anniversary gone wild

dudes. i mean, dudes.

you all know how i like to wax eloquent around here.... how i can talk for paragraphs. but my heart isn't in it for the long haul tonite and i'd rather enjoy my fluffy cloud feeling anyway. i had a whole *ode to marriage* blog rarin' to go, and then the resident red-head around here, borrows the computer to play *hello kitty*, and all my hard work? it dissapears like a fart in the wind.

so i'm just gonna let this one fly. sometimes there are no perfect words or pictures captured. sometimes, ya just gotta be there.

its really ree's fault over on pioneer woman . i spent over an hour one early morning this week, catching up on her how-we-met romance novel, and then i felt inspired to share a lil somethin' somethin', myself, about the guy that's been squished beside me on the couch, or velcroe'd at my hip for the past 8 years. or some such thing.

anyway. happy anniversary to us, today.

we've done some livin', in the past 8 years. and when i say livin', i do mean livin'. there have been some very real moments when both of us wondered if all those years were so worth it. but the truth is, i can't imagine anyone else in my life i'd rather have spent those 8 years with.

so here's to the guy that still likes to get lost with me on our *pick a direction and go* dates. that never tires of "punch buggy". the guy that still tags along to thrift stores with me and still puts up with what men like to call the "walmart dance". here's to the guy that still makes me giggle and melt and feel warm fuzzies. whose hugs make still make everything all better. here's to the guy that still understands my obsession with things like frogs and orca's and flip-flops and the continued search for the perfect mop. who still buys me pickled herring every year for my birthday even tho the smell of it makes him gag. here's to the guy who patiently and deftly maneuvers through 10 pillows on the bed every night and secretly loves the fact that i make him eat green vegetables. the guy that will pause "pinks" just to get me a moo'latte from dq.

jason, this one's for you. love you, love me.

this last week was awesome.

having a day job is da bomb ~ i woke up excited every morning this last week to go to work. i got thru training and registration and financial aid and the end of the school year and mountains of laundry. david c. won AI. we went fishing and taught our 7 year old the fine art of the illegal outdoorsmen. well she didn't know that. in my defense, she bores easily, so who better to keep lookout for the forest fuzz with the binoculars. its $9 a license just for one county. please. can i hear an amen? even God's gotta be down with me on that one.

also, a strange man peed on my couch. in jasons defense, it was a coworker of his that got thrown out of a bar and unfortunately was still able to read a phone book. in my defense, it was my COUCH. it is my sincere hope God has a purpose for these moments, beyond just a kick and a giggle at my uncontrollable eye twitch. i do wonder, often, why we end up being that safe place to land for these people that manage to wander into our lives. i'm considering installing a baptismal booth in the spare closet and inviting a little of the holy ghost to our couch, to help the "spirit come upon them".

anyway. after much, much aggravation saturday morning~ my first weekend off in centuries, spent trying to clean an entire couch... lets just say i wasn't so blissfully excited when jason suggested for an anniversary treat, a romantic getaway to all that is saturday cruise in night a few miles over. after all, bella was at nana's for the night, so why not celebrate now, you beautiful magnificent sweaty woman that hasn't showered or fixed her hair!!

see. we made an oath when we got married all those 8 years ago that we'd do something different every single anniversary. so here's a good time. sit down with your beloved one night and try to remember what you've done with those past few years. then compare notes. and laugh. rinse, repeat.

here's the cliff notes version of our celebrations:

year 1) we're at a total loss here. we can't remember nothin. neither one of us can agree, so for the sake of the blog, i think we were still basking in the awesomeness that was us and being dirt poor and probably swore that we needed nothing but just eachother or some such m'larkey and ate ramen noodles in bed, popping a bottle in bella's mouth and watching a special on "amazon tribes" on pbs.

year 2) was the year we "branched out". jason spent much of this trip reveling in the fact that i can't tell east from west and had me convinced we were going to georgia just so he could show me spaghetti junction. anyway, i was still drunk in love and we drove 8 hours to atlantic beach, nc, which is marvelous, may i just say, and one of the little known wonders of the world. but we spent a day driving there just to spend a day in the ocean and on the way back, landed at a $20/night motel with no a/c. however, that little get-away was still pretty spectacular and still rates right up there on my all-time favorites list.

year 3) continuing with the beach idea, myrtle beach, sc was the *it* place. this was the year we discovered we'd actually married on a) a recognized holiday and b) black biker weekend, and enjoyed 3 hours in a traffic jam on our way to our "beach front hotel" that was "15 minutes from the exit", the whole time me mourning the fact that i was not born with a badunkadunk. however, all was not lost. i got a killer whale boogie board with which we got properly sunburned at so much fun in the sun. we learned you should never eat at a seafood buffet and that the free zoo is a great little secret and the crocodile park was pretty cool too. this was also the year we discovered the miracle that is TGIFridays food.

year 4) boone, nc -blowing rock. i love north carolina. that is all. anyone that ever has the chance, should head up that-a-way. its gorgeous and the little tourist town there has the best vibe. so many fun little shops and nooks-n-crannies and eateries. best crock ice-cream ever.

year 5) hot springs, nc . again, i love all that is north carolina. we totally got lost on the way there, which is really sad, considering its less than an hour away. we stopped in this town that's smaller than MY hometown and i got this bad "blair witch project" feeling from the old timer that gave us directions. but as it turns out, getting lost is a blast. we drove past waterfalls on the side of the road and discovered this mysteriously huge, ginormous dillapidated mansion out in the boonies. and the natural hot springs baths? like buttah. one of my favoritest anniversaries ever. we spent $20 to rent one of the mineral spring spas and then $30 for a motel room at the alpine inn down the road, that was like sleeping in your mom and dad's spare bedroom but with the comfiest bed ever. we had free hot tea at the little what-nots shop across the street the next morning and ate chinese off a rickshaw cart.

year 6) nebraska in all its glory. we went to kearney and i got this gorgeous celtic heart bracelet at the one store over by that flower nursery. earl may? kim, help me out, here. and jason found these kickin' shoes @ the refind thrift shop. then it was off to grand island where we spent all day at the water park and even got a hotel room with a pool. and after getting properly water-logged, we ate at whiskey creek steak house and its my opinion that all of you need to put both of those on your to-do list.

year 7) gatlinburg, tn. we figured, why not. this was our one default cop-out, considering how close we are. but it was still lovely. because people? you can't not love gatlinburg.

year 8) tri-cities, tn. one of our most inexpensive, spontaneous, most fun anniversaries ever.

so anyways......the looking at the old cars and such. woot. i wasn't in the mood, did i mention? also. do you know how hard it is to clean an entire couch? but i sucked it up and went and then i realized how cool i was. err, it was. jason was in his element and serenely, immensely happy.

and then they ran out of bratwurst, so whats a girl to do but mention how cool it would be to go to the movies and waaalaaaah, jason got a great idea.

first, we stopped here at the most wondermous bbq shack in the world . think "fried green tomatoes" secrets' in the sauce, only without the gross inuendo that they'd bbq'd some dude. this is hands down my most favorite bbq spot in the whole entire world.

and then. just in the odd case you're still interested in following along, he took me to my very first drive in movie theatre ever . dudes. this thing is awesome!! $6 for a double feature. and you can bring your own food. heck, you could wear pajamas! and you can totally make out in the car. i'm hooked. we watched the new indiana jones flick and the iron man. and i have decided i must have one of these. when i retire, i'm totally buying one of these drive-ins. watch me.

anywhoo.

jason. you rock. here's to 80 more.