5 Years of Wedded Bliss

Can you believe it's already been FIVE years?! It's true what they say... time flies when you are having fun. ;) And truly - the last five years have been incredible!

Our anniversary was this last Thursday, the 28th. Since we have had to miss a lot of work lately between family reunions, scout camp for Ryan, Uinta camping trip, 24th of July observance, etc, we decided to just have a fun day date, and then we will hopefully get to go somewhere maybe next month for a few days. We don't want this year to just slip by without doing something bigger (not huge or bank breaking - just a little get away) because this is after all, our 5 year anniversary, and our last one alone.

The day started off pretty normal since I still had a few piano lessons in the morning that I needed to go teach. Don't think I am horrible for not rescheduling them. It worked out well because Ryan really really wanted to go fishing and I told him that as much as I enjoy fishing - fishing is not an anniversary activity, but that he was more than welcome to go by himself while I taught piano. No reason for him to sit at home and wait for me.


Naturally, he took me up on the offer and took Dodger fishing down at Utah Lake. He very rarely intends on keeping the fish he catches. He loves to do catch and release. It's fun for him and the fish get a chance to keep growing. But little Dodger, our fishing fanatic (it's hard to tell which one of those boys likes fishing more...) had other ideas in mind. He managed to kill one of the fish Ryan pulled out, and it seemed kind of pointless to just bring one fish home, so Ryan brought home a few of these lovely creatures...


Catfish. Aren't they just so pretty? Hahaha. Actually, the ones he brought home really did have beautiful coloring. He got them all fileted, cleaned up and in the freezer for a future fish fry, and off we went.


The goal was to go enjoy a nice lunch/dinner at Outback Steakhouse, but unbeknownst to us, Outback doesn't open until 4 pm during the week. What's with that?! We were both starving and seeing as it was already after 1 pm, we decided to walk across the parking lot for some In-n-Out burgers. We each got a simple burger and shared a fry which was plenty of food.
For dessert we walked farther down the shopping plaza to Coneys for my favorite ice cream creation - the Peanut Butter Burst. Vanilla custard, Reese's pieces, and real peanut butter, whipped cream, and a cherry on top. Scrumptious!!!

Since we still had time to kill before going to see a movie, we did a little shopping. Ryan chose Emergency Essentials. He didn't find anything he had to have, but it still fulfilled his manly needs. :)


I chose Joann's Fabrics. I have been looking for a good deal for a few projects I had in mind, and it just so happened that Joann's was having a killer sale. AND the line was short! Bonus! I pulled a number tab from the counter and went to make my selection. I must say, being surrounded by hundreds of cute options, I was rather proud of myself for being decisive and getting in and out. I could have stayed there forever. But I walked away with two very cute patterns and I am very excited. When I get around to actually working on these projects, I will post on them later.


With that we walked back across the parking lot and headed over to the theater to watch the latest Transformers. I was happy to see that they cleaned up a lot of the potty humor from the last one. The movie is long, but there is tons and tons of action - which is what Transformers is all about. Of course they still had to pick some sexy little actress to replace Megan Fox - but she can actually act and she did a pretty good job. I spent a large amount of time focusing on her shoes throughout some of the bigger battle scenes. Odd? Yes. But it was pretty funny. She is always dressed as a model and is always wearing high heeled shoes. But during the main fighting scene, her shoes change from flats to heels five or six times. Each time I would nudge Ryan and motion with my hand when it changed. He was good natured about it and just laughed at me and encouraged me to watch the rest of the movie too. Admittedly, I would never be able to run in high heels either, so I can't judge. I did enjoy the movie.

Following the movie, seeing as we were both still pretty full, we went for a drive and did some more shopping. Eventually we returned back to the same plaza where we began our date for dinner.


I have been to Outback once in my life before - a long, long time ago. All I remember about it was the Bloomin' Onion - their signature appetizer. We decided we should try it. After all, I love onion rings, and we were celebrating - so why not go all out? We ordered flavored lemonades - Ryan got strawberry and I ordered Pina Colada. I didn't know a pina colada lemonade existed, but it does, and it's good!
I can't necessarily say the same for the Bloomin' Onion. It just wasn't what I remember it being. Far more zesty than expected - even though that is how it's described on the menu. It wasn't horrible, but I didn't love it, and I wouldn't get it again. But hey - now we know!

As for the main meal, we both ordered steak with coconut shrimp. He got a side of sweet potato fries and I got garlic mashed potatoes. The picture above is not the real thing considering those are popcorn shrimp (still good) but nothing compared to coconut shrimp. They are like candy!

The meal was delicious, but I was still really full from lunch, so I boxed up almost my entire meal. But hey - that's one less meal I had to worry about taking to work the next day!

By this time it was already 9:30 or 10, so we waddled home, tired, full, but very happy. It was just such a relaxing and fun day. I love just being able to spend time with Ryan.

In the last 5 years, we have never had a major argument. We love doing everything we can together. I feel so lucky to have married my best friend. I can't imagine life without him. It is so amazing how fast it has all flown by. We have had some amazing experiences in these few years. Graduations, amazing trips, new jobs and experiences, incredible family, and soon a baby to add to the mix. Which by the way - we find out what we are having in a week!!!

Happy Anniversary, Ryan! Thanks for making life so amazing!