Ten

On May 13, 1999, Stephen and I were married in the Dallas, Texas Temple for time and all eternity. We met at Texas A&M in the fall of 1997. I asked him out to a Sadie Hawkins event that fall. He put me on his "top 5 to date" list. But things never really took off. We saw each other often at Institute activities and interacted, but the timing was not right. Then, in the fall of 1998, Stephen finally came to his right mind and asked me out on our first real date. We went to Cafe Eccel, one of the favored restaurants in College Station, went to George Bush Presidential Library Park, and talked the night away. There is more to the story, but the rest will have to be told in another post. Time is limited now.

Anyway, for our Tenth Anniversary, without my knowledge, Stephen planned a "re-creation" weekend, in which we re-created things from our courtship and wedding. Because Emme is still nursing, we couldn't go away too far for too long. This re-creation was the perfect fit.

Stephen's sister, Debbie, and her husband, Mo, kindly agreed to watch our four kids for 24 hours while we got away. As I said, Stephen plotted all of this without my knowledge. A few days before we were to leave, Stephen told me we would be going somewhere but did not say where and told me that Deb and Mo would be watching the kids. I was very excited to find out what we were doing and a little nervous to leave all four kids, especially a nursing baby who refuses to take a bottle, for the first time.

When the time finally came and we pulled out of the driveway, Stephen told me what we were doing and where we were going. First to the Omni Houston (Galleria) to check in and drop off our bags. The Omni is where we stayed the night we got married, but this time we stayed in a luxurious suite. Then to College Station where we had reservations at Cafe Eccel (which were actually hard to get because it was graduation weekend, and we almost lost out on them because we arrived a little late, but after hearing our story and the reason we were there, they found a table for us right away). After Cafe Eccel, back to George Bush Presidential Library Park (where we took the pictures above (we left our good camera in the car, so we had to take these with my iPhone). Night at the Omni in the Sweet. Running through Tanglewood the next morning (our old route when we lived on Bering Street). Spa and massage treatment for me. Pool lounging for both of us. Last, a late lunch at Houston's (where by happenstance we ordered a Dr. Pepper and it came in a bottle. I have a Dr. Pepper bottle saved from one of our first dates) and a movie (17 again).

Stephen laid out this itinerary while a special song played in the background. I was excited by the prospect of each event, thoughtfully planned, but I was overjoyed by how well the weekend actually turned out. We both were moved to tears several times thinking about the last ten years and enjoying a break from our oftentimes hectic lives. We were so very grateful to the Nikos for watching our kids for us for 24 hours. Even Emme made it through, thanks in part to a 3:00 a.m. feeding of prunes and rice cereal. :)

Here's to the next ten.