16 and counting!

My poor husband.  I am not super sentimental, or all that great with words, so the morning of our anniversary the conversation went something like this:
Him:  Happy anniversary sweetheart!  Can you believe it's been 16 years?
Me:  Yep
Him: Oh...
Me: I mean it seems longer than 16 years (his eyebrows raise)), like we've been together forever, in a good way right?  Ok, let's stop talking and just kiss.

It wasn't quite like that, but something close.  Neither of us really had a plan for this year's celebration.  This move has taken something out of us both, and we're still adjusting to our new surroundings.  Then I got hit by another migraine Tuesday (that I am still recovering from), so I really didn't have the brainpower to think of anything, and he has been swamped at work so he hasn't had any extra time.  Anyway, he decided to take yesterday off and we planned to go to breakfast.  So as he was taking Derek to school I came up with a quick game plan.  We decided to just drive through McDonalds and take our grub to one of the big soccer/playing fields in town.  I brought a notebook and some pens and we started making a list of our Top 16 memories from our 16 years of marriage.  We decided that our lists could only involve us, therefore each of our children's births and achievements couldn't be on the list and neither could our wedding day.  We decided to each come up with 8 for a collective 16.  I'm going to list them, but because the majority of them are personal, there won't be many details added.  So if you weren't really interested in the content of this post before, I don't think it's going to get more interesting from here, ha!

So, here is the big 16!  (I will alternate mine and his)
1. (Me) BYU catering (which is where we met) - too many moments to share so I am just clumping them all under the general category of catering, but the one I jotted down had me laughing so hard tears were running down my face, while Jeff sat there mostly confused by why I thought it was so funny...
2.  (Jeff) Too personal to share, but happened on our trip to Canberra in 2009
3. (Me) While we were dating I was struggling with some very painful and difficult feelings (not related to our relationship) and could not understand how things could work out in a particular situation.  I opened up to Jeff about this and his words brought me peace and perspective that I could never have found on my own.  I was so amazed by his understanding of the gospel and his faith in Heavenly Father's plan.  That's when I knew I would marry him.
4. (Jeff) We had only been dating a couple of weeks when he decided to come and listen to the lesson I was teaching in Sunday School.  He said watching me teach he knew he wanted to marry me.
5. (Me) Our anniversary trip to Flaming Gorge.  It was wild and crazy, and peaceful and relaxing, and just fun to be together on the river.
6. (Jeff) I went to a scary D&D store in a "scary" part of Provo to get him some adventure modules and miniatures for his birthday.
7. (Me) Our bike ride through the Memorial Mall in D.C.  Again just some crazy random fun.
8. (Jeff) Again, too personal to share
9. (Me) So I kind of cheated on this one, because it involved Aiden's birth.  But I just couldn't leave it out.  I had a really, really hard labor and delivery.  It was long, very exhausting, and extremely painful.  I had no epidural and I was so exhausted the last two hours of pushing that I couldn't stay awake to push anymore.  So after it was over and Aiden was out my body was spent and I was too exhausted to even hold him.  But Jeff was right there to pick him up and cuddle him and talk to him, and I knew that if I didn't live to see another day (because as overly dramatic as that sounds, that is honestly how I felt), they would be ok.
10. (Jeff) So because I cheated on #9, he cheated on #10.  About the same event, he said it was memorable because of the strength and resilience that I showed after 24 hours of hard labor with the 5 hours of intense pushing, and that even with the screaming I may have done, I didn't ever complain (I'm sure I complained a ton though during the recovery process).
11. (Me) Our first official date.  It was the end of winter and we decided to go up to my roommate's cabin to go sledding, make cheesecake, and watch a movie.  Jeff's car got stuck in the snow and we had to stay the night.  We joke that we spent the night together on our first date.
12. (Jeff) I went to another "scary" D&D store, this time in Ogden, to get some stuff to surprise him
13. (Me) Hawaii.  Jeff had to attend a 6 week course there so we decided to make it an extended vacation and take the family.  While it wasn't really just the two of us (and therefore doesn't fit our criteria), Aiden and Aubrey were pretty little and we really had to pull together as a couple to make it work for the family.  We also got to go on some really fun hikes, and visit some beautiful beaches.
14. (Jeff) Personal, but related to our trip to Canada this last summer.
15. & 16. Oddly this last one was the only one that we both had on our lists, and it also happened on our trip to Canberra in 2009.  Apparently that was a very important trip!   This one is also the most personal to me, but I want to note that it involved a very open, tearful conversation between us.  It wasn't easy for either of us, but there were some things that needed to be said and understood.  So they were said, and understood, and it was a real turning point in our relationship and for our family.

So there's the countdown!  And I just want to end by saying that I am so incredibly grateful for this man, and that he is committed to me and our family.  I am so blessed by all that he is and all that he does for all of us and I'm looking forward to many more years of good memories with him!