Aluminum Anniversary: 10 Years!

As I'm writing this blog post, we are in the middle of the Caribbean on a cruise just Sam and me. It's been amazing, and it's only day 2! I wanted to start this post while we are here to look back at the last couple of weekends when we celebrated our 10th anniversary. I cannot believe it's been 10 years already... it's gone by in a flash. At the very same time, I can't believe it's ONLY been 10 years of marriage. Sam and I started our first stretch of dating in 1998, so this November makes 21 years of having the other in our lives as more than just friends. We've been together longer now than we haven't been, so to only be celebrating 10 years of marriage feels strange. But, that's where we are... 10 years. 10 years filled with laughter, with sadness, with silent treatments, with family and friends, with pregnancies and parenting, with little boys and all their things, with jobs and career decisions, with loss and mourning, but mostly with lots of love and joy.

We've had this cruise booked for 9 months now, so it was a surprise to me on the morning of our anniversary (September 6th), I woke up to find an envelope propped up on my bathroom faucet. It was addressed to My OTL (One True Love). Inside, there was an eloquent invitation and itinerary for the evening into the next day. Sam had arranged for the boys to go to my mom's for the night while we spent the night at the hotel where we were married. When we got to our hotel room, there was the most beautifully-wrapped gift laying perfectly across the pillows on the bed. I had a hard time wanting to even open it due to how gorgeously wrapped it was. But, I did, and inside was a canvas wrap of the musical arrangement of our wedding song: When You Love Someone. So amazing. I had not put as much thought and preparation into the gifts I gave to Sam that night, mostly because we had already planned this big trip to celebrate and we aren't big on gift giving. I had packed a 6-pack of beer since the traditional 10th anniversary gift is aluminum. I also gave Sam the most recent photo of us in a frame lined with aluminum foil. After the gifts, we had an amazing dinner at Capital Grill. We ate SO much food! Then, we went back to the hotel to watch the video Sam had made this year.

For those of you who don't know, on our first anniversary, I made Sam a video documenting our first year together. At the time, it was a surprise. The second year, I surprised him again, because he didn't anticipate that I'd do that again. After two years in a row, we decided to make the anniversary a yearly tradition, so... true to form, I created a tradition that requires a great deal of work and energy and attention and now wonder "what did I get myself into" every year. This being a big anniversary, I told Sam it would be so nice if HE would make the video after 9 years of ME doing it. He obliged last September, and he took the challenge on VERY well. He was super excited to share his work of art with me after dinner that night, and his work did not disappoint! He added in special effects I had never used before, and he captured our year so well. The songs, the photos, the editing- it was all great! He gained a new appreciation for the work I had put in all those years before, and now we have a plan to switch off every other year.

The following morning, we slept in, ate a nice brunch at the hotel, and then went to pick up the boys after running a few errands for Quinn's upcoming birthday party. That evening, we got to show the boys the anniversary video, which they also look forward to each year. I love watching them get so excited about seeing their special memories, seeing themselves, or dancing to the songs that become our family's greatest hits each year. They get excited to show the rest of the family our video, too.

We invited everyone the following weekend to come see Sam's finished product, and as in years past, we got to share with our village how much they mean to us and how much joy they have brought to us. Avery said, after viewing the video, it's just as fun for everyone else to watch some of the things THEY have done with us this year.  Then, we ate dinner, chatted, and played.

Throughout the next week, we just prepared for the cruise - telling the boys about our vacation, getting everything organized and our amazing help lined up, and getting excited about being back on the ocean. As our embarkation date approached, though, I have to say, I was getting anxious about leaving the boys for such a long time. One whole week away from three little boys is a LONG time. As a parent, you're never "off-duty," and the days and nights can be exhausting as you are constantly needed for some reason. We've been looking forward to a "break" - to sleep, to stay out late, to sleep in, to cater to OUR needs, to be served dinner and not have to cook it, to not hear the whining about what I've requested, to sleep, to rest, to veg out. But, as I stated above, you're never off-duty as a parent, so those worries, fears, and anxieties about being away are always on the back of my mind.

Leaving my boys behind was not easy, and I had some weird thoughts that left me wanting to prepare every little thing before I left - including letting my mom know where our will and our life insurance policies were. Luckily, as soon as we were on the plane, those weird thoughts vanished and I was able to be in the moment. We had such an amazing time - minus the odd drive to the airport with the Uber driver who played loud explicit music and kept the windows down the whole time... which was especially awkward when he picked us up at 6:30am on a Sunday morning in our suburban neighborhood. Poor Banner must have heard it, as he ran downstairs and out the front door to say goodbye to us when we tried to sneak out noiselessly. But I digress... we had a blast. Easy flight, easy transfer to the ship, and the whole week was so enjoyable to just be away from reality.

Our itinerary changed a bit to accommodate the hurricanes headed for two of our originally scheduled ports. We were supposed to go to St. Maarten and St. Thomas, but we were rerouted to Mexico instead (Cozumel and Costa Maya). We weren't thrilled about this change since we'd specifically flown to Florida to go to new destinations we'd never been to before, but we made the most of it and enjoyed the ship anyway. By far our favorite port, though, was Perfect Day at Coco Cay in the Bahamas. We went to the beach and just relaxed, people watched, ocean watched, and enjoyed an easy day of lounging and lunching. I went to use the restroom and Sam waited for me on a hammock he found nearby. I found him after, just swaying and relaxing. I joined him, and I have NEVER been more relaxed or stress-free. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! It became the bar to which we measured everything later in the trip: "This ensaymada is amazing. It's no hammock, but it's amazing." Speaking of ensaymada... oh my goodness. We asked for some one night from our head waiter in the middle of our trip. Every night after he brought us a plate - until we told him no more; our bellies couldn't handle the yumminess after three nights! He was shocked we even knew what this Filipino bread was (we had learned about it on the cruise we took with the boys last year), and he couldn't get over the fact that we loved it so much!

My phone died - like literally wouldn't charge - half-way through our vacation. So, I don't have as many photos as I originally thought I would, BUT that was a good thing probably. I was more in the moment and not worried about capturing the images. Here's what I did get with Sam's phone (below). The last picture shows just how many trivia games we participated in. We like trivia, what can I say? :) What a fantastic trip we took! I can't thank our caretakers enough for allowing us to get away and know our boys were in good hands: Grandma, BeeBee, Avery, NaNa, Big Boss, Aunt Kira, and all of those who were on standby for us: Becca, Amanda, Cherie, and more family. When we got home, the boys were super excited to share with us all the things they got to do and what a different type of school-week they had. Lots of hugs and kisses awaited, and back in time to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and a new year ahead.

Leaving Florida

Bahamas

BEST HAMMOCK EVER

We saw an iguana creeping along while we relaxed on the hammock.

Sam got an All Access Tour - control room

Sam went to Costa Maya by himself - I had no interest in leaving the ship

I went down this 10-story slide: The Ultimate Abyss

I skinned my knee inside of it, but it was fun!

Then, I went Rock Climbing on board

Ensaymada

The last couple nights, Sam got two entrees because why not!?

On our balcony

American Flag Cake

We did a lot of TRIVIA games.

Sam, I love you so much and am so grateful that we had this amazing anniversary. I loved our alone time, I loved our together time, I loved our family time, I loved how we carved out chunks of time to celebrate us. Thank you for the trip, the video, our fancy dinner, our night at the hotel, and all the thought you put in to this milestone anniversary. Here's to 10 more! ;)