Strolling Down Memory Lane

In keeping with the anniversary theme of my previous post...

Last Saturday Travis and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. So we've now been married for six years, but if you include all of the dating time before we got married we've actually been together for 11 and a half years. Craziness! It does not seem like it's been that long at all. There are so many memories packed into those 11 and a half years. So many ways that we've grown and learned and changed. It's amazing, and I'm so thankful for the time that we've had together. I can only imagine what the next 11 and a half years will bring!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to share of our anniversary this year because our camera recently died (or at least it seems to be dead). Drat! But we celebrated last Saturday by heading up to Baltimore for breakfast at a place we went to when Travis first came home from his 2008 deployment. (Thank you, Blue Moon Cafe, for the delicious cinnamon rolls!) Going out for breakfast is one of my favorite things to do, so I thought that it was a great way to celebrate! We kept the rest of the day pretty low key, but actually do have plans to venture up to Canada next month for further anniversary festivities as the timing didn't work to do a trip this month.

Just like birthdays, or Christmas, or any other celebration that rolls around once a year, an anniversary leads me to reflect on the ways that we've celebrated in the past, where we've been, etc. This afternoon I started looking through our pictures, reminiscing, and decided to share some of the photos and memories I came across. This little stroll down memory lane probably means more to me and Travis than anyone else, but there are still some pretty fun pictures here...(brace yourself, this is a little lengthy)...

High school choir is where it all got started. Yee haw! :)

MORP--Our high school's version of a "girls ask guys" dance. I can't even remember where Travis got that crazy wig and leisure suit, but they're pretty awesome. I think that this picture sums up his goofiness rather well.

 Senior Prom

High School Graduation

And the fun continues as we date throughout college. We never really planned to stay together after high school. We quietly assumed that being at different schools and all of the changes that take place over 4 years of college would cause us to drift apart. But we only grew closer with time and distance...

Freshman year of college. He's so stinkin' cute in his Air Force uniform!

Makin' me smile and laugh, as usual.

Ring dance at the end of junior year. A super fun weekend spent with Taylor, Dacia, Tim, and my roommate Berkley. And then a couple of weeks later...

We're engaged! Yippee! I think all of our friends and family knew that we would end up getting engaged before we figured it out. Travis asked me to marry him on June 10, 2004 and it was a no brainer...yes, yes, and YES!

And why am I dressed like a camp counselor/12-year old girl scout here? I really don't know...I just.don't.know.

One year later, on June 11, 2005 we said "I do"...


And jetted off to the Riviera Maya in Mexico for a romantic honeymoon at an all-inclusive resort.

Then we spent our first year together in Pensacola, FL. I don't have pictures of our first anniversary, but if memory serves me correctly we did dinner and a movie. I'm pretty sure we saw "Cars," which may not seem like much of a date flick but TB and I have always loved the Disney/Pixar movies. And I think we also went to Carrabba's, which was a place that we frequented a lot while dating and still really enjoy.

So anniversary number 2 found us in San Antonio, TX. The Air Force brought us there for a couple of months for Trav's logistics training. We had dinner at Biga on the Banks near the gorgeous River Walk, and stayed overnight at a swanky hotel.



For our third anniversary, we were apart. Travis was on a 6-month deployment in Iraq and I was with family in Colorado. But when Travis got home in September, we took advantage of lots of leave with a trip up to Boston and the Cape Cod area, and then joined up with our pals Taylor and Dacia later that month for a Caribbean cruise. What a fantastic few weeks we had!





And anniversary number 4 brings us to Princeton, NJ where we spent the second half of our assignment to McGuire Air Force Base. We went to dinner at a cool local Mediterranean place and then on our actual anniversary had cheesecake (cheesecake was our wedding cake) and watched a movie. Notice the food theme that has developed here. A bunch of our best memories revolve around great dinners out...coffees...travels...etc.

Sangria...mmm...

Flowers, cheesecake, a little love note from my hunny, a dvd to snuggle up with...sounds good to me!

So that brings us to our 5th anniversary, which was last summer. A few days after my sister's wedding, I thought that we were getting ready to fly back to DC. But little did I know that Travis had planned a surprise trip for us to Seattle (where I have always wanted to go) and San Francisco (to visit some friends and family). It was AWESOME. One of the best trips I/we have ever been on. It took my breath away. I will have to do another post on our Seattle adventures later, but here's a snippet of how we spent anniversary number 5...

 Congratulations from our hotel in the form of cupcakes. A great way to go in my opinion.

Mario Batali's dad's deli, "Salumi."

(and random man on the side that I am too lazy to crop out right now)

Sculpture Gardens and view of the Space Needle!

The Market!

A magical, magical evening spent at The Herb Farm. Words cannot describe this place, the nine-course dinner...perfection. Sheer perfection. A fantastic way to celebrate five years of marriage.

So there you have it. A little bit of our story, and how we've remembered our love and the day we were wed over the last few years. As I was digging through pictures, I found this one of Travis from when he was little...

So cute! I can hardly stand it! Who would have thought that the sweet little guy in this photo would one day grow up to be my big, strong, and endearingly tender husband? Precious.

Travis, my love and bestest friend, being married to you is an incredible gift. You have taught me so much about how to love others well. You have such a servant's heart. You have led me into deeper understanding of the God that we love and serve. You have stayed by my side through thick and thin. You are creative, wise, thoughtful, sooo patient, have a great sense of humor, and make me smile more than anyone else I know. Thanks for making me laugh on a daily basis. You are a strong man in every sense of the word. I admire the example that you set for those around you, and know what an outstanding leader you are even when you don't see it. You are, quite simply, the best. I can't imagine spending my life with anyone other than you. You have my heart, now and always. Happy anniversary, Mo! I love you!