Five Years! Really! Five of them!

Five years has always been a big deal to both of us. Somewhere, we'd heard statistics saying that if you make it to your fifth anniversary the chances of divorce decrease by some huge percentage. So we'd looked at each other and said we'd celebrate that one big. (Also the 10 year, because that one dropped it even further.)

It was perfect. I knew it would be. Scott's been working on our anniversary plans now for almost a year. He booked our room at the Anniversary Inn back in November, I think. Or was that when he called to confirm the reservation, only to find out they'd lost it? Oh well. That's another story.

So the night before, Scott leaves to run an errand. And, since he asked me for the car wash certificates, it left little mystery about where he was going. When I queried him, he just said, "Gotta get things ready for my big date tomorrow. ...You need to be ready to leave the house by 8:45." He was up early on Friday, and when he got home to pick me up, I saw he'd bought the car paint and decorated our car: "Just Married" in big, white letters. Underneath in red, it said "five years ago." For the rest of the weekend it was fun to see people point, smile, and honk.

First, he took me to Bridal Veil Falls. He knows I'm obsessed with learning how to take better pictures -- and right now I'm experimenting with the manual mode -- so it was the perfect treat. Here's some of the better shots:


...Yes, we have an independent sitter on our hands. She just keeps growing up. I think she started right at the end of July/first of August and had it mastered before we knew it -- quite literally. I was expecting to need to still support her one day, and she just sat. And sat. And sat.

After taking pictures, we wandered in Riverwoods and South Towne Mall, toured all the Anniversary Inn Suites, dropped off Betsy at my parents' place, changed for dinner at the hotel, and then went to the Melting Pot. Wow! Our first time there. Incredible. We exchanged presents at the restaurant... sort-of. I got mine, anyway. His will get here eventually. After a while, we picked Betsy up and went back to the hotel.

Everything about the weekend was utterly blissful. I think we need these getaways more often. Life just gets too stressful, and it weakens marriage. Nothing is more important than marriage, and nothing is entitled to ruin my relationship with my husband. ...If only we had the money for such extravagant getaways more often. Guess we'll have to tone it down for our next excursion. Here's hoping it isn't in the too-distant future.