Thursday, June 4, 2009

June 3rd: 9 days until our 10 year anniversary

So on with business here! I have so many amazing memories. In part this blog was meant to capture some of them as life blazes by year after year....but for the next few days it will simply be for remembering some.

These memories don't necessarily represent my "greatest" memories or the biggest moments in our life together. I promised myself when I decided to do this that I wouldn't over think it. I'd just share what came to mind. Moments and memories from everyday life with my Man...

I've made up my mind to share a memory from every year of our marriage.

(For June 3rd) To make up for Monday & Tuesday, I'll be sharing three of my memories from our first year of marriage. That's basically like trying to pick up only three grains of sand! Many say the first year is the hardest. That wasn't my experience AT ALL! From the moment Mike asked me to consider dating him I knew he was in my life forever. I couldn't wait to be his wife. (And I still get butterflies in my stomach when I know he's on his way home!)

I'll start with the very first memory I have after the "I do's" and the kiss that sealed the deal! I took his arm - his big muscly arm - and turned around to face a gathering of our closest friends and family and heard the words "Mr. & Mrs. Michael Scott Williams". Everything in me wanted to shout and happy dance, but I managed to save face and just grin ear to ear! I love being called Mrs. Williams. It practically still makes me giggle. I said it to myself for over a year. I wrote it in my journal and on notebooks over and over and over. And then, in a moment, it was real...

Here we are practicing that moment!



Here we are trying our best to remove all the icing we gingerly shoved up each others noses!



*FYI: I just had a stare down with a lizard that took cover under our TV stand after the rain. Gross! These are the memories I could live without.*

So anyway, memory #2. Mike surprised me with a first class stay at Opryland Hotel for our wedding night. It was beautiful and I definitely felt like Cinderella. The next morning after our "free" $50 breakfast (Babe, do you remember how I - totally not on purpose - finagled us a top notch breakfast when we were supposed to get toast and fruit?!). Anywho, we were ready to head south down the coast so we had the valet service bring our rental around. We jumped in and drove a few hours before stopping. In honor of our visit to the new Star Wars exhibit at MGM we decided to stop at a Kmart somewhere in Georgia to buy the new 3D Star Wars board game. Back at the car Mike noticed something missing. Our conversation went something like this:

Mike: "Hey Babe. Where's our license plate?"

Me (thinking): On the back of the car stud. I know last night was awesome, but pull yourself together. "Um. On the back of the car?"

Mike: "No. Seriously, we don't have a license plate."

Me: "Well, it's a rental. Maybe it doesn't need a license plate."

Mike (thinking): EVERY car needs a license plate doll. I know last night was awesome, but pull yourself together. "Not likely. Maybe we should call the rental company."

Me: "Nah. Let's hit the road!"

And as dumb as that was, we made the entire 2 week trip and never got pulled over! Can someone say "Goobers"?! Well, at least we were extremely happy newlyweds on vacation for 2 week Goobers!

Here's Mike at one of the restaurants we ate at in Englewood. It was called Mad Sam's and that's where we learned what Calamari is!



This is in our condo on the beach. Sorry about the picture quality. I don't have my scanner hooked up right now and so I had to take pictures of the pictures to post!



This is a picture I took shortly after our "turkey" incident. In an attempt to save money, I packed turkey sandwiches and drinks for the trip home. Undoubtedly I bought the cheapest white bread I could find and because of that....Mike got a huge hunk of it stuck in the roof of his mouth and as these two sweet older people drove by he started to tell me about it and the turkey flapped and the people were horrified and we laughed until we cried. I understand this makes no sense to anyone but us. Aren't those some of the best memories!



Memory #3...I know y'all are on the edge of your seats...or you've officially decided we are the dullest couple alive. Either way, I'm enjoying myself...

Our first Christmas married. What fun! It was the first time in 19 years that I hadn't raced with my brother down the hall to my parent's room (after making the coffee of course because that was the deal) to startle them awake! Mike and I woke up early and plowed through the mini pile of gifts we'd picked out for each other. I squealed a lot and pinched myself a lot. It really did feel like a dream. Then after we celebrated at our parent's houses we decided we wanted to see snow! There was no snow in our neck of the woods. So in typical pre-children fashion we threw a few days worth of clothes in the suitcase and took off for the Smokies. We drove into Pigeon Forge and checked into a log cabin style hotel. The front desk clerk wooed us with promises of a hot tub and fireplace. We unloaded the truck and headed on up. As it turned out, our "hot tub" was a bathtub with two jets. One was broken. The fireplace was a kerosene heater with at plywood "mantel" around it. But, it might as well have been the Biltmore. We drove up the mountain the next day and got our eyes full of snow. Mike, in an attempt for me to get the perfect shot, took a little "swim" in the pure, icy mountain stream! In his new coat and boots. Once I stopped laughing, I tried to help him out. I'd wanted to take his "after" picture, but by the look on his face I thought better of it...

So instead, here's a picture of us somewhere in Gatlinburg.


And here's the snow.
I know this is the longest post in history and you truly deserve a medal if you made it to the end. If you can stomach it, I'll be posting more later! :)
Thanks for sharing these memories with me, Mr. Williams. You are what makes each one special to me!

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