Happy Anniversary!

Ryan and I have been married for 15 years! 15 years is a long time. The card Ryan gave me for our Anniversary made me laugh. The front cover said:

How can other couples who've been together as long as we have look so old when we still look so HOT? 

It doesn't feel like 15 years.  I suppose, at times, it feels like we are still newlyweds-- overwhelmingly in love as we figure life out together. But, most of the time, it feels like this has been my life forever-- just the way it is supposed to be. I love being Mrs. Ryan DeGraw! He makes it easy to love my job as his wife. He is kind, and patient, and makes me laugh. My love for him has grown beyond bounds over the last 15 years-- especially as I watch him be a father to my lucky children. I can't say enough good things about him-- and the best part is that I am the lucky gal who gets to be with him FOREVER!

On our anniversary, I filled our room with 15 balloons. This was a trickier task than anticipated due to a world-wide helium shortage. Also, a lot of places were stock piling the helium for Valentines Day (2 days later). I was relieved to find Walgreen's willing to sell me some balloons. In fact, I had a bit of a "Day-after-Thanksgiving-sale type frenzy" and bought 20 balloons instead of just the 15 I needed purely for the fact that they were a coveted item... and I got my hands on them! Anywhoooo...

I attached each balloon to an envelope that contained a memory from that year of our marriage. It was really fun to go through those with Ryan and remember some of the good times and hard times from this crazy joyride we are on together.

Also, Ryan surprised me with a weekend getaway in Salt Lake City (see I told you I was one lucky gal). We stayed at Little America-- which is where we stayed on our honeymoon. 

On our honeymoon, we ate our dinner at this table-- without our shirts on (simply because we were married, and could). This time around, we kept our shirts on for dinner... good thing too, because we ate at the Olive Garden, and I don't think that would have been appreciated by the other diners. Do you? 

This was the view from our room on the 16th floor.

We spent some time walking around temple square, and the new mall downtown. 

 We wanted a picture of the 2 of us, with a good picture of the temple in the background. It was a challenge, and we were laughing too hard at our failed attempts to ever really get what we were trying for, but we had fun.

Attempt #1

Attempt #2

Attempt #3

Attempt #4... There were many more attempts, but we finally gave up in a fit of laughter. 

We finally asked for help, and our photographer still managed to miss most of the temple. Oh well... you get the idea... we were at temple square,... in front of the temple... together. 

It was so fun being with one another, and eating out, and making out-- er,... I mean--  holding hands, and laughing. However, we realized that we do all of those things everyday of our marriage, in the comfort of our own home, for a lot less money than it cost us to get away. We missed our children terribly and agreed that next time we go on a romantic get-a-way, they are coming with us! 

They had so much fun at my parents, that I'm not sure they even realized we were gone. Thank you Mom and Dad, for taking them. 

Thank you Ryan for this great adventure (and I'm not just talking about the weekend). I love you Schmoopie!