Our First Anniversary; The Longest Date Ever

I am the wifey to an excellent man, and this fact becomes acutely highlighted when we have a day like yesterday.  Yesterday was the Oros One Year Anniversary.  After weeks of secrecy and knowing looks, my dear hubs was able to unfold a day catered just for us.  He made me cry tears of joy three times throughout the afternoon; it was that great. 

A little play by play for any hubs out there who need some inspiration and for our families who like lots of details in story telling:

After a great morning at church, hubs took us to the one of our favorite fall lunch spots Pho Long.  Big, warming bowls of Vietnamese soup.  We're fans of P3, noodle soup with thin sliced round steak and meatballs.  So good.  This was our time to talk over the morning, wind down from the areas we had served in, and fuel up for the afternoon. 

Lunch was yummy, but I could tell Steve was on a schedule, so we didn't linger, and were soon off to the next destination.  But where were we going???  I hadn't been given any details about the day, and the suspense had me smiling like a lunatic.   Inside the car, I received my first clue to the day.  A carefully designed card, crafted by Hubs, about us, that said:

Anniversary One, The Longest Date Ever
First Thing First: Time to Just Relax
Onto the Next Thing: To Take a Step Back
And Then: Discover New Places
Finally, My Dear: One of Our Favorite Things

Okay so imagine this looking very cool and clever, because I can't describe the card to do justice to his work.  It caused tears of joy number one.

The first thing still had me stumped all the way to the parking lot of our fist destination.  Probably because I would never have guessed that we were going for couples massages!!!!!  I think I screamed at hubs in the car as we pulled into our parking spot.  Massage Luxe felt classy but not stuffy, and we both thought it was one of the best massage experiences we've had.

Onto the next thing, which he let me guess once we were back in the car...completely relaxed.  I guessed correctly, and hubs said some things (that are just for this wifey to hear) that brought on tears of joy number two. 

Our step back was to the visit the Art Museum in Forest Park.  Those who know us, know that this is a particularly special spot in our relationship.  It's the site of our first date, the place Steve proposed (Art Hill to be more specific), and one of the places we took pictures on our wedding day.  We did a little reenacting of our first date because sometimes we're a little nerdy, but at least we're in it together.

The rest of our marathon date centered around one of our favorite things: food.  We discovered The Bridge.  A gorgeous spot, with tons of personality and great wine.  During our wine and appetizer snack, I was able to guess the final step to our big date.  Dinner at Harvest!  Harvest is the restaurant we ate at the night Steve proposed to me.  Sigh, my romantic hubs...

Back at our home, feeling full, blessed, and so so happy, I gave hubs my gifts.  I have kept a journal since our engagement and through this first year to give to him as my 'paper' gift for the one year mark; hubs had a tear in his eye over this one...tears of joy number three for wifey.  I'm so glad he like it : )  A few weeks ago our dear friend Nikki, at Purple Lemon Photography, updated my headshots and dance pictures.  Steve loved them, so I worked with Nikki to create a collage of images to give to him for our anniversary.  I want him to be able to see his tiny dancer as he knew her even when she's too old to do those things anymore.  More happy hubs tears.

God blessed me with Steven, and even when he's not creating one of the most memorable days of our lives, I realize how amazing my dear husband is.  I thank God for him and anticipate many more years of this kind of joy and love.

Hooray It's Marriage!

~the Wifey