5 Years Ago

We cannot believe that June 30th marked our 5 year anniversary. We look very young, fit, and tan at 23 and so very excited to start out together in life. I remember the joys (coming down the aisle to Ave Maria played beautifully on the violin and piano, feeling so sure of our love and commitment, dancing up a storm with everyone I love, emotional father-daughter dance, food tasting so great, driving away together giggling) and stresses (first dance, dress almost not fitting, the dog-show that ruined our picture location, Dan taking the only church key paintballing and preventing us from setting up, me and my mom at each others' throats) of our wedding day vividly and think of them from time to time, though less often than I used to.

Dan and I got away from home to celebrate and had several conversations about the last 5 years and how much is different than we pictured or exactly what we had hoped for. Some of the surprises for us were that we still live in the Bay Area when we thought we'd live in Santa Rosa by now, we don't own a house yet, we already have 2 small children when we didn't think our family would have grown so much already, and that we fight a lot less and work much better as a team than we did while dating.

Some things that aren't a surprise are that I stopped working after we had our first baby, that we have found a good church and gotten very involved, and that we are still very close with our families.

On the evening of the 30th we went to dinner at Chantilli's in Redwood City which we had been saving for a special occasion and then lingered at a cafe for dessert and drinks. I wore the earrings from the wedding and my going-away dress, though it didn't fit quite as comfortably as it used to.

 We also had the privileged of going away for a night in July to San Francisco to see Les Miserables, sleep all night long without anyone yelling at us, and eat in tiny restaurants with no stroller space and long lines (Little Griddle and Dottie's were amazing) and just be together. It was hard to leave Cosette for the first time and Jackson, who had been feisty all week, was suddenly a little angel as we were leaving and made me want to stay. But it was worthwhile to be on our own for 24 hours and my favorite part is being spontaneous and going wherever seems fun in the moment.

In front of the Orpheum before the show. What an emotionally moving play! Seeing it all live and hearing the music makes the story so touching and powerful.  I teared up seeing the Fantine and Cosette parted by the mother's early death.

 

Fantine sings:

"Come to me, Cosette, the light is fading
Don't you see the evening star appearing?
Come to me, and rest against my shoulder
How fast the minutes fly away and every minute colder.

Hurry near, another day is dying
Don't you hear, the winter wind is crying?
There's a darkness which comes without a warning
But I will sing you lullabies and wake you in the morning.

For God's sake, please stay till I am sleeping
And tell Cosette I love her
And I'll see her when I wake..."

  Little orphan Cosette's protector, Valjean, is a figure from God and gives her a sweet little life. I just love the story and my girl Cosette also.

Waiting in the 40 minute line on Sunday morning to eat at Dottie's a very popular breakfast spot. We were in SOMA, so this trip was packed with people watching opportunities as the odd San Franciscians went about their business around us.

Inside The Drake Hotel in Union Square. No, we didn't stay here, but we did pop into some fancy hotel lobbies to peak around.

 And lastly, we decided to go traditional with gifts. For the 5 year anniversary the traditional gift is wood and the modern interpretation is silverware. So I gifted Dan the chance to pick out a new putter (golf "woods" are a bit of strech since a putter is not a wood and even the woods are made of metal, but it was the closest thing I could come up with). For the silverware, Dan bought me some silver serving pieces from a pattern that I had already started collecting at estate sales. So delicate and detailed. I hope we will be putting and serving meals together for many years to come.

Here's to 5 more wonderful years and the surprises yet to come. I wouldn't miss it for anything! Love you Danny!