Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Milestones...

As a parent, I find myself looking for milestones to celebrate with my kids... I cheer wildly when Tank attempts a new word or uses a baby sign... Doodle gets a lot of praise when she performs a song (performances usually include a whole album)... I take photos of everything I can think of to commemorate their existence. I can say that the photo books are for them to look at in the future, but that would be a partial lie... The truth is that I don't want to forget a single experience of their growing up. I know I will, but I'm going to do my best not to!

What I'm not so great at is finding those milestones with hubby. We're the "live each day to the fullest" type of people who don't really wait for a big occasion to go out to a nice dinner or buy gifts (in fact, gift giving is quite difficult as we both work and usually buy ourselves whatever we need whenever we can). Because of this, our milestones aren't celebrated like many I see on Facebook... I just love him every day, try to praise him (and not follow it with nagging), and enjoy all of the little things that make life so great.

Last night Grandma had the kids and we weren't sure what to do with ourselves... it had been a long day for both of us and I was in a slightly crabby mood (I needed sleep). Hubby and I went back and forth about where to go. He then suggested Melting Pot, and while I fought the idea of such an expense, he insisted... and we had a wonderful dinner.

There's just something about cheddar-cheesy fondue that makes all of my worries melt away... We've reached a balance with their "Big Night Out" where he gets all of the seafood and we share all of the other savory goodies... The new Orange Dark Chocolate dessert sealed the deal... it was just a great dinner.

As we chatted through the evening, I thought about the date and something clicked... Last night marked exactly ten years from when we met. I can't get over how much has happened in that time... college graduations, new jobs, buying our first house, bringing home two dogs, adding two children to the mix, selling our first house, and moving into the house that we'll be in for the next 30+ years. If someone, during that first dinner at the Spaghetti Factory in Indianapolis, told me that the cute blond guy that spoke so passionately about the School of the Americas during his research presentation would be the same man who would lie next to me in bed and rub my wrists when they ache... I would have rolled my eyes and grabbed another margarita.

It's funny how life works out... one morning you're leaving for a research conference and by that night you've met your future husband.

That, my friends, is certainly a milestone worth celebrating.

The 2004 pic is actually the 1st photo we were in together... despite awful lens flare
and my jerky Hubby making sure he looks as tall as possible, I do love that it exists.


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