12 Year anniversary – served with ham and cheese- kiss on the side

Who are these young whipper- snappers?

 

So, this past Sunday, our 12 year anniversary came and went without much hurrah!  We spend half the morning, paying bills and working on our son’s state report and float project.  At some point, we recalled it was our anniversary.  Presents were never really our thing, or we got small stuff like DVDs or went somewhere like a concert.  On our 10 year, we actually went to Mexico without the kids.  This year, man, we even forgot cards- forgot all together kinda- like we knew it was coming, but we’ve been too busy to even consider celebrating.  Of course, we felt badly and we had to at least acknowledge it, my husband made  me lunch and said,

“12 years, that’s the ham and cheese year with goldfish crackers, right?” 

You see, we’ve been together so long 4 years of dating before marriage, so technically, we’ve been together 16 years.  AND, we knew each other a few years before we dated.  Long time.  So, we enjoy our anniversary, but it’s not always a big party.  Sometimes, it’s a homemade sandwich, with a kiss on the side.

Dang, we look pretty good in these photos.  Of course digital helped, and the touch-ups (like ensuring our pearly whites sparkled)  We look so well rested because that was pre-kids!  In fact, I was 4 months preggers in my wedding gown and weighed less than I do now.  I’m like 40lbs heavier. Oh, well, we love each other… my poor hubby, he lost his hair in college.  UCLA Engineering program must have been tough…

We decided to go to dinner at Claim Jumper, where we ate this ridiculous sized brownie and ice cream.  Which got me to thinking about how cute my wedding cake was…little dots all over- I had a clipping from a magazine and  no one wanted to do the fondant! I remember my Bill running around town and calling (on this stupid cake) – you see, because I was pregnant, my gyno said NO STRESS and made him promise he’d take on a lot of the planning.  No bakery would do fondant!  Can you believe that, he finally hit a supermarket, Gelson’s in Irvine, and their bakery department said they’d do.  THANK GOD.  (But fondant is kinda gross, but sure makes the cake look pretty)  It was a perfect, simple wedding (we told everyone to wear summer attire) and great weather for getting married at a restaurant on a shimmering lake.  Actually, we got married at a little tiny park inside the Woodbridge, Irvine Community and then had the reception at the restaurant inside that community, as well.  It’s a shame Waters Restaurant didn’t make it through the recession.  So sad 😦

Oh, and we did the “blessing-of-the-shoes,” that my husband wrote.  He went to Catholic high school, and used some background to  cleverly write something so we could take our shoes off during the ceremony… because I was pregnant and didn’t want to stand in heels too long, even though they were open-toed and chunky-heeled.  (pregnant, remember) … Below is what my husband gave to our officiant, to which a lot of people loved and the officiant asked if he could offer that option to other’s getting married.

BLESSING OF THE SHOES

 (Feel free to make this sound better or smoother, we have included this so that Sandi does not have to stand in her shoes for too long) Sandi and Bill, the journey of a new and blessed life together is about to begin. I ask that you remove/offer your shoes so that they may be blessed as an enduring symbol of this journey. (Bill and Sandi remove shoes.) These shoes represent the two of you always being together as you travel through life’s paths, whether smooth or rocky, over mountains and through valleys, in darkness and light. May God bless these shoes so that they may remain strong and sturdy with your love together always. At the conclusion of the ceremony, you will wear these shoes as a blessed beginning of your new life’s journey together.