Monday, August 18, 2008

6 Years and Counting...

On Saturday, August 16th, Drew and I celebrated a fabulous six-year anniversary. Our first anniversary he bought me two diamond bands to go with my wedding ring, so he set a high standard for himself. (Not something I would have done. A smarter choice would have been to get me a gift certificate to Claire's- from there it would have had to go up.) This year we for sure splurged for dinner and went to The Tobacco Company in Shockoe Slip. It was a restaurant we said we'd wanted to try since moving here, but didn't feel justified, given our economic status. This was our last time celebrating something momentous while living in Richmond, so we went out with a bang. It was truly fabulous fare, and even better ambience. We had a delicious time, enjoying every minute of our evening. BTW, the reason I have no food in front of me and Drew does is because I had injested every single morsel of goodness. So had Drew, in fact, and because he was able to consume all 12 ounces of prime rib, the next 6 were on the house. Here he is with the last 1/3 of his 18 ounces of prime rib. No one ever said my husband couldn't eat.


In our six wonderful years of marriage, we have experienced a lot together. The following are some noteworthy ones:

1. We've lived in 3 different residences.
2. We've owned 5 different cars (4 of them being Camrys)
3. Collectively, we've obtained 4 university degrees.
4. We've had 1 beatiful, smart, amazing daughter.
5. We've been to 11 different temples.
6. We've stolen a parasailing ride in Mexico.
7. We've kissed the Blarney Stone once, and eachother lots.

8. We've unintentionally been on a "Booze Cruise"
9. We've ridden on 5 different subway systems.
10. We've watched eachother's backs while sleeping in hostels.
11. We've almost set my parent's house on fire.
12. We've met Mitt Romney, Margaret Thatcher, Steve Young, and Beyonce (the last one is just a wish).
13. Together we've won an iPod, a home theatre system, and a $10,000 classroom makeover.
14. We've stood by as devoted Cougar fans for 6 years together, attending football games in the rain, sleet, and snow- and proud of it.

I guess I can't think of anything else interesting. Suffice it to say, if the next 6, 12, or 18 years are as exciting as the first six, we can count ourselves lucky, or rather... blessed.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Coast to Coast

Holy cow, is the summer really almost over? Since Christmas I've been telling myself, "As soon as we get back from Arizona, then we need to get movin'... on moving." And now, we've already spent the month in AZ with my family, Makenna's had her very first birthday, and our first weekend back has gone by in a blur up in Northern VA looking for a house.

For your enjoyment, here's a brief timeline of the major events which have made up the past month for us:

July 10th: Makenna and I leave for AZ while Drew stays here in Richmond to give his undivided attention to studying for the BAR.
July 17th:
We road-trip with my parents up to Stockton, CA to visit grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.
July 29-30th: Drew braves the Virginia Bar Exam... and comes out alive.
July 31st: After 3 long weeks, Daddy is reunited with his girls and we all drive to San Diego to go sailing with Uncle Daniel.
August 3rd: Our baby girl turns 1 year old, is spoiled beyond belief, and downs an entire piece of Funfetti cake with chocolate frosting.
August 7th: The Manns return to Richmond at 11 pm.
August 8th: 8 am- we drive up to Alexandria to start our quest of looking for a home.
August 12th: We put our very first offer on our very first home... cross your fingers!


The princess at the pool. Uncle Daniel playing with his niece at the beach.

Jet skiing on Mission Bay.


Makenna with Grandpa watching the birdies.

The Birds (minus Uncle Eric in Romania) at the beginning of our sojourn out to sea.


Makenna the Cakeinator. Even after all that cake, she comes in at a whopping 18 lbs. on her first birthday.

We had a super fun time back West and wish we were closer to family. Now on my "to do" list:

PACK