Three Years Ago Today...

I said, "I do!"  I cannot believe it has been three years already and yet I can.  I can truly say that A.R. is my soulmate and he completes me.  He makes the good parts of me better and accepts my flaws (sometimes with gritted teeth :p).  We complete each other's thoughts and have silent all-telling smiles between us.  He is the father of my beautiful daughter, my best friend, my lover.  Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for sending him my way. 

I'll never forget the first time I laid eyes on him as I rode down the escalator into the main lobby where we both work.  He was pacing nervously back and forth and then stopped for an instant and looked up at me.  At that moment, I knew.  I knew my life was going to be different and better.  It seems silly to think that one quick glance changed everything, but it did.  Everything else was a blur of slow motion as I stepped off that escalator that day and heard the first words he spoke to me, "You must be Heather!"  After a two and a half hour lunch date our fates were sealed.  Now, here we are with a family, a house, two dogs, and three years post wedding...I think we forgot the picket fence along the way, but I think it's safe to say that A.R. is my home and I'm totally in love and smitten with him, like I was on the day we first met.  Happy Anniversary, Babe.  You truly do complete me. 

 

Cruise Docs are HERE!

Our cruise documents are here! Our cruise documents are here! I'm so excited that our vacation (and our anniversary) are coming up so soon. It always feels more real once the cruise docs arrive like the countdown has officially begun. For those of you who have never cruised before...shortly before your cruise is scheduled to disembark from the port you get a package in the mail with your cruise documents (boarding info, luggage tags, port info & detailed itinerary, etc.) for your trip.

We actually leave for our cruise the weekend before our anniversary and get home on our 1st anniversary. I can't believe that a year has almost gone by since our wedding...time really does fly by when you are having fun. (yes, I'm cheesy) I'm so ready for our vacation now, too.

Typically when our cruise docs arrive we'll wait until we are both home to open them together and get that giddy excitement worked up between us. This time I was out to dinner with a friend and Alexi couldn't resist temptation. I got home to find a large manila envelope on the counter upside down. I flipped it over and saw the return address and immediately knew what it was. I double checked to make sure the envelope was indeed empty. It was! I raced to the stairs to find a very guilt ridden Alexi staring down at me denying he opened them without me. He quickly changed his tune to saying he wanted to surprise me. Then we looked them over. Gosh I love cruising.

45 Days

That is all that's left until A.R. and I are sailing the clear blue seas once again to celebrate our first anniversary. We booked this cruise a few months ago when the prices were dirt cheap and still ended up getting a free upgrade to a junior suite last month when the prices fell again. Check out The Cruise Outlet if you are interested in finding a cruise for yourself at a great deal.

Our itinerary

We both LOVE cruising and being out in the open ocean. Prior to boarding the boat we will be spending a day and a half in Puerto Rico to visit A.R.'s family and site seeing on the island most of his family has called home for years. Once we board the boat it is off to the clear blue seas for a week in the Virgin Islands. I'm most looking forward to the tours that involve swimming with sea turtles and riding an ATV. My favorite part of cruising is standing out on our private balcony at night just watching the waves crash against the boat as we slide through the water with the moon bright in the sky and glowing off the water. Not to mention the never ending ocean and sky, food, and ping pong tournaments we established on our honeymoon cruise. We even have a ping pong table now in our basement so I can improve my skills (or lack thereof) and finally beat Alexi one of these days.

I can't beleive our anniversary is coming up so quickly. At this time last year I was a bundle of nerves before my bridal shower (7-19-08) as my Matron of Honor, mother, and sister arrived in town and I was living with my sister-in-law as our house was merely a cement slab with some matchsticks placed on top. For both of us, this trip is almost a little bittersweet. We love taking cruises, but we also really want children and this trip will most likely be our last sans children and our last major vacation (outside of long weekends and get-a-ways by car) for awhile. It's a happy bittersweet, though, and I know we will cherish every moment of our time together as we look forward to what the future brings our little family. I just hope Tomas, Lily, and Sebastian are ready for the challenge!

H