Happy Anniversary

24 years!  How the hell does that happen?  I've been a Hyzy equally as long as I was a Hall.  How weird is that.  I remember my mom saying something similar once, that she'd been a Hall longer than she was a Horn and now I'm moving in on that milestone.
It was a very quiet day.  We exchanged cards and went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  So yummy!
It's been quite the 24 years.  I would say 95% good times, some rough patches but that's to be expected when you are with the same person, day in and day out... 2 beautiful amazing kids... a success all the way around!

Ended the evening with this amaze balls cheesecake.  Jesus, I only ate half of it, but I'll probably have  to run freaking 45 miles to burn off the calories. Carpe Diem!

Happy Anniversary!

23 Freaking.Years!   Good God, how does that happen?  Sometimes I don't feel like I'm old enough to have done anything for 23 years!  It's been a good 23years.  I think what no one tells you when you get married is that it's also a lot of hard work and if you are lucky the good parts, outweigh the difficult parts and make it easier to get through the hard work.  We're definitely heavy on the good part!!  Much to be thankful for.

It also happened to be Superbowl Sunday… so we celebrated with our cul-de-sac, we ate too much, probably drank a little too much and had a great party.  The game sucked… total blow out for the wrong team… even the commercials sucked, but you can't go wrong with good friends and good food.

Today, we met for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings and then went refrigerator shopping.  Which actually turned out really nicely.

Our garage refrigerator's freezer quit working and the house refrigerator's ice maker broke down, so we decided to just suck it up and buy a nice new one.  I know First World Problems. I was very excited, because we picked out a beautiful, humongous french door model… only to discover that the spot we have is too small for it. The people who remodeled this kitchen really ended up making it difficult for us to replace appliances.  It seems we never get more than one or two choices, because they remodeled this kitchen for very specific appliances. :o(  Nevertheless, we found one that would fit and it's very nice.  Anything new is always nice.

Happy Anniversary to ME!

Today is my one year anniversary of being caffeine free!  Yeah for me!

Who would have thought - one year!  I don't even really miss it!

We're back...

Well we made it back safe and sound, no fiery crashes, no terrorists taking hostages, no flesh-eating bacteria, no icebergs - you get the picture.

We had a very nice time. We sailed on the Majesty of the Seas and discovered once we got there that it was the smallest and oldest ship in Royal Caribbean's fleet. We also discovered that the median age on this particular cruise was about 70! Not that it mattered to John and I since we were in bed by 930pm most nights. We're not big drinkers or big dancers so we played all day and were exhausted by night time, so it didn't matter that the disco's were playing Frank Sinatra and the shows were geared to the Golden Girls theme! :o)

We still enjoyed the drinks, the sun, the pool and the beaches and it also meant if we were willing to take the stairs we could beat the elevators down and be first in the dining room! The elevators were slow with all those walkers and canes loading in. It also made me realize maybe we're not as old as we feel. These people were still cruising and they were at least 20 years older than us. The one thing I will say is those old people can dance! You slap some Frank Sinatra on the old turn-table and those oldies will cut a rug!

Key West was our first stop and we really like it. We hit the Southernmost Point, Butterfly Conservatory and Hemingway's House. It was very cool. A bunch of fun touristy shopping and lots of neat places to eat and drink. Unfortunately we had to leave at 230pm so we didn't really get to sample the night life. I could go back and spend a couple of days at least.

Dinners on the boat were very good. We actually ended up not having anyone at our table. It was a small table for 4 and the other couple never showed up, it was actually not a bad thing. We didn't have to make awkward small talk and we weren't stuck with people we didn't like. I've never been very good at small talk, so it was nice to be just us. The food was fun, but nothing particularly weird or unusual.
The best part was just being able to sit in the sun and read and relax. John actually had a book he was reading so he was happy to just sit and veg as well. We kept imagining the snow and cold at home and felt very lucky to be able to relax and enjoy the sun. Another plus... when your on a boat with LOTS of old people, you feel pretty good in your bathing suit!

Tricky part... finding people who could work the camera and take picture of us! I know that seems stereotypical, but the first few "older" people we asked to take our pics... not such a great job. It helps to have your face in the picture. So, then we made a policy.... we'd only ask people who were less than 25 (preferably teenagers) to take out pics and we ended up getting some of my favorite pics of us.

Probably one of my most favorite parts, my Sea Lion encounter! We actually got in the pool with the sea lions and got to pet, hug, kiss, rub down and generally hang out with the sea lions. It was so awesome! I want to grow up to be an animal trainer! I'd scoop all the poop in the world if I got to hang out with the animals as well.

They were so sweet and gentle. And didn't smell fishy at all.

All in all it was a great week. Beautiful weather, lots of relaxing and a very enjoyable cruise. I think I like the idea of every "ten" we cruise. We did it on our 10th anniversary, 20th anniversary so here's hoping I don't kill John before 30!

We're off...

Tomorrow John and I leave on a 4 day cruise to celebrate our 20th anniversary. John's mom and dad have come down to watch the kids, good luck to them on that. Of course I've left a plenty of instructions and tried to put the "fear of mom" into the kids, but who knows what will happen. You know... when the cat's away the mice will play...

I'm excited and not. I don't do "pre-trip" well. Once I'm actually there I'll be fine, but I'm not good in the days that lead up to a trip. Too much imagining fiery plane crashes, pirates or what's that cruise ship diarrhea bug... yeah imagining that too. Visions of children breaking arms, having sex when Grandma and Grandpa let down their guard etc... just too much imagining in general.

We are cruising to Key West, Nassau in the Bahamas and Cococay also in the Bahamas. It will be nice to get away from the snow and cold for a little. I'm not as convinced it will be nice to put this pasty white body in a bathing suit, but what are you gonna do? Drink a lot maybe?

Anyway, I do find it a little creepy (not creepy bad, creepy good) to think that John and I have been married for 20 years. It really doesn't seem possible... 20 years really?

19 years and counting....

I cannot flipping believe that yesterday John and I had been married 19 years! 19 YEARS!!! I don't feel old enough to have done anything for 19 years. Old people are married for 19 years, my parents were married for 19 years... not me.

At some times it seems like just yesterday we were hanging out at the O'club for Happy Hour and free food. Many nights of chicken wings and chips for dinner. I remember walking around our first home and feeling like we were house-sitting and wondering when the owners would be home. Now I walk around the house and wish the "owners" would come home, especially when the heater goes out or the deck needs to be replaced. Damn those owners... can't the take better care of their shit.

It's been a great 19 years, some rough spots - like the time I told John I would stab him through the heart with a knife while he was sleeping if he didn't stop sniffing (can anyone say PMS). Mostly it's been smooth spots and fun times.

Sometimes I wonder how John puts up with all my moods, obsessions and neuroses and sometimes I wonder why I don't plug his nose while he's sleeping (I did that once - just in jest people!)

Who knew that night when I walked into Confetti's in Albuquerque in my Khaki shorts, matching animal print shirt with my two pairs of accent colored socks and my Reebok hightops (don't you judge!!!!) that the "cutest little nerdly guy" that I met would still be around 22 years later!

Now it's another snow day and we're all home together and we may not make it to 19 years and 2 days! But it's been a good run!