16 years

In August, we ate at a fancy steakhouse in downtown Fort Worth to celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary.  The salad bar had 100 items on it and the waitstaff walked around with all different types of steak, chicken, and pork on long knives.  If you wanted some, they would cut you off a piece and put it on your plate.  The knives looked like the ones in the light fixture in the bottom picture.  Our kids would have loved the novelty of this, but it is too expensive.  We used a Groupon so it was only half-price.  I <3 Groupon!

365...Day 50

Since I am on a roll with publishing pictures from last December, figured I'd post this one, too.  Steve ran the Dallas White Rock 1/2 marathon on Dec 4th.  He did well!  It was really cold as the kids and I waited to cheer for him.  I didn't have so much fun because the Dallas streets were super hard to navigate.  Many one way streets and roads blocked off.  We saw him early on, and then not again until after the finish line.  Very frustrating to not be able to see him and cheer him on!

365...Day 10

One of my favorites from Steve's half marathon last April.  This is Shane giving Daddy an encouraging "high-five" along the race route.  The kids and I went to different stopping points to wave at Steve.  Being geographically challenged, I did prety well navigating around Arlington and still made it back by the end to see Steve cross the finish line on the big Jerry screen.

COWBOYS

Well, Steve's dream of being a Cowboys ticket holder has finally come true! He is super excited to have tickets for the 10 home games for the 2009-2010 football season. The new stadium is amazing. We have been to several concerts (Reba McIntire and Jonas Bros.), the Open House, and then to a few games. Since we only bought 2 tickets, Steve takes a different person to each game. Our seats are in section 201, row 6, seats 16 and 17. This is caddy-corner to the end zone. They have a great view of the field, the big screen overhead, and the cheerleaders. One of the pictures shows us all 4 sitting in our seats at the Open House. The kids were amazed at the vastness of the stadium and had fun going all the way to the top of the nose-bleed section. Another picture shows Steve with the tickets before he had to tear off the first one. Being the husband-of-a-scrapbooker that he is...he knew it was important to take a picture of the tickets before the picture was disrupted.

I enjoyed going to the Inagural Game against the Giants. I am not a fan, but it was impressive and exciting to be at the game. The enthusiasm of the fams was very contagious and we had a good time. One of the pictures is of a huge U.S flag that military service members unrolled on the field during half-time. Steve's sister Debbye bought a party pass for the game and had her picture taken with the Tom Landry statue.

Happy Anniversary

Steve and I celebrated 14 years this past week! Our brother-in-law kept the kids so we could go out. We decided to go to Itallianni's...the place where it all began. The food was great, Bellini was cold, and of course the company was perfect. If you haven't eated there, check it out. It is on Precinct Line Rd in Hurst.

For those of you that don't know, here is a little of our story...Steve and I started dating in the fall of 1993; I was a senior at Richland High School and Steve was a senior at UTA. My best friend Cari was working there and always raved about the food and how much fun she had. I decided to get a summer job to save up a little cash; little did I know that getting that job would be the start of a whole new future.

Steve worked as a bartender while he was going to school. He also participated in ROTC at TCU where he would get a Commision in the Air Force the following year. He always tried to woo me with chocolate milk, milkshakes, or cherry-sprites. After a while, and a smart decision stop dating the guy I was dating, Steve asked me out. We went to see a movie and pretty much things continued from there. We dated all through my senior year and Steve willingly went to many high school functions...dances, games, pep rallies, and prom. We continued to work together, even once he graduated and I went to TCU for my freshman year.

Steve went active duty in February 1995. When I went to Biloxi, MS over Spring Break to visit, he proposed. We got married August 12th! Steve's military career took us to South Carolina (Air Traffic Control training) , New Jersey (ATC for him and I graduated from Rowan University), Mississippi (pilot training for Steve and subbing for me), Washington (Teaching 4 years and a graduate degree in Reading and Literacy for me, C-17s for Steve and SARAH was born!) and finally to Del Rio, TX (Steve taught students to fly the T-1 and I stayed home with Sarah and SHANE).

Now we are back in Texas, near where we both grew up. {Steve graduated from Trinity}

Wow! What a ride it has been! Here's looking forward to 46+ more years!!

My GUYS and their TATS

To really tell this story, I have to start at the beginning...

For Steve's 22nd birthday, he decided to get a tatoo. (This was a little before we met.) He wanted a yellow rose over his heart, so that no matter where he was sent in the military, he would always show his Texas pride.

Shane loves temporary tatoos. He gets them from school, pinatas, birthday goody-bags, etc. For his recent birthday I got him spider man tatoos. We usually put them on his hands, but then he doesn't want to wash them because it will come off. Sometimes we put them on his upper arm, so they'll last a little longer.

This week, while I was teaching and Shane and Daddy were hanging out, they found a new spot. When I got home, both boys had funny smiles. Steve told Shane to show Mommy his new tatoo. Well, here it is...

Like father...like son. I love my guys!

But I do wonder what the future will bring. ;)

Thanksgiving (a little late)

We spent Thanksgiving in Austin with Steve. The next morning he FLEW us home. This pic was taken inside the cockpit of the 737. Steve is sitting in the First Officer seat. I am in the Captain's chair. ;) Over the intercom, Steve announced his co-pilots Shane and Sarah. How cool!