4 Years of Wedded Bliss

January 24th marked 4 years of marriage for Tim and I. It wasn't our big, fancy-shmancy, white dress and black tie wedding, but it is the one that we look at as our official wedding date. He proposed to me on January 7th, 2005, and in just a few weeks we had agreed that waiting until after he came back from Iraq was a bad idea. I had no health insurance and, as his wife, I would get much more support from the Army while he was deployed. So that morning I walked into work and asked for the afternoon off to get married. They all looked at me like I was crazy, but they went and bought me flowers, because every bride needs a bouquet. (I miss everyone at Dr. Foy's office!)

First dinner as husband and wife.

My first wedding bouquet.

Off we went to the court house, where we signed on the dotted line and that was it. Now vows, no witness, no judge, just $16 and it was legal. Then we had to start calling the family, who of course was shocked. Tim's mom finally told me later that she was a little upset by it, but that she realized it was best and that she's glad we did it. I'm really happy that she didn't tell me at first, because I love Connie to death and would have felt horrible for upsetting her. My parents were ecstatic. They have loved Tim from the moment they met him. My dad even told me that I was going to marry him that first day, which was crazy.

We planned an entire day to ourselves yesterday. Mike and Connie came to pick up Brenden and take him to the Jenks Aquarium where he fed stingrays and had a great old time. We went to the matinee showing of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which was awesome. It didn't feel like it was a 2 1/2 hr long movie at all and the special effects and makeup they used to age the actors was amazing. Of course I cried, but more because I missed Brenden than anything. (If you see the show and have kids you may know what I mean.) After that we headed to the mall so that I could use one of my gifts, a Victoria's Secret gift card. Yay for new bras! My other gift was the rest of the Twilight books, which I am devouring. I read the 2nd book on Friday night, which is when we decided to exchange gifts, and I'm halfway through the 3rd already. (For a great review that doesn't give too much away, please see my friend Heather's blog.) Tim was very happy with his gifts. I got him a set of Perfect Push ups, a cover for his phone, an adapter to hold his Nike+iPod, and the latest Odd Thomas book, which we both love.

SO EXCITED!

After the mall we came home to wait until our reservation at 7 pm, which was all I knew. I didn't know the name of the restaurant, although I did know it was French. (Thanks Mike! hehe) I took a nap (a night of reading wore me out!) and Tim played on the Wii. Eventually we pulled ourselves together and made it out the door. He took me to The Brasserie, which turned out to be fabulous. The waiter helped us choose wine, which we both enjoyed, and the food was great. We both had salads and then Tim had a steak with Bearnaise sauce and I had duck with gnocchi. Then we shared a yummy creme brulee and coffee. By that time it was only 8:30 pm, we were dressed up, and we had no idea what we wanted to do. Eventually we agreed to get a bottle of wine and head home, where we both proceeded to get tipsy while playing the Wii. It may not sound like a perfect night to anyone else, but we had the best time. (Even if I did almost break my arm tripping over furniture.)

Tim - thank you for everything you have given me, which is more than I deserve. Thank you for our beautiful son, who brightens every corner of my life. Thank you for the opportunity to stay at home with him. I will treasure these times with him forever. Thank you for supporting me, through my silly moods as well as the awful ones. Thank you for being wonderful. I love you more than words can say. I look forward to what the future holds for us and I'm so happy to know that I will have you by my side.