6

Last week we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! Woot woot!

These past 6 years have honestly been the sweetest and most fun years of my life. Eric is my partner in crime and best friend...I can't imagine what life would be like without him. I miss him every time he walks out the door for work and get excited when I hear the garage door open because then it's our time. All around he is just the most amazing person I know (supportive, honest, loving, funny, forgiving, dependable, smart, hard working, etc. etc. etc.). I always wanted to marry someone like my dad and Eric and my dad share a lot of the same qualities. I lucked out big time.

We had plans of going to California for my nieces wedding and luckily our anniversary was going to land during our stay. Unfortunately, that didn't end up working out. With our minds on the kitchen renovation we didn't really think about how we were going celebrate our anniversary until the day of. So we played it by ear, kept it chill. We went to the gym together (we love working out together though it doesn't happen very often), had street tacos from the best taco cart in town, drove around Sugarhouse looking for inspiration colors to paint our front door while Leila napped, enjoyed shamrock shakes at Sugarhouse Park while Leila chased the birds, and just went where the wind blew us (literally, it was a windy and gloomy day). It doesn't take much to keep us happy and entertained.

 

The weather wasn't cooperating too much and Leila almost got blown away by the wind so we packed up and got ready to drop Leila off at Grandma's so we can go to dinner.

But before dinner we made a pit stop at Home Depot (our favorite store) to pick up a few things for the house sans Leila - though we're huge fans of the good ol' HP, Leila isn't. We thought we were going to beat the crowds for dinner at 5:30 but we took longer than expected at our favorite store. By the time we got to The Cheesecake Factory it was 1:20 min wait. Whomp whomp whomp...we turned the corner and decided to check out the new restaurant Brio. But it was a 55 minute wait. 

What were we thinking trying to get dinner at 7pm on a Saturday night without a reservation for our anniversary? Laughing at our lack of planning, we waited the 55 minutes at Brio. But luck was on our side because it was the shortest 55 minutes ever. 5 minutes after we checked in our buzzer went off. What? It was a packed house. Guess they buzzed 5 peeps before us and no one showed.

The service was impeccable, food was great, and it was a very comfortable/elegant ambiance. Whatever the occasion, we usually do gifts in the morning right when we get up (birthdays, anniversaries). This time we waited to swap gifts over dinner because it made it that much more special and gave us something to look forward to. Eric gave me this beautiful necklace that says "California" in the shape of the state. I'll always be a California girl at heart. He picked it out all by himself and it was a winner. You know in movies when the guy buys the girl a necklace and puts it on for her, well that's what Eric did for me and that little moment was so romantic. Well, the whole evening was romantic. I just cuddled into Eric's arms while we talked and reminisced about our 6 years. 

We'll probably start rounding up to 7 years soon, we always round up. Ah, 6 years sounds old but as I just typed the number seven, it sounds waaay long. It's weird to not be newlyweds anymore because it's always felt like we have been. 

My gift to Eric wasn't as romantic. He's a sucker for nice sunglasses and would have 20 pair if he could (I just like cheap ones from Target) so I got him some sexy Oakley sunglasses. I wasn't sure they were the ones he wanted but I must say I did well and he kept them (I'm known for exchanging gifts from Eric for a different color or style, I'm horrible right?!). Without any help from each other, we did well in the gift section.

 

 

It was the most perfect dinner and the server kept calling us lovebirds...he too could sense that love was in the air. Ha ha. We didn't have time for much else so after dinner we picked up our little girl, who we missed, and headed home. To be honest, I didn't want to do anything else. Just wanted to cuddle on the couch and watch a movie that we picked up from the RedBox on the way home (In Time with Justin Timberlake - good film) with my husband of 6 years. 

The day was perfect in its imperfectness because it wasn't planned. But that's what I love about our marriage, it's easy. 

85/365

5 years.

There's nothing quite like the feeling of having a full blown pamper session. Eric and I have been to a spa one other time... it was a gift from a friend when we visited the Philippines 3 years ago. After experiencing a couples massage, we've been wanting to treat ourselves again. Well I think the time has come. We went to The Kura Door Holistic Japanese Spa. At The Kura Door it's all about the experience from the moment you get there. They give you these special shoes and a robe to rock during your stay. The atmosphere is so relaxing. They have a sauna and steam room you can use ALL DAY LONG if you wanted....even if you're just getting a wax or pedicure. First was a 50 min soak in the Ofuru bath. The bath was so romantic, it came with tea, candles, and lots of yummy stuff that made our bath smell good. I could have left happy with the bath alone. We were looking forward to our 60 min massage. This was a time to let go. We didn't have a concept of time. 

I'll never go to another spa...the Japanese spa is definitely the way to go. The service was impeccable. We're going to try to spoil ourselves every couple months. It's the new destination for special occasion's too. When we left the spa we were ready for bed...but the night wasn't over yet.

We are avid lovers of food and look forward to dining at new restaurants. We wanted to hit up a local, non-chain, off the hook restaurant for dinner. We found it at Frida Bistro. It's named after Frida Kahlo, the passionate and influential Mexican painter. It's a gem in a weird part of town, 7th south in the industrial part of Salt Lake. It's a Best of Salt Lake winner and let me tell you its the best gourmet Mexican food I've ever had. They make food look sexy. Yes, food can be sexy. The manager was our server because our server never arrived...and dessert was on the house because we were celebrating the big 5 (thank you Grandma and Grandpa Fuessel for watching our princess). 

Happy anniversary Eric. I honestly believe we are two of the luckiest people in the world. The fun we have, the things we do, the home we've created, our good friends, our wonderful family, and of course, our relationship. 

today is my parents 37th wedding anniversary! 37 years later and they are as much in love as they were when they first met. happy anniversary mom and dad, we love you!

3 down, an eternity to go!

On March 18 we celebrated 3 big ones! Time has flown by and the years just keep getting better and better...we've had so much fun together over the years and since we just celebrated 3 great ones, I wanted to go back in time and post a little tribute:

dAting:

Above and below: best date I've ever been on, flew from Provo to SLC in a 4 seater plane for dinner with some friends.

Below: When I went home for the summer, Eric flew out to visit me. He stayed with my family and I for a week. This is the day he talked to my parents about marrying me.

the BiG day:

oUr first plaCe:

the KeepSake caKe: we ate the top of our wedding cake on our one month anniversary because we knew it wouldn't be good sitting for a year in our freezer, plus we needed the room! It was tasty.

ouR fiRst aNniveRsary: well this picture was 5 days before our 1st year anniversary because Eric was sick with the flu so we celebrated at home sick in bed.

ouR secOnd aNnivErsary: we celebrated on a small beautiful island called Boracay in the Philippines...it was amazing (see philippines posts for more pics).

our second pad: we have the second floor, not the whole house!

our third house: no pics of our 4th house yet!

our third anniversary:

I couldn't have chosen a more perfect match for me. We have an awesome relationship, we really are each others best friend...can't believe its already been 3 years, yet it feels like its been a lot longer. For our 3rd anniversary we both took the day off and spent the day together. We went to park city, went for a bike ride, ate sushi, and went to the movies. It was a perfect day - this picture isn't from this day, but its the most recent one we have together. Thanks Eric for 3 wonderful years...I love ya!