4 Years of Wedded Bliss

...and more to come! Yesterday, John and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. It's hard to believe how quickly these years have flown by; it seems like yesterday that John took me by the hand and we promised to make this life together. I can still see the youth and promise in his eyes.

After sneaking a peek through the locked doors of our 1920s-era reception site, The Commodore, John and I had a fabulous dinner at W.A. Frost in Saint Paul. It was an especially meaningful location because we hadn't been there since our wedding day, when we stopped by to sip champagne on their gorgeous patio between our ceremony and reception. Last night, the weather was a bit cool for an entire dinner on the patio, so we moved inside and reminisced about that day and the many that have followed. John proposed an amusing conversation of our marriage highlights and lowlights---by year. We laughed and inebriated ourselves, touching back to this topic throughout mixed drinks, champagne, and Spanish red.

The food and company were both exquisite. We started with a cheese plate, and did learn that unpasteurized goat cheese varies from our pasteurized love. (I believe we compared it to stinky sweat socks.) Next, we each had a salad and John's was a surprising, delicious blend of watermelon and (pasteurized) goat cheese with a balsamic garlic vinaigrette and pistachios. I will have to try to recreate that one. We shared the filet as an entree, and it was heaven-sent. I can still taste the light, mascarpone polenta in my mind this morning. For dessert, there was a trio to try---our favorites were a rhubarb strawberry cobbler and a crunchy, rich creme brulee. One of these days I'll take out a blowtorch and give that a go, too.

Though our house is 99% chaos right now, I am thankful each day to have John as a husband. It is not every man who takes his family so seriously, who loves his wife with tender devotion, who does the laundry and pitches in every way he can. Who wrestles with his children and prays with them every night. I can't wait to see what the next four---and forty---years have to offer.