Married Life :: Day 3,288

3,288 days with my favorite guy. 9 years since we said "I do!"

We have been through a lot in our 9 years together, and I would say that this last year has proven a tough one. With the busyness/chaos of 3 little ones, job changes, the return of health issues, a global pandemic...  life is crazy and busy and full. And navigating marriage in the midst of it all can be a challenge. 

But as tough as this season can feel sometimes, I am reminded of how much I love Mike, and how thankful I am to have him by my side. Life is hard. Marriage is hard. But I'm thankful for both of our commitment to figuring it all out together. It matters that you have someone by your side, willing to endure the hard things, remembering that you're both on the same team. Because then life is beautiful. Marriage is beautiful. And I'm thankful for ours. 

With 3 little ones, it's hard to slip away for any kind of real date nights, and especially now in the middle of a crazy pandemic. So we decided to do the best we could at home, and we ended up having a pretty fun {and different} anniversary date!

Earlier in the day, we sat down with our wedding photo book and showed it to the kids. I enjoyed walking through the memories of that day, and it was so fun to share it with them! It was funny who they recognized, and who they didn't, how excited they got when they saw Mommy and Daddy on the page :)

We ordered take-out dinner and dessert from Cheesecake Factory to enjoy, separate from the kiddos. We put them to bed and enjoyed our delicious dinner in peace and quiet :)

The traditional 9th anniversary gift is pottery, so I thought it would be fun to incorporate that theme! There's a local pottery studio in downtown McKinney that offers in-studio painting. But with COVID-19, they started offering take-home options, which turned out to be perfect for us! I ordered a couple of pottery pieces for us to paint for a fun date night. Our cheesecake was our creativity boost.

We painted a plate, that will now be dubbed our official "cookie plate," since we tend to eat a lot of cookies together. We also painted a little cement planter, reminiscent of our flower-picking children :)

We will drop the pieces off again to have them fired, and then we'll have a fun memory from our 9th anniversary. Something different and fun!

I'm so thankful for our fun at-home anniversary date. There's no one else with whom I'd rather quarantine, Babe! Here's to 49 more years! :)