15 year celebration(s)

This 15 year anniversary has been a year full of celebrations! It started back in February when Jon decided to give me an early anniversary present on Valentine's Day. You can read about that here. Then, I recently shared with you what we did on our actual anniversary - it wasn't much, but it was a fun day. But we really wanted to get away sometime near our anniversary just to unwind and reconnect. Jon often says that we really didn't think it through when we picked October to get married as that is football season. As an athletic trainer, it is nearly impossible for him to get away during that month.

So, we planned to get away this first weekend in November because the football team had a week off. Then we had a little surprise snow storm the last weekend of October which made the games get rescheduled to this weekend. So not only did he have to work Saturday, but he even had to work Sunday as well. This made our weekend get-away impossible...or almost.

We decided to keep our overnight babysitting plans in tact (thanks Joel & Shan!) since the kids had been looking so forward to spending time with their cousins and just go out for dinner in the city. I made reservations at a recommended restaurant and that was that.

Until the day of (yesterday) when I decided to go shopping for a little something something to wear and came home to quite a messy house. I had a decision to make - - spend the next couple of hours cleaning so we didn't come home to an uninviting atmosphere or book a room in a fabulous hotel downtown so I could spend the next couple of hours getting ready....hmmmm.....I chose the latter. Thanks to priceline, I got a ridiculous deal on a 4 star hotel within walking distance of our restaurant (well, it would have been if it weren't for the heels). :-)

I looked all over the {messy} house to find our camera and was successful, but then left it in the car in the flurry of activity of giving up our car to valet. So, all I have is this pic taken on my phone to remember our special night. It was so good to get away with my love, even if it was only for 16 hours!

15 YEARS

Today marks 15 years of marriage for Jon and I! I took off work this morning to go on a breakfast date but Anthony is home sick, so our plans are thwarted. I decided to spend some of my time this morning reflecting on our marriage and documenting how I feel today.

The overwhelming feeling I have is....BLESSED! Marriage is definitely hard work and lately we have heard so many stories and seen so many marriages fall apart. Our marriage is not something we take for granted, and we know that if it weren't for the grace of God, we too could be one of those stories. Over the years, Jon and I have tried to invest a lot of time and energy into growing our relationship. From a marriage mentorship in our early years with a couple we admired, to hours of therapy with a professional counselor, to most recently taking a marriage course at our church, these are all things that have helped us get to where we are today. But our work is not done - we will continue to pursue opportunities to become better and healthier as individuals and as a couple. Okay, that's the heavy stuff! Now onto something lighter...

I decided to pull out my wedding dress from the attic and see if I could still fit in it! Wahoo! I did not even have trouble getting the zipper up! Sophia was so cute helping me get in my dress and come down the stairs to surprise Jon. She ran outside and picked me some flowers and found "Here Comes the Bride" on itunes.

It's hard to sum up 15 years, so I thought it would be easier to list 10 things I appreciate about my husband and marriage (not necessarily in order of importance):

10 - It's not a glamorous life, but it's a good life! When we were reflecting on our 15 years together, we were talking about how we've lived in the same house for 10, gone to the same church for 12, worked at the same places for 7 (Jon) and 13 (Dawn) years. We have not had much change and have lived what some would consider a "boring" life, but it's our life and it's good.

9 - We are truly partners. From both working full-time to co-parenting and doing everything it takes to run a household, no one pulls rank. It's one of the things I love the most about our marriage.

8 - We have changed so much, but we have changed together. When we think back to the "kids" we were when we married, we can't believe some of the things we thought were important or absolute. Our values, philosophies and beliefs have really changed over the years, but thankfully they have changed together and we are on the same page about the important stuff.

7 - We have a lot of great friends! I think one of the keys to a happy, successful life is to surround yourself with great friends. We have been blessed beyond measure in this area (you know who you are!!!).

6 - We are part of a great church. We have been at our church since 1999 and have met many of our good friends there. We have grown so much because of the teachings and interactions with others in our community. Our spiritual life has been critical to our marriage and we get so much of our support from this aspect of our life.

5 - We have great family support! We are so thankful for the love and support we get from both of our families. From helping us work on our old house, to watching our kids so we can get away and celebrating all of the important milestones with us, our family is such an important part of our lives.

4 - He is a good man. Jon is a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. You're not going to see him on the stage being the life of the party. But he's the kind of guy you want on your team. He does things for the right reason. These are things I can say about him after living with him day in and day out for 15 years. Here's an example - he was spending 1 morning a week working at a local food pantry for months and I didn't even know about it!!! He was quietly giving of himself to something he believed in because he wanted to, not because he wanted people to know or praise him.

3 - We have 2 fantastic kids! {I know everyone thinks this about their kids, and they should!} We are SO thankful for the gifts of Sophia and Anthony. We can't imagine life without them. They are amazing.

2 - He has become such a thoughtful gift-giver. Okay, so I'm not all about material things, but what woman doesn't love a well-thought out surprise from her man? Remember this one? and this one? seriously!!!

1 - We are more in love today than we were 15 years ago. Maybe it's not always manifested in romantic gestures and words, but our love today is definitely stronger and deeper. I love figuring out life with such a great partner.

Happy Anniversary Jon!

Fall of 1993 when we met

Summer of 2011 (most recent pic I could find of us)

2 Velvet Boxes

I have been wanting to blog about this since the day it happened and just haven't found the time!

Jon surprised me in a big way on Valentine's Day weekend! In almost 15 years (October 12th!) of marriage, he has not given me any jewelry since my wedding band. So imagine my surprise when he gave me not 1 but 2 velvet boxes in one night!!! Right before we left to go out, he gave me these beautiful earrings...

and then when we were at dinner, he presented this anniversary band!!!!!

What a fun thing to be so surprised - this is nothing I asked for or hinted at, it was totally his doing! I asked him what has gotten into him lately as he has become such a great gift giver (remember this one?) and he just smiled and said, "I'm a late bloomer, baby".

I love this man and our life together!

Best Gift Ever

I don't know how my sweetheart is ever going to top this one!

So, a couple of years ago, Jon and I started talking about wanting to buy a piece of art for our home...but we wanted it to be something meaningful, we didn't want to buy something out of a catalogue, but rather something that we just fell in love with when we were visiting somewhere or maybe support a local artist...

Well, when we were in Italy this past spring, I took a photograph out the bus window when we were in Tuscany...I just loved this beautiful stone gate out in the middle of the countryside.

Jon had this great idea to take the photograph to a local art gallery and see if there was an artist who would paint it for us (oil on canvas)! Jon started working on this last October and wanted to give it to me for Christmas, but the artist did not want to rush it, so promised it to be ready for Valentine's Day (he did present his idea to me in a unique way on Christmas morning).

We got to pick it up yesterday and it far exceeds our expectations. We absolutely LOVE it!





Isn't he the sweetest?! :-)

12 Years of Wedded Bliss

On October 12, Jon and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary! It does not seem like that is possible, but we did get married pretty young, so I guess it is!

Our dear friends Bethany and Quenton offered to take our kids for TWO nights! It was so nice to have time to be just the two of us. We went to a movie one night and then headed up to Lancaster for an overnight stay at The Lancaster Arts Hotel. We would highly recommend it, along with the restaurant in the hotel - John J. Jeffries. Downtown Lancaster city is really cool - full of cafes, coffee shops and art galleries. Not what you think of when you think of Lancaster! We had beautiful weather - just like the day of our wedding - and a great time together.

No pictures from our great weekend because we lost our battery recharger for our camera and are having trouble finding the time to go get a new one!

Thanks B&Q for taking our kids - it was such a nice offer and it's great to be able to go away and know your kids are having a great time. Thanks for the hotel recommendation too.

Happy Anniversary Jon - I love you!

Happy Love Month!

I love Valentine's Day! I know that a lot of people consider it a cheesy, commercial or even "forced" holiday (my husband used to be one of those people)...but ever since we've had kids, it has become a fun holiday for us as a family. I buy the kids Valentine's Day t-shirts, and after dinner, we do chocolate fondue and dance to Ol' Blue Eyes. The last couple of years, Sophia and I have each gotten a dozen roses (she definitely thinks VD is all about her, and maybe she's right!) :-)
Enjoy our playlist of favorite love songs!

11 Years!

It's hard to believe that 11 years have already passed since Jon and I got married! This year we got to take some time to just be alone and reflect on the last 11 years and talk about our hopes/plans/dreams for the next 11+. I've posted some pics here of us enjoying each other without kids - it's good to remind yourself once in awhile that you really like this person you have kids with! :-)