We've Hit 50%!

Well, originally I had a very sweeping and moving post planned for today but given the events of this week - which I'll cover later - I pooped out and came up with this. I couldn't let the day go by completely unnoticed because it's an achievement we're proud of: today is Robert's and my 17-year dating anniversary. This year is a little more exciting than usual because this now marks that 50% of our lives have been spent with one another. How weird is that?! And I think we've done a pretty darn good job of keeping it together and making a wonderful life for ourselves. I don't like to get shmoopy but I'm proud of how well we've done and I'm so lucky I found such an awesome partner in crime so early. :-) It was meant to be!!! Love you to pieces, behbeh!!!

1996: We were friends (We'd known each other since '94 but didn't start socializing outside of school until '96.)

1997: We started dating

2002: Still going strong

2005: We bought our first house

2008: We got engaged

2009: We got a dog

2009: We got married

2011: We got a cat

2014: We got a foster dog

2014: We're having a baby!

Disneyland!

Robert and I weren't planning on doing anything for our anniversary this year but at the last minute Robert decided that just wasn't going to cut it so he planned a quick trip down to Disneyland. Yay! We hadn't been to the Happiest Place on Earth since our Christmas trip with the Blackards back in '09 and a quick getaway was just what we needed. (Robert especially - he'd been working crazy hours for several weeks.)

We stopped in Westwood on the way down to grab some dinner at Jerry's (though Robert didn't get any pickles this time) and take a quick spin around UCLA. For some reason there were still lots of kids on campus and they looked young. Very, very young.  Robert and I felt very, very old. :o(  Even older when we realized we started college 13 years ago. Meeeeeeeeeeeeeew. We marveled over the new construction on campus and remembered how much fun we had there before time forced us to hop back in the car and finish the trip to Buena Park.

Robert purchased our tickets online but he wasn't about to take a chance and have the park close like it did the last time we visited so we made sure we got there bright and early. Which actually worked out really well because I didn't have to worry about Robert's head exploding... or so I thought. The man is the most competitive tram-rider EVER! It's ridiculous. But he mellowed out once we got our physical tickets and walked into the park and we had a fantastic time. There were some definite hiccups - it was hotter than Satan's balls, there were 400 million people, the Matterhorn was completely out of commission both days and both Space Mountain and Indiana Jones were down periodically throughout the entire trip - but because we were there for two days, we had the freedom to wait in line and get to everything. (We got a chance to see the fireworks, the parade and Fantasmic, which neither of us had seen before. It was great!) Without a doubt the line for Star Tours was the worst but we did wind up snagging a FastPass and riding it at the end of the first day. Of course, for those of us with motion sickness it wasn't the wisest decision to ride it and it was actually quite serendipitous that it was the final ride of the day. But! We had a wonderful time and I'm so very glad we made the decision to take a few days to get away from home. :o)

Breakfast at the Carnation Cafe on Main Street.

My delicious Mickey Head waffle.

Robert haaad to have his corn dog, of course. Not that I blame him - I had my cocoa and pretzel, too!

He was very, very...

very excited. :o)

See the 'Happy Anniversary' pin? We wore those the second day. Super cute but I had no idea every park employee had to wish us a happy anniversary upon seeing it. I was proud of me, though - I still wore it the entire day.

First Anniversary Dinner

Since our anniversary fell on a Monday (and the start of a pretty crummy work week for Robert) we decided to take it easy and just have a nice dinner out. So, we headed out to one of our favorite but not often visited restaurants, Taiwan in Willow Glen, and enjoyed our meal at a teeny tiny table with a gigantenormous vase. It was delicious.

Afterward, we headed to WestGate Mall to snag a chocolate malt at Johnny Rocket's (one of my favorites and not available in Fremont). But on the way there we passed by a Foster's Freeze, which is definitely a favorite from way back when my family used to live in San Jose, so we decided to stop there, instead. Fantastic!!! Oh, Foster's Freeze is so good... and also not available in stinky ol' Fremont! Booooo.

A somewhat subdued evening but a happy way to celebrate our anniversary nonetheless.







(Here is an alternative picture of us on the same day. It's not super cute so I didn't make it quite so big...!)

Our First Anniversary!!!

Imagine: Me, sitting at on the couch, thinking "Hey! I think I'll make a cute little slideshow of wedding photos to post on the blog for our anniversary!"

Cut to: Me, sitting at my desk for 3 hours, pulling my hair out because my software is not cooperating.

I was definitely having more fun this time last year... :o)

12 Years :o)

Robert and I celebrated our old anniversary on Saturday with a night out on the town that included dinner at Papillon (yum!). They were as busy as I've ever seen them but they still brought out all the stops with the celebratory soup and dessert. Fabulous!

Robert and I actually contemplated getting married on Saturday since it seemed somewhat serendipitous that November 7th fell on a weekend day the year after we got engaged. But we ultimately decided against it for a couple of reasons: (1) I really, really wanted an outdoor wedding and planning one in November, even if early in the month, seemed a bit questionable; and (2) We have taken many a trip to celebrate our anniversary over the years and the weather is never all that cooperative. Robert really wanted to get married during a month where we could go anywhere and do anything and November isn't necessarily that month. We're still very attached to 11/07, however, and going out to celebrate seemed like the right thing to do. At least this year.

Love is Dinner... and Sweatpants.

Robert and I had a very, very low-key anniversary this year but it was actually quite nice. We went to Papillon for dinner on Friday night and then spent the rest of the weekend in sweatpants watching movies. It was awesome. (And I am not being at all facetious when I say that - I can never get Robert to just sit still and relax on the weekend. He always wants to be up doing chores or something around the house. This weekend we were both a little under the weather and so we snuggled up on the couch and just sat. It was delightful. I guess we're old and boring. Oh well. At least we enjoy being old and boring together!)

This looks like a random photo but it's not - these are the two things Robert sucked up through his straw at the restaurant. The cherry stem we understood; it was discarded by Robert (although why he put it back in his soda I do not know) earlier in the evening. However, when he got a new Coke and took his first sip, he nearly swallowed the fancy toothpick you see there. Robert made me laugh when the first thing he said was "It's like I'm a magician!" :o) We probably could've gotten something had we told the waitstaff about it but we didn't. We're dumb. Actually, I think we were still trying to figure out whether or not he wanted to finish drinking that particular Coke...

My dinner - sauteed prawns in a lobster and mushroom sauce over white corn mashed potatoes. It. Was. DELICIOUS. I am a sucker for white corn. In fact, the soup that night was cream of white corn and Robert and I had to fight over it. We both love the soup and salad at Papillon and couldn't decide which to get. Ultimately, I got the salad, he got the soup and we switched halfway through. It worked well, I think, but we each were left wanting more. If only fancy French restaurants had takeout!!

Here's Robert trying to look nonchalant as I take a photo of his meal (Beef Wellington). Totally natural, no?

This picture stinks... we look miserable!!! Geez. We really were much, much happier than we appear in this photo, I promise.

Robert did surprise me on Friday by popping in to my office, complete with flowers, to take me to lunch. Of course, all the ladies swooned at his thoughtfulness - and I was just surprised he actually knew which office I was in! ;o) Very sweet.

Happy Anniversary to Me (and Robert)!

Well, today is Robert's and my 11th anniversary of dating. Unfortunately, Robert has been swamped at work and I have been sick all week so the date sort of sneaked up on us and we don't have anything fun or romantic planned. How sad is this - we aren't even married yet and we're already at the point where anniversaries are morphing into somewhat nothingburger events! :o( Actually, I don't think that's true most years; this year is more the exception, not the rule. In any event, to celebrate this momentous occasion, I have put together a little slideshow of Robert and I over the years. I wanted to make it a bit better than it is but, unfortunately, most of our "good" photos are in Robert's scrapbook and I tacked those puppies down like nobody's business! It definitely was not about lifting them off and scanning them. So, I made do with the photos I could grab and scan. Enjoy!