Our Top Ten For Our Tenth on The Fourth, Got That?

Fourth of July, 1998 Hubby and I lost our independence in San Diego. This year, we celebrated ten years of our commitment made before God, family, and friends. It was a decision to walk together, to die to self, and become more vulnerable, for better or worse. We joined our lives, our free time, our finances, our sweet sides, and our not so sweet sides. We committed to loving each other completely, even knowing at times it would hurt. Ten years later we are still best friends! We still dream of what tomorrow will bring, we relish in today, and we find something to laugh about yesterday, even when it wasn't funny at the time!

After a lazy Fourth, Hubby and I celebrated our anniversary dinner alone, while my sister watched the kids. We chose Elephant Bar Restaurant, just because we loved it when we lived in Ventura. It is jungle themed, and their food has a great reputation.

Parts of the Vietnamese Chicken Spring Rolls are on the South Beach!

We started a dining tradition 12 years ago, when we first dated. Often we order two menu items and split them. True to our tradition, we ordered two sandwiches and split the sides. Well, I wanted more salad, and Hubby had more of the sweet potato fries. Hooray! Sweet potatoes really are part of the diet! No pictures of the desserts, both of them. You need no proof they weren't on the diet!

During our meal, Hubby and I scribed two lists. One I will share with you on the blog, and the other list is just for us. We are keeping Ten Things We Want to Accomplish in Ten Years private. But I will share this with you:

Top Ten Memories Over the Last Ten Years (in no particular order)

1. On our way to our honeymoon, we flew from San Diego to New York City for a 24 hour layover. We had a romantic ride from JFK to the Plaza Hotel in a limousine. Traffic got us stuck in the Lincoln Tunnel.

2.Our first anniversary Hubby booked a spacious vacation home half price in Yosemite National Park at the last minute. We loaded up the car in a hurry with an ice chest full of steaks and other vacation necessities and drove six hours. We unloaded the car, and Hubby asked about our suitcase. We forgot it at home! Nothing was open on Fourth of July! Where could we buy clothes?? We made a 45 minute trip to the nearest town of Oakhurst and bought our clothes and toiletries at a drug store!

3. In 2000 I was a newly certified scuba diver. Hubby had been certified for years, and was super confident. We went for a night dive ALONE (NOT SMART) in Kauai. The dive shop owner warned us a shark hung out at the reef. She warned us to avoid aggressive sea turtles. Locals fed them hot dogs and now they snapped at people! The story is so much better if I speak it, but let's see how much I can condense. I hate the dark on land. I hate the dark more in the ocean. We discovered blue bioluminescent dragon fish swimming rapidly and bearing their teeth around our feet. Nervously I threw all my fish food at them, frightened they would take a chunk out of my leg. Hubby admitted later he was nervous, too. I surfaced, crying. He calmed me down. Naively, I ignored my fears and gripped his hand thirty feet under the ocean, in the dark. Suddenly I saw a gargantuan rock. Then the rock lifted his head. No lie, this rock was five or six feet in diameter. No, no, no. It was a GIANT, I mean GIANT sea turtle. It was larger than our round dining table. I surfaced, crying. Hubby followed. He told me the fastest way back was under water, not on the surface, at the choppy seas. I cried more. I wasn't going. He deflated my vest faster than I could protest, and now I was falling below the water again. He insisted we follow our compass back to the shore. I followed. He is Mr. Compass, Mr. Navigation, Mr. GPS. His sense of direction is innately awesome. But I had this sick feeling in my stomach...and I inflated and surfaced. He followed and we were about a 1/4 mile in the wrong direction, farther out. I heaved, crying. He couldn't calm me down. All of a sudden I felt a weight pulling me backward. My tank slipped from my vest, past my feet, down, down, down. Hubby hit my power inflator. I blew up like the Michelin Man. Hubby was going to get my tank. I boo hooed. NO NO NO. Don't leave me in the pitch black ocean alone. NO NO NO don't dive down by yourself. But he was gone. He dove for my tank, and hooked me back up. After some minutes, we finally made it to the shore. That was our last night dive together.

4. In 2001 Hubby spoke at a conference in Finland and I tagged along. We also traveled to Denmark, Sweden, and Estonia. We ate reindeer and bear, and he gave me a star studded engagement proposal (long story, yes, I know we had been married three years already) at the base of a revolving restaurant.

5. We returned from our trip to Finland on the Fourth of July. We drove into D.C. and met friends at the National Mall. They arrived in the morning and staked out spots for the late night fireworks. About 7pm the rain was torrential. We were completely soaked by 9p.m., but saw an amazing fireworks display in the pouring rain for our third anniversary!

6. For five Februaries in a row we hosted our infamous Farmer Hearts Tournament in Virginia. When you play with the Farmers, you play with the PROFESSIONALS! The competition was fierce. Some of you may remember my moon dance one year, and maybe some of you remember me yelling another year, "Rub me down, S. I'm gonna shoot the moon!" So Hubby stood behind me and rubbed my shoulders while I loosened up. See why the Hearts tournament made the Top Ten?

7. In 2oo2 we thought Hubby's sister was in cancer remission. For the first time in over a year, his entire family was together under the same roof, at my house. We drove to New York City to see Hubby's alma mater for his first Master's degree, and where she had deferred her admission for her Master's while undergoing chemotherapy. She applied to the Columbia University, was accepted, and never had seen it. We also saw Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, saw New York decorated for Christmas, and froze in Times Square. She was so happy. It was the last time we saw her out of the hospital.

8. When we moved to Hawaii, Son1 started a new family tradition. Hubby calls, says he is leaving the office, and twenty minutes later we sit on the lanai step to wait for him. Son1 sees Hubby's car turning down our street. I wait on the step, and he runs to the driveway and screams, "DADDY DADDY!!!" Now he and Son2 wait on the step together, waiting to run down the driveway, and bombard their daddy.

9. Our family has a Family Hug, where Hubby and I hold each child and we all hug at the same time. We can't hug in front of the children without them begging for a Family Hug.

10. Participating in small group couples Bible studies has been the single most impactful encouragement to our marriage. We participated and led many groups in Northern Virginia and Hawaii. Different couples invested in our marriage, as we have in theirs. They have kept us accountable to our commitment we made before God, and to one another, all the while striving to be more like Him. They have seen us through the easy times, and through the heartaches.

I just realized I miscounted! I jotted down two extra. So you get to read them. I could combine 4 and 5, and 8 and 9 above, but that would make for some long paragraphs.

Bonus Memory #1 Hubby did some side work for a non-profit in Utah. I went along for a little vacation. I humored Mr. Double Black Diamond Skier on a couple of green runs for over an hour. Didn't I want to try a blue run? NO. I wasn't having fun anymore and was ready for the car. He asked what he could do to make this more fun. Nothing. I was done. Fun for me was sitting on my can and stretching my legs in the car. Really. I encouraged him to ski for awhile longer, since we paid for lift tickets. He skied once or twice more, and got to talking with someone on a chair lift from San Diego. The next thing I knew he told me we were leaving. What? Didn't he want to ski more?? Nope. The guy from San Diego told him about a Dude Ranch where we could rent snowmobiles and gear, and eat dinner, but it was a drive. We had to leave now. Hubby jumped in the car and we drove to make it in time. We pulled up as the guided group left. The Dude on the Dude Ranch charged us half price ($70!!) to share a snowmobile for 1.5 hours on a self guided tour, and that included our steak dinner! Whew! We watched the bright sun set over stark white powder. It was so gorgeous and red! The absolute best part was spotting Bald Eagles in the wild. We saw a few fly overhead. They eagles were majestic. Toward the end of the trail we found the lodge. Hubby parked our snowmobile, and we feasted on a steak dinner before returning the snowmobile.

Bonus Memory #2 I can't quite encompass living in Hawaii in a few sentences. Living here teeters between a dream and reality. We have experienced the islands to the fullest, from the people, to the food, to the volcanic craters, ocean waters, sun rises, and moon rises. But one still, quiet, and cool moment made our list. We stood at the edge of the Haleakala summit in Maui together staring at the clouds as a family, squeezing one another for warmth.

Happy Anniversary! Happy Fourth of July! Farmer Fireworks for Life!

If someone really wants to see some pictures of 5,6, or 10, I may dig some up. Otherwise picture these in your head!