Celebrating 7 Years of Marriage

(I started this post over a week ago and just posted now...sheesh...) On August 14th, Paul and I celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary. It's hard to believe it was 7 years ago that we got married. So much has happened since that day back in August of 2004...we purchased Paul's grandparents' home in Texas, then packed up and drove out to San Antonio – completely jobless, with no "real furniture" other than our bed and a corner entertainment center to hold our TV, our clothes, some wedding gifts and our 2003 Honda Accord. Our first year of marriage was spent fixing up our home, adopting our four legged children (Kitty and Tater) and landing our first jobs out in Texas. Then the start of 2006 brought on news that we were expecting a baby and by the end of the year, our little Ashley Paige joined our crew. Along the way we were promoted in our jobs, traveled back and forth to NJ visiting family and even going on a family vacation to Disneyland. Then in July of 2009 after returning from a trip to NJ to celebrate my parents 30th anniversary, Paul and I found out we were expecting again and in April of 2010, our little boy, Corey Michael joined our family. Over the last year or so since Corey's been born our life got a little more hectic with having two young children at home and two dogs that like to reak havoc, but all in all, it has been wonderful and full of blessings. The last 11 years since meeting Paul, getting married, moving, getting jobs and having babies, the love I have for Paul has just grown when I thought 11 years ago I could love him more! Sharing my life with my best friend, biggest supporter and love, has been bigger and better than I could have ever imagined.

The "7 Year Itch" did not happen to us. In fact, our marriage is the strongest it's ever been. So the weekend of our anniversary, we wanted to spend some time together to celebrate. Spending alone time is a rarity in this season of life, so we were really looking forward to it. We dropped the kids off at Paul's parents' house and decided to let the wind take us to wherever! So we thought about going downtown and just strolling around, no time limits, no schedules, no diaper bags or multiple bathroom breaks, or crying children. Just.the.two.of.us. And it was WONDERFUL.

We spent most of the afternoon walking downtown, going to the Riverwalk and having a drink (and getting a little buzzed - that was me...I am a light weight), and then out of the blue deciding to walk over to the Tower of the Americas and go up the observation deck.

Conquering my fear....

I am petrified of heights and small spaces, and I have always said I would never go up there. Well, I did. I don't know what came over me...maybe it was the drink on the Riverwalk, or maybe I was just flying high on the fact that there was no "to do list" for the day and I was spending time with my groom...who knows...but I am so glad I did. It was so beautiful up there. In fact, once we got up there, Paul got a little "spaghetti-legged"!
There is a nice, classy restaurant up there that we weren't planning on going to, but we figured it was nearing sunset and the views would be gorgeous and what better night to eat there than on our anniversary! So we did, and it was great! The food, the views, everything...was awesome.

My sweetie

Taking in the view

so beautiful....this barely captures how beautiful it was

 

The Alamodome from above
(site of where the UTSA football games will be played!!)

We even saw a marriage proposal! Someone hung a huge banner from the balcony of a tall hotel building. It was large enough that it could be seen from the Tower of the Americas. The banner read "Marry Me?" So we figured that the couple was on the observation deck. It was so romantic!

The banner that said "marry me"

Tower of the Americas at night (a google image)

Yep, we were up there!

However, there were a few glitches though....well, about halfway through our dining experience we saw a flashing light and then out of nowhere a voice over the loudspeaker says, "A fire has been detected! You must evacuate the building immediately." Needless to say, I was bit nervous. In about a 5 seconds, my thoughts dashed from "oh my gosh, how are we going to get down from here?...Wait...we can't use the elevators...that means we have to use the stairs and we are 750 ft up...oh man, that means there will be a mob of people crammed into a small space, oh gosh....clausterphobia!!!" I looked around and finally saw our waiter come by, super calm, and reassured us that it was a false alarm and that someone was smoking downstairs in the lobby. PHEW! that was SCARY! So we go back to enjoying our evening when out of nowhere we saw something flying in circles. I said to Paul I think a bird is in here!! Then someone else said, "no it's a BAT!" For real...a bat! Sure enough, once the sun went down that bat made his appearance. There was the occasional scream and screech from customers and Paul felt the wind of the wing when it flew by Paul's ear! Yeah, it was THAT CLOSE! We asked our waiter if this was normal and he said that in fact, yes, it was for this time of year. Apparently the bats were migrating and that sometimes they find a small hole and can get in there. He said that they can't kill or capture them because they are an endangered species. Seriously??? So yes, it was a very eventful, fun, and "unique" evening.

My little bat impression.

Video of Paul talking about the fire alarm...

We also decided to ride the little 4D ride downstairs in the lobby. The movie was called "Skies over Texas." The theme of the movie is that you're supposed to feel like you are flying over the vast lands and do very "Texas" things like go to a football game or see a rattlesnake. Well, I applaud San Antonio for trying, but this was no "Disneyland Ride". Paul and I could not stop laughing through the whole thing. For instance, when you were supposed to become one of the players on the football field, you see players coming at you from the front, but instead of the chair moving back like you were hit from the front, the chair moved forward - completely the opposite way. Or when you were flying over the land, instead of slowly lifting off, it jarred you left and right....super funny!! :)
We topped off the evening with a walk over to the Alamo for a quick photo before heading home. We really enjoyed our night and celebrating the wonderful years we've spent together. I am so in love and so very happy. God has blessed us and our marriage and I am looking forward to more wonderful years together. I love you Paul!