10 year anniversary

Warning: long post!

How in the world have 10 years passed since Robert and I said, "I do!"? Robert was supposed to be in Afghanistan today. When we learned his deployment was cancelled a month or so ago, I had dreams of returning to Maine to celebrate our anniversary. Robert asked me to marry him in Maine exactly 11 years ago while I was at Bowdoin Summer Music Festival. We both love Maine and thought it would be nice to head North for a short trip to escape the heat. I'll admit that I was a little disappointed when we decided a staycation would be more feasible and practical. My parents are in town and agreed to watch Abigail so that we could have a night away -- my first since Abby was born. Thanks, mom and dad!

Well, if we're staying in Florida we might as well go for it. We searched for the most over the top and ridiculous hotel we could find and ended up booking a night at the Loews Don CeSar Hotel on St. Pete Beach. Because what screams Florida more than a pink hotel?

Here's the back of the hotel, ocean-side.

The following pictures from our room show how unaccustomed we are to fancy hotels. Who knew that nice hotels provide gummy bears along with the liquor selection?

The refrigerator is so well stocked! And tempting...

But $7 for a bottle of water? I think not.

It's relaxing, yes?

If you have your dog with you, the hotel can send a dog masseur to your room for a 60 minute doggie massage that "enhances the pet's quality of life and strengthens the bond of love and friendship that already exists between you and your pet." Crazy. We did, in fact, see a lot of dogs in the hotel.

Here's the partial ocean view from our room. No complaints from me!

And here is the pool area. We were so confused by all of the options to rent towels, beds, etc. How do you learn all of the rules? We enjoyed a Blue Moon poolside and then headed out for a walk along the beach.

The sand is white and powdery and wonderful.

Happy Mr. & Mrs!

We found some great shells on our walk along the beach but they were all inhabited by hermit crabs with googly eyes. Then Robert saw a sting ray in the water so I decided that was enough for me -- I was ready to head back. On the way, we spotted these hammocks and decided to climb into one together. 

 

The hammock was surprisingly comfortable, especially with the cool sea breeze, so we challenged ourselves to come up with our top 10 memories from the past 10 years. In chronological order, here they are:

Number 1: Our move to Cincinnati in August 2002. Ok, this was actually 11 years ago but it stands out because it was the first time we went out on our own together. We were recently engaged. Robert had decided to leave Wichita and move to Cincinnati with me even though he didn't know what he was going to do there. We drove a U-Haul with a car in tow from Kansas City to Cincinnati overnight in order to avoid heavy construction in St. Louis. We had Robert's cat, Miss Bear, with us and she was miserable. I think we finally drugged her a little to calm her down. We slept an hour or so in a McDonald's parking lot outside of Indianapolis around 4 am when we both couldn't keep our eyes open any longer. We rolled down the windows and just slept in the heat. Then once we finally arrived to our new apartment in Cincinnati, we got our keys, dragged the mattress into the middle of the living room, let out the cat, and slept the rest of the morning. I knew we were a good team if we were able to make it through all of that without getting nasty with each other.

Number 2: Our wedding day: August 1, 2003.

Number 3: Attending countless Cincinnati Symphony concerts at Music Hall together. We went nearly every weekend during the 5 years we lived there.

Number 4: Our celebratory meal at York Street Cafe. Robert had been awarded a Graduate Assistant position at the University of Cincinnati and this meal was the first time we were able to afford to splurge a little while eating out. We ordered appetizers, our meals, and coffee and dessert. 3 courses! *gasp* The restaurant was charming and quaint. The food was delicious. I can even picture where we were sitting. We had a long 2 hour meal and great conversation. I still vividly remember the strawberry cake we had for dessert.

Number 5: So begin the food memories! We found that as we were trying to remember our favorite times together, most of them revolved around meals we've had. In 2007, we backpacked through Germany and Italy on a shoestring budget. Two meals, in particular, hold a special place in our hearts. The first was in Cinque Terre. I was feeling adventurous and agreed to try Robert's sampler of anchovies that, surprisingly, I loved. Check out Robert's hair!

 

Robert asked the waiter where his seafood had come from and the waiter pointed to the ocean behind us and said, "my brother caught it this morning."

We were also introduced to cheese paired with honey, which remains a favorite to this day. 

Number 6: Later in the same trip, we had another amazing meal in Venice. I won't go into all of the details, but Robert ended the meal with grappa and got a little tipsy and had the hardest time navigating us through all of the bridges and canals to find the way back to our hotel!

Number 7: Ohio State football games. We had 3 years of season tickets while I was a student and while at first I wanted nothing to do with those crazy Buckeye fans, we were both sucked right in once we moved to Columbus and we never looked back! I still find myself craving Tim Horton's game day donuts on Saturday mornings.

Number 8: Another favorite memory from Columbus was a 50th birthday dinner with Robert's Barnes and Noble friend, George. George and Trudie invited us over for the very best parties: New Year's, the Super Bowl, etc. They usually hired someone to make cocktails for all of the guests to keep things running smoothly. For George's smaller birthday party with us and another couple -- Tom & Joan -- they brought out some very fine wine (I think 20 bottles or so throughout the night?!) and Robert and I were able to learn so much about different kinds of wine. French wine really can smell like manure! We also dined like kings and queens and had rack of lamb with mint jelly and Yorkshire pudding. Fun times with very fun friends.

Number 9: We've been in Tampa over 3 years now, and the Florida memory that makes the list is our Christmas in Miami in 2010. I had never been away from my family for Christmas (my most favorite holiday) and neither had my bff Marci. She and her husband Joe lived in Coral Gables and they invited us to spend the holiday with them. I have fond memories of many holiday gatherings with friends throughout our college years -- Easters, Thanksgivings, etc. -- but Christmas is another story. Everything seemed wrong as we started our drive south. It was hot. And sunny. And then Robert turned on this great station on Sirius radio that had Christmas songs from the 1920s and '30s. I'm not sure why that changed my mood but suddenly everything seemed light and fun and new. We listened to songs about Frosty the Snowman while driving through palm trees. I watched for alligators along the side of the road while we passed through the Everglades. We ended up having delicious food (but of course!) including many of our family's traditional recipes. But the best part? The company. You can't ask for any better friends than those Falveys. Who else would play Harry Potter horn quartets with you on Christmas Eve?!

We attended a Miami Dolphins football game together, too. Fins to the left!

Number 10: Finally, number 10! Our favorite memory from the past 10 years has to be the birth of our sweet baby girl. Enough said, right?

Happy Anniversary, Robert! I can't wait to see what the next 10 years bring. Thank you for being by my side through thick and thin. I love you, always.