Happy 3rd anniversary to us...

Today was a day much like any other day, unfortunately. We celebrated our anniversary last weekend with the Dodger game & Rose Bowl flea market, because we knew what we'd be doing today on our actual anniversary...more yard work. Despite the dreary chores, we did manage to celebrate with a variety of good eats. I awoke at 6am to prepare one of John's favorite breakfast dishes, Blueberry Buckle. For dinner, we enjoyed steaks, sauteed onions, rice pilaf, and of course, the ever-present cantaloupe. After dinner we sauntered over to Shafter's newest ice cream parlour: Shafter Sweet Stop. The ice cream is made by SLO Maid Ice Cream in San Luis Obispo, which is also found in the very wonderful Avila Valley Barn. It is some of the most delicious ice cream I've ever tasted, even rivaling the dean of the Kern County ice cream scene, Dewar's, dare I say. The shop is super cute, with photos of old-time Shafter gracing one wall, and painted signage on the others. If you ever find yourself in Shafter, you must check it out yourself. You will not be disappointed. It is located here.

So, in honor of our 3rd anniversary I thought it appropriate to reminisce a bit about our past July 16ths...

July 16, 2005: Wedding Day. Many of you were there. You'll remember that it was one of the hottest days of the year. One week later, when we returned from our honeymoon, we arrived to find that our rental house on Mannel Avenue had been broken into on our wedding night. Our gracious parents cleaned up the mess and didn't tell us about it until we were on our way home from Santa Barbara. After we recovered from the initial shock of the burglary, we settled in for bed and discovered that our air conditioning had gone out. Lovely.

July 16, 2006: 1st anniversary. We decided to travel to San Diego for a long weekend trip. This trip is noteworthy for 2 reasons:

1. We stayed at a Quality Inn. They may have set their expectations a little too high with that name. When we arrived we found that the entire hotel was being renovated...extensively. They had pulled out the carpets in the whole place and were storing the cast offs in the parking garage. Thus, there was hardly any parking. We checked in just prior to making our way to a San Diego Padres game, so one of us was in a big hurry (you know, must arrive for batting practice...). Anyway, I was a bit concerned about our room. It was kind of dingy, and the little chain-lock was broken. The good news was that the room was equipped with a small safe in the corner by the closet (gee, thanks). John assured me that all would be well. We dropped off our bags and headed for Petco Park.

Fast-forward 5 hours. The game is over, it's after 11:00pm, and we return to the parking garage...the very crowded parking garage. There are no spots. Finally, John manages to squeeze his way into a very, very tight parallel spot, and we head upstairs. Once we make it to our room I lie down to go to bed, and John starts gathering up our wallets, keys, and cell phones. When I ask him what he's planning to do with them, he simply responds: "Putting them in the safe." So now he's worried about safety? And not the safety of his wife, but rather the safekeeping of our material possessions. Needless to say, I was a bit ticked. Luckily for us, we can both laugh about it now.

2. The second anecdote occurred at an Asian Fusion restaurant in La Jolla called Roppongi. This restaurant was recommended to us by John's cousin Kristen and her husband Alan. We had eaten there on our honeymoon and decided to revisit it for anniversary #1. When the waiter took our order he was making small talk, and John told him that we loved this restaurant and came here "every year on our anniversary". To which the waiter promptly replied, "oh really, how long have you been married?" "Uh...1 year", was John's response. We looked pretty foolish to say the least. John's response: "I still hold to that statement. It was our first anniversary, and we were at the restaurant. Therefore, we were there at every anniversary up to that point."

July 16, 2007: Our 2nd anniversary was celebrated during our east coast extravaganza last summer. Our anniversary actually fell on the day that we traveled from the Albany, NY Days Inn to Boston, where I enjoyed my first cannoli. The Days Inn stay was a last-minute decision, as we had planned to stay with a family through Mennonite Your Way in upstate NY, but had to change our plans due to a potentially late arrival time. Luckily, there was plenty of room for us in The Inn. We stayed the night of the 16th at another Mennonite Your Way hosts' home in Haverhill, Mass.

So there you have it, from wedding to San Diego, to NY & Boston, to...yard work. That's how we've spent our anniversaries. Thanks for indulging me.