10 years!

10 Years! I can't believe it's been 10 years with this guy:

He surprised me with a weekend getaway here:

And we had the best time! I thought I was doing good and I got him a Roku box and a tool box (which both sound totally lame right now as I'm typing this for a 10 year anniversary!) And he surprises me with a trip to San Diego! I didn't know what to do with myself without my babe for the whole weekend. (It was actually more like 5 days) But it was the perfect amount of time of just Ben and I and having a truly great time together! It was exactly what we needed.

It started out pretty interesting, sitting next to a drunk kid (like 22 maybe) who hates flying so he got himself drunk before so he'd be calm. He had some pretty good stories for Ben and I and totally became our buddy. He even got Ben's phone number to play golf with him. He claimed he was a semi-pro golfer. He also claimed that he goes to Gonzaga University free of charge because he works there. (we made fun of him tha the was Matt Damon in  Good Will Hunting.) Anyway, it was a fun way to start our trip. Even after we had to make an unexpected layover in Las Vegas and then ended up getting booted from our flight (we volunteered because they would reimburse you your ticket and a half in credit toward another flight) We were't in a rush, so we jumped at the chance and got to San Diego just an hour and a half later than planned! Not too shabby! :) Our hotel was right on the waterfront in downtown. It was so much fun. That first night it was like we were young all over again, and we stayed up until like 1 am just exploring the hotel. We were actually on a hunt for some Diet Soda. We finally found a soda machine outside near the marina that charged 2.50 for a can of soda! You can imagine that didn't go over well with my frugal husband. So, we went and played some ping pong in the game center. We explored some off limit parts of the resort. And we even stole some bananas from the breakfast bar area that were under a cloth in prep for the next morning, I think. (but shhh...don't tell!) It was just fun being care free with my husband again! :)

The next 3 days were spent just relaxing in the southern California sun! We hit up Balboa Park, Old town San Diego, Belmont park and Mission Beach, the La Jolla caves, Downtown Gaslamp district, and found some awesome thrift stores! Of course, San Diego would have the best thrift stores! :)

Old Town San Diego:

We stopped at the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center, which I thought was really cool. A bit cheesy, as Ben was rolling his eyes through at least half of the program, but I loved hearing the stories and the history of it. I had no clue anything about the Mormon Battalion.

They even e-mail you this cool photo that makes it look like we were really there! :) Which brings me to my next bit of sad news. I lost my camera in San Diego. I was so so so bummed! It had the pictures from Taylors first day of pre-school, which lets be honest, she's going to be in pre-school next year too, :) But it also had a ton of pictures from our trip. These happen to be the ones I took on my phone (and our free one from the Mormon Battalion Center). I had even better ones on my camera! I'm talking my little point and shoot camera here, not my big DSLR, thank goodness! I hardly even got my big camera out on this trip, sadly enough! :)

We also, did a little bit of lounging poolside: (and a bit of reading)

Top rated breakfast place, Richard Walkers Pancake house (or something like that) It was packed packed packed, but really really good! :)

We ate a lot of really good food on this trip! On the night of our actual anniversary, Ben had made us reservations at a place called 'the Crab Catcher' right on the beach at the LaJolla caves. It was very good, and very expensive. Ben was disappointed because they didn't have bottomless sodas. You had to pay for every one. So he just got water. But really, what restaurant charges for every soda these days??? Other than that it was fabulous! I told him next time we'd head to McDonalds before dinner and smuggle in a Diet. :)

I also got to sneak away for a lunch with a good good friend from BYU-Hawaii, Kim. It was soooo good to see her and catch up! It was like no time had passed, even though it's been years since we've actually seen each other. Facebook and phone calls just aren't the same! We've been planning a reunion with our BYU-H friends for years that just hasn't happened, so I'm so glad I got to atleast see Kim. Love her!

One thing we realized about San Diego is that it is TOTALLY a family friendly city! We kept on thinking and seeing things that the kids would love. Like Balboa park, a huge park with tons of different museums and attractions, like the zoo, that the kids would love. Seaworld, obviously the kids would love. Beaches and parks. Next time, we're bringing the kids, for sure!

I got these beautiful glass stars to hang in my kitchen in San Diego, I love looking at them and remembering the great time we had, just the two of us! :) I got one for each member of our family, but one broke on the way home, so there are only 4. I guess that means we need to to back soon to get that 5th one! :) Am I right?

Oh...but there's more! Our next stop was Seattle! We flew into Seatle on Saturday night really late to stay with our friends, Doug and Sadie, because we got to go to the Season opener home game for the Seahawks, against the 49ers!!!!! D&S have season tickets along with her parents, and her parents just happen to be in Italy celebrating their own anniversary, and they offered us the tickets! Awesome friends! :) It was so much fun!

And I finally got to meet this guy:

The newest member of their family, who is already 8 months old!! He is the absolute cutest thing in the entire world! I just loved on him all weekend long!

It was a pretty quick time in Seattle, but it sure was fun being with Doug and Sadie again and going to the game! :)

Of course, I told them to turn around and smile, and this is what I got. Finally, I got a decent one! :)

It was crazy crowded, that's for sure!

It was SO much fun! The noise was so incredibly loud, we broke the record for loudest NFL game ever!  We also broke the record of the biggest NFL crowd! It was a fun night!!!

Of course, it was a typical Seattle fall evening. The clouds started rolling in, and luckily we were under the eve, but they eventually had to rain delay the game, and clear out the people who weren't covered.

So we sat for about an hour while this happened:

That didn't stop us (or anyone for that matter) from having fun!!! :)

Well, there was a little drama. The two dudes sitting in front of Sadie and I, right when they got to their seats to sit down, turned around and said, totally arrogantly, 'just to warn you we aren't sitting down the entire game!' Well, that sucks, I thought! But whatever. But really, it totally got annoying after awhile. I didn't want to stand the whole time! So, of course, Ben taps him on the shoulder and totally politely asks if he would mind just sitting down every now and then, maybe on the offense, (or defense? There is one you're supposed to stand during and one your're supposed to sit during) They get all attitudey, and rude.

So, Ben and Doug switch us seats, and proceed to yell and clap RIGHT in their ears the entire time. Which is totally juvenile. Doug was getting a bit tipsy at this point, and Ben just loves egging people on like this. I told them to stop, that they were going to get like beat up or something--but they didn't. And of course, there were some heated exchanges. Then the rain delay happened. Every single person was sitting down except these two! I'm pretty sure it was just based on principle at this point for them. There wasn't even any football being played. Well, once Ben and Doug head down to grab some food, the dudes totally sit down! :) I thought it was hilarious! I was just about to snap a picture to text to Ben when the one closest to us turned around (also a little tipsy) and was like, 'Where did your dudes go?' and we just laugh uncomfortably and say they went to get some food. And then he apologized. He said he knew he could be stubborn, but that they were being stubborn, too (which they totally were) But then he gave us hugs and said that we were on the same team and that they had season tickets too so they had better become friends. And then the guys got back and he apologized to them and they apologized to him and the rest of the night we were best buds! Seriously, every good play he would turn around and hug us or give high-fives! It was hilarious! They became best friends! Which I was glad about! I hate contention like this. And it was an awesome game, and I got to see my boyfriend Russel Wilson, so the night couldn't have gone any better! :) So grateful for good friends to enjoy the game with!

But, more importantly, I'm so grateful to have this guy to enjoy the game with:

Can't believe it's been 10 years! I'm so lucky to have this guy to go through the ups and downs with! Life certainly hasn't been perfect, but I can honestly say that he's my best friend, and while we drive each other nuts sometimes, every year brings us closer and more aware of just how lucky we are to have found one another and that we get to live this crazy life together! (And it's totally not fair that while I've gotten fatter and fatter over the years, he's getting skinnier and skinnier!!!) :)

*I've had this idea in my head for a while now of writing down the story of how we met and fell in love. Ya know for posterity. And I thought it would be perfect to add it to this post, but it is soooo long. I've even scanned in photos and everything. But I'm going to do a post just on that. Hopefully soon here before I forget. I want to write down our story before I don't remember the details anymore. My brain is already starting to leave me!* :)