Saturday, May 9, 2009

Ten Years


Yesterday Aaron and I celebrated our ten-year anniversary. What is that? Gold? Diamonds? Paper? Ten and a half years ago when I was engaged to the man of my dreams and planning the wedding of my dreams, someone gave me a chart that explained what each anniversary meant and what we were supposed to give each other to celebrate it. Nah. That's not our style. Instead, we hired a babysitter and skipped town for the evening. We did shop a bit (Aaron found the white belt and flip-flops he had been hunting for, and I fell in love with a perfume called Sexy Little Things Noir--so I guess ten-years equals belts and perfume to the Baarts?), and then we went out for a three-hour supper overlooking the river. Baked shrimp with Havarti, pineapple glazed salmon, and cheesecake for dessert. It was perfect. We talked about books, work, our kids, and the highlights of our decade as man and wife. The birth of our son, traveling to Ethiopia to claim our second son, and buying our first house ranked high. But then, so did the Saturday morning tradition of our first year of marriage (Pillsbury cinnamon rolls in bed), the crappy apartment that we called home after we said "I do," and bumming on the couch in flannel pjs watching Hockey Night in Canada. Oh, life is sweet. Marriage is sweet. Here's to ten amazing years. May there be a hundred more.

8 comments:

  1. Congrats on ten years! We're celebrating our 5 year in a couple weeks. I know it's cliche, but time really does fly.

    I just finished The Moment Between - and I'm both satisfied and a little sad. Satisfied because you wrote such a beautiful ending. Sad because I don't want to say goodbye to Abby! It's hard coming to the end of a really great book. Thanks for such a thought-provoking read, Nicole! I enjoyed every minute of it and am excited to write a review. :)

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  2. Congrats! Sounds like you had a wonderful anniversary!

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  3. Thanks Katie and Amy! You're so right, Katie, time does fly and I don't care if that's cliche. I'm feeling that truth even more these days as my boys grow up. I spelled the word D-U-M-B the other day in front of my five-year-old and he said, "Mom, you shouldn't say dumb." Argh. My husband and I need to learn another language. :)

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  4. Hey Nicole - I just wrote my review for The Moment Between on my blog. :)

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  5. It's a lovely review, Katie! Thank you! I'll blog about it on Monday and link up to your site. I have a few more reviews that are up and coming... So exciting. Keep writing, girl. You're almost there!!!

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  6. congrats! yay!

    and fyi, ten is tin, ironically :)

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  7. Hey Nicole, I know this is late, and may not mean much coming from someone you dont really know. But I send you my best wishes from Brazil for you and your husband!! Hope you guys had an awesome anniversary and I wish you guys the best of Gods blessings.
    Talk to you soon
    Jamie

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