Happy Twenty Year Wedding Anniversary to Us!

Once upon a time there was a boy and a girl who really, really liked each other a lot as you can see in this picture. I think it was taken in 1994, and it has always been one of my favorite photos of us.

We met for the first time in 1991 under the Stan Musial statue at the Old Busch Stadium downtown  before a Cardinals game.

We were good friends for a long time before we actually began dating. In fact, that day we met I was actually in a relationship with someone else.

In fact, I made a scrapbook layout a few years ago to share that story.

Thankfully, I realized what I knew in my heart all along. That you were the one for me. You proposed to me as we were sitting on the back trunk of your car looking up at the stars. It really was perfect. The first time we had ever kissed was when we were doing the exact same thing. Sitting on the back of your car, just talking and looking up at the stars. On the night you proposed, you gave me the ring in one of those gumball containers because you had been buying me toy rings out of the gumball machines as a joke for a while. When I opened the container I actually asked you if it was real, and you responded by getting down on one knee and asking me the question I had been hoping to hear.

And on October 18, 1997, we stood up in front of all our family and friends and became husband and wife.

It was a beautiful day and one of the happiest of my life.

I know there have been times that weren't perfect and in fact there was that one year that was downright awful for both of us. The lost year as we like to call it. But life isn't always going to be perfect. I doubt there is a couple out there that can say married life after 20+ years has been all rainbows and butterflies. But that is what real love is about. Loving and supporting each other through the hard times as well as the good. Choosing to love each other even when times get tough. And I am so grateful that in the past twenty years we have had many, many more good times than not so good.

So today in honor of our 20th anniversary, I want to share twenty of my favorite memories from our marriage so far.

1. Obviously our wedding day is top of the list. I felt like I was the luckiest girl in the world on that day.

2. We have so many special memories involving both of the places we have called home. As much as I loved our apartment in Clayton where we originally lived after we were married, there was something so exciting about buying our first home together. We knew that apartment wouldn't be big enough for our growing family since I was pregnant with our first baby at the time we began house hunting.

3. Our first real vacation as a married couple - Cancun, Mexico. Here we are at Chichen Itza, where I hear they no longer let tourists climb to the top of the Kukulkan Pyramid. We were lucky that we got the chance when we did. We returned to Mexico when Evan was one for a family vacation, but I will always remember our time there just the two of us.

4. Watching favorite tv shows together like Friends, Survivor, and Trading Spaces have been replaced by newer ones such as Stranger Things, Big Bang Theory, and House Hunters.

5. The birth of our son was such an important day for us. What I will never forget is the moment you told me I was your hero right before Evan was born. So much changed that day for us as a couple, but being parents together has been an amazing journey so far. Not without it's challenges of course, but ultimately makes me realize how lucky we are to have each other.

6. The time you surprised me with a weekend getaway to New York City to celebrate our 6th anniversary. Hard to believe that was fourteen years ago! The photo of the two of us is special to me because it was taken in Central Park at a spot I remembered visiting with my friend Linda on a high school trip fourteen years before that.

7. Our last vacation as a family of three when I was pregnant with Erin. We went to Orlando, Florida and stayed at the Portofino hotel. We spent most of our time at either Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure with a one day trip to Disney world. It was one of my favorite vacations ever despite the fact that there weren't many rides I could go on.

I love this photo Evan took of us in Tomorrowland at Disney World!

8. The birth of our sweet daughter made our family complete.

A scrapbook layout from Erin's baby book.

9. Our annual mother and father's day brunch tradition with our parents always gives us a good time to get a family photo.

10. Going all the way to Dublin Ireland to see U2 at Croake Park stadium two nights in a row! We have seen them so many times in concert, but seeing them in Ireland was something we had always wanted to do. Definitely one of our best trips ever.

11. And then later that fall, we took Evan to his first U2 concert!

12. I absolutely loved our anniversary trip to a resort in Canada when you were working up there. It was so beautiful there and very relaxing. 

The view was pretty incredible.

 13. Our selfie photos we take at the pumpkin patch every year.

14. And every year we have the most fun celebrating Halloween. Somehow you and Evan always come up with fantastic themes that make it extra special and a little creepy sometimes.

15. And then there was the year you kissed me under the mistletoe at the Botanical Gardens - Garden Glow.

16. All the many concerts we have gone to through the years - these photos are U2, Alabama Shakes, Elle King and Awolnation.

17. Speaking of music, I love how you always share songs, bands and your favorite music with me. I've learned about a lot of great bands I would have missed out on if it wasn't for you. Like The National!

18. Getting to live down in Miami for two months in the summer of 2016 while you were working there was one of the best summers ever! I think the kids would say the same thing.

 19. We have learned the importance of making time for each other and date nights.

20. And I think I will end this for now with our trip to Europe this past summer. Four countries and two U2 concerts in eleven days will be hard to beat, but I know we can do it.

I saw this quote on Pinterest one day and it really seems to fit us perfectly. 

 

I am so grateful for the past twenty years and I am looking forward to making many more wonderful memories with you for years to come.

Happy Anniversary, Mike! 

I love you the most!