Celebrating 21 years

Well, we didn't get to Key Largo this year, but we did grab some dinner and take a walk in Minneapolis. There's nobody I'd rather go on a date with.

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21 years

21 years of marriage! Look at these kids... I don't know if they knew what they were getting themselves into. A little bit of everything, really. Partners for life. I'm glad to be doing this with my best friend. Love you, honey!

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Bungalows Key Largo

It's a pretty great feeling to have a midday drink at the airport after dropping your kids off on their own adventures. Monday morning, April 21, Veronica was on her way to Washington, D.C. and Omri was on his way to Camp Widjiwagen (outside of Ely, MN). Construction was just beginning on the exterior of our house (we're getting new siding, trim, and windows) while R and I escaped to a resort down in Key Largo called Bungalows.

It is an adults-only, all-inclusive resort, so we had a lot of drinks!

It was pretty much paradise, in part due to the good company.

As the name implies, we had our own private Bungalow:

The goal was to relax.

Mission accomplished!

Each bungalow came with two bikes (although one of ours went missing and the other had a flat tire):

The hardest we worked was probably the swim out to that flamingo (it wasn't that difficult):

Evening entertainment included trivia...

... and live music on the beach:

Breakfast on the water:

We didn't see much of the Keys, but that wasn't the point.

How about that dinner location?

What treat! I'd go back sometime.

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20 years

We are celebrating our marriage today. Hard to believe 20 years have passed! Here's a shot from our wedding that has not been posted yet:

Stay tuned for some coverage from a little excursion we took last week!

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19th anniversary

Because we have had so much going on lately, it feels like our wedding anniversary got spread out over the course of three separate weekends. Here's everywhere we went to celebrate:

• Dinner at Churchill Street Restaurant (Shoreview)
  
• Lunch at Lola's Lakehouse (Waconia)
• Whiskey tour/tasting at J. Carver Distillery (Waconia)
• Dinner at Tullibee (North Loop, Minneapolis)
• A night at Hewing Hotel (North Loop, Minneapolis)
• Brunch at NOLO's Kitchen and Bar (North Loop, Minneapolis)

And here are a few photos from some of these outings:

Rooftop hot tub at the Hewing:

Walk along the river in Minneapolis:

Thank you to my parents and R's mom for watching the kids (and shuttling them all over the Twin Cities) and for the gifts of money to spend at all these restaurants!

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First digital photo of us

This is the first digital photo I ever took of us, way back in 2002. We pretty much invented the selfie because this was taken with my video camera, which happened to have a swivel screen on it, allowing us to see ourselves. Still cameras at the time didn't have that capability and cell phones definitely didn't have front facing cameras yet, if they had cameras on them at all.

A lot has changed over the years I have known R. We've been married for 19 of them as of today. We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into at the time we said our vows. Marriage is full of frustrations and challenges but also of moments that easily make it worth it. I found a wonderful partner in R. I've always felt our strengths and weaknesses complement the other's well, and the more time we spend together, I think, the more that becomes apparent. Happy anniversary, my love!

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23 years ago

Our actual anniversary is today, and you know I love to bring out old photos to mark the occasion (see my history tag for more). This year's selection was taken at the Como Park Conservatory late in the spring after we first met. We were just a couple of kids!

We've lived a lot of life since then and have a ways to go. It sure is nice to have a lovely partner like R to experience it all with. Happy anniversary, my dear R!

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Anniversary at the Four Seasons

We celebrated our anniversary a couple of weeks early this year in order to time it with a concert we've had on our calendar since Christmas. We stayed at the Four Seasons in downtown Minneapolis. It was luxurious hotel, the likes of which we could really get used to. We stayed on the 30th floor next to professional basketball players in town for the Timberwolves game. It was a great view -- we could see St. Paul (10+ miles away) from our window!

The concert was a solo show by Aoife O'Donovan (formerly of Crooked Still) who covered Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska album in its entirety (followed by some of her own material).

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The next day, after some room service, we enjoyed the pool/spa at the hotel.

The cherry on top was a couples' massage. It was a lovely way to relax and celebrate our marriage.

Thank you to my parents for the concert tickets and for watching the kids!

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My parents' 50th anniversary party

My parents celebrated 50 years of marriage by treating their family to a weekend in Bloomington. We hit the rides at the Mall of America during the day on Friday and then spent a night at The Embassy Suites, including a nice dinner out. I had the filet mignon!

 

The happy couple:

Here are the other couples in attendance:

Photo by Heather:

Ready for some chicken tenders:

With their youngest grandkid (for now!):

As you can expect from my dad, there was a lot of history to cover, quizzes to be taken, and long prayers to read.

They also surprised us with a rendition of Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" (and yes, I do have a clip of it recorded on video).

The sons gave some speeches too:

And here's one more shot with the grandkids. My parents look really happy.

Congrats again on maintaining an amazing relationship. Thanks for including us in a memorable night!

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50 years

Congrats to my parents who are celebrating 50 years of marriage today! I took these photos on their 45th anniversary:

I'll capture some updated photos when we celebrate together tonight.

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Anniversary in Red Wing

R and I got away for one night in Red Wing, Minnesota. It rained pretty much the whole weekend (just like our wedding day), so we didn't get out to explore much, but it was a relaxing getaway with some good food/drinks.

We stayed at the St. James hotel:

A stop at Red Wing Brewery:

From a walk along the river:

Thanks to my parents for watching the kids:

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