1.5 Year Anniversary

A few weeks ago we noticed December 11th would be our 1.5 year anniversary.  I don't know what made us think so fondly of this milestone, but Kyle decided we should do something nice to commemorate our marriage.  The only reason why I feel like this is something really bizarre is because we didn't do anything big for our one year anniversary.  Back in June it was like "oh, cool, it's been a year, no big deal"...but now?  Maybe it's that we had been holding our breath for what this academic year would be like for me, and now it's going well.  Or maybe people aren't asking us how "the first year and a half has been" so we are free to reflect on it in our own way.  For those who are not yet married, when your one year anniversary swings around you will have numerous friends and family saying "so how was it?"  Personally, I think that's very awkward (and sorry to those friends who I asked the very same question to this year...it seemed like the thing to say, but now I disagree).  What if our first year had been absolutely terrible?  What if we were hanging on by a thread?  Thankfully, we were nowhere near that state.  Our response was pretty much "great!", we didn't have anything extraordinary happen...we didn't have any moments where we found some deep dark secret about the other...it was just normal.  So maybe now that no one is asking how we're doing, we're able to sit back and think to ourselves "we've got it pretty darn good" and we appreciate it.

Sunday evening I was working at a fundraiser for our free clinics and another executive board member I was sitting with asked me how Kyle & I met.  I love that we have a pretty awesome, modern fairytale story (in my opinion) and Kyle is more than happy to let me be the one to tell it when someone asks.  It's pretty awesome to marry your best friend.  It's even more awesome to have known them for 14 years before you got married.  Anyway, as I sat there telling our story for the thousandth time, I had this overwhelming sense of gratitude overcome me.  I am so thankful that I woke up that morning in May 2009 and the first thing on my mind was: Kyle Darling.  I am so thankful that when I contacted him, he was thrilled to hear from me and more than happy to have me come visit.  I am so thankful that he was single at the time.  I am so thankful that even though he had classes, he was more than willing to keep in constant contact with me via text, gchat, email, or phone.  I am so thankful for those nights that we would stay up late talking on the phone, even though there might have been long silences when he was working on his coursework or I was finishing up a paragraph for one of my papers.  I am so thankful we both knew "this was it" at the same time (after all of those years).  I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to serve in Ethiopia together.  I am so thankful that he was able to get a job near where I go to school so that we could start a family together.  I am so thankful that our families love each other.  I am so thankful that we are always there for each other.  I am so thankful that our house is filled with so much love and kindess.  I am so thankful that I get to spend the rest of eternity with this man.

See, I have no idea what stirred up these thoughts/feelings within me.  I have no idea why Kyle decided it was a good idea to celebrate our 18th mensiversary.  But I'm thankful.  And last night was pretty awesome!

As I mentioned previous, Kyle pushed back our dinner reservation and wouldn't tell me why.  Last night he got home from work and a package had arrived at our door!  Actually, now that I think about it...why was it at our door?  I was home all day...how did I not hear the doorbell or a knock?  Bizarre.  Anyway...his new snow pants had arrived so he tried them on and I was stunned at how slimming they were (not that Kyle needs any slimming).  I called them "skinny" snow pants with a bootcut bottom.  He said they were poofy.  I then put my snow pants on to prove that mine are poofy and his are skinny.  We then spent a good amount of time trying on our winter gear (we're going snowboarding on Christmas day with his siblings) and playing with his new snow pants.  Once that was done, it was around 5:45pm and our dinner reservation was at 8pm.  Kyle said "do you know what we were going to do?" and I said "I think so".  He was going to take me to the zoo for Lights Before Christmas!  He's promised to take me the past two years but we've never made it around to it (not his fault).  I had planned on making us go on the 21st after my exam, but was really excited that he thought of it for our date!  We decided that we wouldn't have enough time, so we moved our dinner reservation up to 7:30pm and headed out.  I was so giddy that he had been super sweet and thought of the lights.  :)

On our way to Ann Arbor, Bre texted me a reminder to stop at Trader Joe's to get the corn salsa so we could make her awesome chili.  Luckily, we had so much extra time that we were able to make a pitstop at Trader Joe's before dinner.

Our dinner at Pacific Rim was delicious, as expected.  On our way in, Kyle started craving the Cuban food at Frita Batidos which Nazy & John introduced us to and we took Caitlin & Sam there after rock climbing.  I'm really glad we stuck with Pacific Rim because I think of it as a special place for us.  Nothing important has happened there, but it's our special place where we get good food and enjoy each other's company (in my opinion).  The food did not disappoint!  I tried something new this time and Kyle went back to a favorite he had a few times ago.  Yum yum yummy!

Butternut Squash Soup

Winter Salad
(Greens, candied pecans, butternut squash,
kohlrabi, radish, bleu cheese)

Wasabi-Peppercorn Tenderloin

Grilled Lemongrass Chicken
(the rice with chili-lime dressing was amazing)

Like I said, it was really delicious.

My signature dessert: Chocolate-Passionfruit Mousse

Kyle got the Warm Chocolate Cake.  When she first asked he said he'd think about it.  He then told me he didn't want dessert but knew he would regret not getting it.  So he got it.  Yum.

After our wonderful meal together in Ann Arbor, we headed home to finish watching The Fellowship of the Ring (which we started Sunday night).  It was such a wonderful evening and I'm glad we celebrated our 18th month of marriage.  Cheers!