The Way We Were

This Tuesday, we will celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary. I have been thinking about several anniversaries we have had since our wedding day...

Like our first anniversary. We had just moved to NWA earlier in the summer (well, I had...Mark had lived here some while I finished out the school year in LR). I was in my first year of teaching at the school where I still teach (fifth year in all). We had just had parent/teacher conferences and I was battling allergies in a big way. We had a weekend away in Eureka Springs, not far down the road (not sure what we were getting away from...we were childless). And I could barely talk. We had fun, I think, but I may have put a damper on the mood when I announced (on this trip) that I thought my biological clock was ticking and maybe we should have a baby. :) I am not sure Mark said much the rest of the trip. True, we had said we would wait three or four years, but you know, a girl can change her mind...

I don't remember much about our second anniversary. We probably didn't have the money to do much of anything. We had just moved into our first house. And I was about 7 months pregnant (though we didn't know at the time who we were having :). Mark was in a new job, then switched jobs again shortly afterward.

I don't remember every anniversary (aren't you thankful?). I know we have gone to Branson a time or two for the weekend. One year, we just went away for a night at a hotel in a neighboring city. Child 3 had joined our family a few months prior, and she was VERY clingy. So getting away was a nice treat. One year, Mark surprised me with a night away at a Bed and Breakfast nearby. Another year we just stayed at home as a family. I made dinner, then attempted a chocolate pound cake. Well, the cake turned out fine, but then I decided to clean out the oven with "self-cleaning" mode which apparently was a bad idea since some of the cake batter had spilled over. I ended up smoking us out of the house (I don't think there was actually fire...); thankfully it was a nice evening as we hung outside in the fresh air. Another year we spent our anniversary (as a family) in the Memphis area, celebrating our friend Cole's No Mo Chemo party as he finished up treatment for leukemia. We visited the Memphis zoo (a favorite) and ate at Joe's Crab Shack. Last year, we dropped the kids off at my parents' house for a night at home alone. We had our first meal at Theo's (YUM) and then went on a hike the next day at Devil's Den. It was a lot of fun in 24 hours.

This year...we really thought we would have a weekend away in New York City. Mark has been before, but I haven't. It is high on our list of places to visit. We have talked about it off and on. In the end though, at least at this point in time, life is too busy and NY is too pricey. So we are at home. (We have some special plans for our actual anniversary this week but right now, there is rain in the forecast for that day which would ruin our plans...)

And that is okay.

Oh, New York would have been a lot of fun, but the truth is, we have fun no matter where we are (even when there are screaming kids in the background).

And being together is what really matters.

Maybe next year, Big Apple!
Reba