Eight!

Eight happened! As of this week, we've been married for eight years. That doesn't feel like enough to either of us ... think we'll hang together for a few more! ;-)

We spent a great day together on our anniversary. We both took the day off of work, brought the girls to day care, and then hung out. It was perfect! We spent the morning cleaning the garage - much to my sister's dismay. Then we got cleaned up and headed out for pizza and nachos for lunch. Our big kid doesn't like pizza. Seriously - what kid doesn't like pizza!?!? So we eat it on our anniversary - because we like pizza. Then we went mini-golfing - and I WON (by one stroke). We're normally neck and neck - but Mike always beats me because I lose focus on the back nine. Not this time ... or I did, but had built a good enough lead.

Our anniversary always makes me think back to the day we got engaged. We both had homework. Grad school for me. Work training course for Mike. So we went out for Chinese for dinner to "save time" (procrastinate). After dinner, we walked through the mall to Kohl's to look for new wind pants for Mike. On the way, we saw a jewelry store with signs for 70% off. We'd been talking for months about getting engaged, so Mike suggested we go in - just to look. He found the perfect ring. As soon as I tried it on, we both loved it. So we left the store without buying it. We do things like that. We wandered aimlessly around Kohl's - both thinking of the ring. Wind pants could have jumped out at us and we wouldn't have seen them. I didn't want to pressure the boy ... so didn't say anything.

As I followed him out of Kohl's, he smirked at me and said, "don't think we are leaving here without that ring." So he bought it. And proposed that night in the parking lot of my apartment building.

It may seem like a strange engagement story - but to me, it is the perfect snapshot of our relationship. Things happen when they are supposed to and we are delightfully happy when they do. We don't do fanfare - but we do "together" really well. Neither one of us is super romantic (heck - we cleaned the garage on our anniversary), but we are truly, deeply in love with each other. I love the guy who proposes in the parking lot because he doesn't want to wait another minute to ask me. He loves the girl who offered to forego the ring and get engagement shoes instead (he's the best - because I got both the ring and the shoes!).

Thank goodness for Chinese food, wind pants, and wickedly good discounts on diamonds (dude - we were young and poor!). Happy Anniversary, honey! I love you!