Celebrating Five Years! An Anniversary to remember.

Five years ago, I stepped out of my wedding reception and into the beautiful adventure of marriage to Mike Harder.  I was wearing my grandmother's ellegant pillbox hat and a smile that you couldn't steal from my face! From that sweet moment on, I have absolutely loved being married and I am so thankful to have Mike by my side for every adventure along the way. 

I consider myself to be a very sentimental person and I love celebrating every little anniversary and milestone of our relationship.  I love to look back and remember exactly what we wore and what we ate and what our conversations entailed. 

After our first year of marriage, we backpacked through Italy on what will always be the most romantic adventure of my life.  We made memories eating gelato in Cinque Terre and sipping wine on the Rialto Bridge in Venice.  I remember sitting underneath the stars on the porch of our bed and breakfast in Tuscany and dreaming of having children and going on incredible mission trips together.  Anniversaries are really special to me!

Looking toward our five year anniversary, we dreamed of going back to Italy and hiking the Dolomites.  We planned to take a side trip into Switzerland for a few days exploring where Mike's relatives originated.  At the time, I was absolutely sure that I would be able to leave our child for a week to ten days and go on an international trip of a lifetime.  But then my sweet Abigail was born and I began to laugh at my silly ideas of jumping on a plane and leaving my baby!

Our overseas trip quickly turned into a wonderful little weekend getaway at a beautiful home on the Lake of the Ozarks.   Problem solved, until I found out my only brother was graduating that weekend.  Cancel that.  I had the perfect back up plan to celebrate at a quaint bed and breakfast tucked away in the mountains!  The perfect solution, until I realized his graduation was not in the afternoon, but early morning.  Cancel that. 

As the week of our anniversary approached, Abigail came down with a virus and I realized my " all day long" sickness was not quite over.  So....instead of an international trip or a weekend getaway at the lake or a romantic evening at a bed and breakfast, we celebrated our five year anniversary right in our living room.  And it was perfect!

Here's what I want to remember and document for our five year anniversary!  I am four months pregnant and rocking my sweats because my clothes don't fit.  We ordered J.Alexanders and ate in our living room which was sprinkled with baby shoes and random toys.  We ate carrot cake and drank sparkling juice from our wedding champagne flutes.  We watched our wedding dvd and eventually ended up talking about our baby girl and our new blessing that's on the way most of the night! My sweet, thoughtful husband remembered that I mentioned wood was the traditional five year anniversary gift and bought me the most adorable wooden keepsake box from my favorite store! It was a perfect evening!

And honestly, I wouldn't trade our night for any trip in the world or romantic dinner for two at a five star restaurant.  I am so blessed and my life , though messy and slightly out or sorts at the moment, is such a gift and I am grateful! 

16 weeks!

Happy Anniversary to us!!