6 years already?!?!

My goodness! Where does the time go?!? This past year has been quite busy. Last July I was pregnant with Parker.... We bought & moved into a new house...We unpacked.... Matt's sister visited us... Parker arrived...Matt's mom came to visit.... Alyssa came to visit....Matt's dad came to visit.... Matt's mom came again... I went back to work....the Spillers visited...we've been doing non-stop house projects... and trying to keep up with our two amazing boys!

We decided to go out and celebrate our anniversary on Thursday. Matt recruited my Uncle John & Aunt Beverly to watch the boys. Matt took me to Brookeville Inn for dinner. It was AMAZING!!! It was so nice to sit at dinner and have no interruptions. We then went and walked around Home Goods. I cant tell you the last time that we just relaxed and putzed through a store without kids in tow (or with a deadline to pick up kids). It was so nice! We then went and got ice cream, and finished the night with a walk around the neighborhood kid-free. Although we both love our kids very much. This was a much needed and long overdue outing with just the two of us. And unfortunately we have no picture of us during the night! We completely forgot! Guess we'll have to have another date night again soon. :)

For our anniversary in July 2009 I posted some pictures on here from our wedding. It was so fun to look back at those pictures and reminisce about the day. But I thought it might be almost even more fun this time to take a look back at how we met and that first year together... :)


For those that don't know (or don't remember), Matt and I met at a bar in June 2004! :) I was out visiting my cousin Carla in Colorado after finishing PT school and we decided to go to one of the classiest of establishments (much sarcasm there): Rumbays!! It's one of those 7-in-1 bars with all these different dance floors: an 80s dance floor, a 90s floor, a country floor, etc. It is one of the best places to people-watch and just have a good time with friends. No one goes to Rumbays to find true love -- well, except us apparently! :) BUT it wasn't like we met randomly; we did meet through mutual friends. My cousin Carla's friend worked with Matt, and we were introduced. I remember very vividly how Matt asked me (very genuinely) about my career as a PT and we really seemed to hit it off. We continued to talk the rest of the night. Well the night ended and we both have very different memories of what happened.... :) Matt thinks I sprinted to Carla's car trying to run away from him. I say I was shivering from the cool Colorado night and semi-hurried to the car, but thought Matt was walking too slow to keep up. :) Regardless of our interpretation of the nights events, we never exchanged numbers or even discussed the possibility of meeting again.

The next night was my last night in Colorado. This time we decided to go to a more low-key bar. Well I casually hinted to Carla & her friend that it would be good to see Matt again. So they made a phone call and Matt met us out. Here's a picture from our second time meeting. 

We had a great time, but I really didn't think it would turn into anything too serious because we were half-way across the country from each other. I was in MD and had some big decisions to make: where was I going to live & apply for jobs!! Yikes! Well before I left CO, Carla told me I could move out there and live with her -- although I didn't think much of it at the time and actually thought she was joking. When I got back to MD I sat down and began to think about things. I knew I didn't want to live in MD right away. I wanted to move somewhere out of state and be on my own for a bit, and then potentially move back to MD later. I was young and wanted to explore more. In between studying for my PT boards, I made lists. (for those who know me, this isn't shocking at all) :) I made pro/con lists, I made financial spreadsheet lists, I made job lists, I had every kind of list possible. When it all came down to it, Colorado was the only place I could financially afford to live, given the high cost of my student loans, and I also knew someone there so I wouldn't be completely alone. So a month later I flew back to CO and interviewed for some jobs. Almost a month after that, I drove the Toyota Avalon across the country, moved into Carla's house, and started working.

Back to Matt and I.... we had started to talk on the phone and through email in my back-and-forth trips to MD/CO. Once I settled into CO, we began officially dating. He would pick me up in his "baby":

That truck was immaculate! He'd buff the fingerprints off the door handles every time we'd close the door. Unfortunately for him, that only encouraged me to be a bit more obnoxious about smudging the door handles :) But he was smitten over me, so he didn't mind too much.

We went to Six Flags for one date and rode some roller coasters. Matt even sat in the front row in a few of them!!

We went hiking in the mountains in Colorado Springs. 

 We went to a minor league baseball game.

We drove up Pikes Peak.

 Matt took me to the Army Battalion Ball

 He lost a football bet with me and put on the Packers cheesehead like a good sport!

Over the course of those few months I knew there was something really special about him. And I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. The weekend before Christmas (almost 6 months to the day we met), we went to Keystone Ski Resort to celebrate our own holiday together since we'd be apart for the actual one. On the drive up, Matt was grumpy because the Griz lost the Championship football game (which we were listening to on Sirius radio the whole time). When we went skiing the next day. Matt's an expert skier and I'm just average. Well I was grumpy because I was cold and I also felt like I was holding him back from having a good time on the slopes since I was slower.

We then went out to dinner and Matt had me decide where to go after dinner. I picked ice skating. Matt had never been before so I figured I'd be better at him at something. WRONG! :) Again, I was cold & my bony ankles hurt in the cheesy rental skates. Hence more grumpiness again. Matt must have really loved me though because he didn't back down from his plan. He had me sit down in front of the big tree on the rink while he skated off to have someone take our picture. After reading a card from him and then closing my eyes, I opened them to find him on one knee proposing to me!!

I of course said yes! But had I known he was going to propose, I wouldn't have been so grumpy the whole day! Haha! 

After Christmas, he flew out and we had an engagement party with my friends & family from MD. During his visit, Matt was the best sport too -- which made me love him even more. He dodged nerf baseballs aimed at him with the pitching machine by my brothers. He lost a game of lego basketball to my brother Kyle and put on a Yankee sweatshirt and hat -- and even smiled for a picture!

We were married 6 months later in MD. We went down to DC for the 4th of July.

After the wedding we flew back to CO, repacked, and flew to Idaho for a second reception with Matt's family & friends.

Part of the reception we went on a boat cruise - which was beautiful!

Then we flew to Los Cabos, Mexico for our honeymoon.  It was perfect!!

Labor Day weekend 2005 - we adopted Murphy: our first "baby". He's a great dog. And he was the best companion I could ask for while Matt was deployed a few months later.

Well that's most of the first year in a nutshell. I had a blast pulling up old pictures and laughing & smiling with the memories. Happy 6th Anniversary Matthew!!! I love you!!