15th ^ Anniversary stay-cation!

Todd and his beloved orange rolls, I think I rank just slightly above these

This pattern of holes will be on any person who messes with me or my kids:)

For a couple of months I'd been planning a night away as an anniversary gift for Todd. We celebrated a few weeks ago since December is a blur, and since we stayed so close to home I'm calling it our staycation. I kept it super-secret, or so I thought... but a couple of days before, the little stinker saw a receipt for the Davenport and my surprise wasn't much of a surprise any more. But, we still had fun! My Mom and Dad came to the rescue, they watched the kids for us overnight, something we haven't done since before Dawson was born (except the night we spent at the hospital when we had the twins, but please tell me that doesn't count). I have to be honest, I was nervous about leaving. Dawson overheard me saying that Todd and I were going out to dinner and he was in tears several times over the next 2 days, so I was worried he'd freak when he realized we weren't coming home at all that night. But Ninny and Papa kept them entertained, and high on refined carbohydrates. I had also just started weaning Charlie from nursing at bedtime. So I had visions of Charlie screaming for his Mama, but he did great (until 2:30 am...) But back to the good part, our hot date night! I made reservations for Beverly's, we've spent probably 3 anniversary celebrations there and I know Todd loves their steak and their heavenly orange rolls. Dinner didn't disappoint, but my tummy, which has been weird for a year (queasy, morning-sickness like nausea) was especially icky that week, so I wasn't able to eat all of my delicious steak or even have a celebratory dessert - I know, I didn't order dessert, gasp! They did give us a complimentary dessert of cotton candy with a candle, and ice cream inside. Since I didn't want to eat it, I defiled it by creating a monster type creature out of it (this really upset our uptight table neighbors). At first I had the candle in the monsters mouth but I don't want to condone smoking, so I made it into a hair piece instead. It was so funny because all of these stuffy people dining around us kept looking at me when I'd laugh, apparently it's just down right rude to have fun when you go out to eat. Again, this is why I don't drink, Todd can barely handle me when I'm tired and sober. So after dinner we were off to the hotel. I packed the Scrabble game and some champagne but forgot candles. So Todd used the lighter setting on his phone for some romantic ambiance, nerd style. The next day I'd planned for us to go shooting, something I miss doing and knew we definitely couldn't do with the kids, so it seemed like a good time to get out and blow stuff up. Our friend Richie was sweet enough to meet up with us so we could take advantage of his Rifle Club membership, and he let me shoot "The Judge." Then we went to lunch at Luna, and before we knew it, it was time to head home to our deranged children. It was short and sweet, but I really did feel refreshed and my kids looked even cuter than usual (if that's possible) after having spent 21 hours away. Just what the love doctor ordered:) Happy 15th to us!

On a serious note, marriage is beautiful and hard and amazing and challenging. And we've had our share of all of the above. The past 2 years have been some of our toughest to be honest, but growing up, my parents used to always tell us that it doesn't show much character, or prove much depth of love, to be committed and loving when everything is great and easy. It's in the valleys and the dark places that we have to shine. So after 15 years of marriage, we remain steadfast, and I'm proud of us for that. I can be a handful and I'm thankful for a husband that has somehow managed to put up with me for this long:)

I love you Honey, I have set you like a seal on my heart...