until 9am...it was like heaven! Our day of leisure ended with breakfast in bed.
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| Joanna and Linsey picking me up for our fun day |
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| Wonderful dinner at Stephen Pyles with even better company |
On the 28th we went to dinner while Emily and Grant generously watched over the kids for us. It was a great way to usher in our next 10 years! Here are some of our big moments over the last 10 years...
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| My favorite wedding picture - taken by Bess Remmert! |
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| Our last football game before we lost Dad. |
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| Our first family vacation |
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| Our first vacation as a family of 5! |
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