Happy Anniversary!

Dear John,

Happy Anniversary! Can you believe that 4 years ago today, we were getting married?!!? I know I can't. In such a short amount of time our little family has doubled in size. You have given me the daughter I always craved, two of them, actually. I see you in both of them everyday and I just can't believe that we were able to make such little miracles.

They say that the first year of marriage is the hardest. I don't agree. Sure, we had our disagreements, but I loved every minute. We have been through many ups and downs in our 4 years of matrimony, but I wouldn't trade it. Not even for a pair of Jimmy Choos and a Louis Vuiton. I would say, that where we are right now, is the hardest on me. The sleepless nights, the terrible twos,the messy house, the potty training, and just the general lack of time that we have to spend together is the hardest on me. I have enjoyed our tv time and movie nights spend on the couch. Believe it or not, I DO think you are quite funny( even if I find your jokes a tad inappropriate at times). You're carefree nature balances my type-A personality quite nicely, I think.

You are so good to me. You really are. You go out of your way to make sure I have everything I have ever needed or even thought about needing or things that I didn't even know I needed. You know when to hug me and when to wait me out. I love you for everything that you are, and I know I don't say it as much as you should hear it, but I love you with all of my heart. I wouldn't change anything about our lives. I am truly blessed to have married such a wonderful man.

I Love You,
Rachel

P.S. The picture is SUPER blurry, but I do not have a scanner anymore and it's a picture of a picture, but it's my very favorite wedding shot.

A Taste of Heaven

John and I love food.

That is the understatement of the year.

I am finding that I am becoming more adventurous in my palette. I will ask for suggestions from the wait staff and actually listen to them and surprising enough, its been great! So, it was no different this weekend when John and I did our normal anniversary celebration and spent the night at Ross Bridge. Instead of getting out and going to Panera Bread for breakfast, like we normally do, we went with the suggestion of some friends, and ate at the restaurant in the hotel. John got the buffet, which I must say, looked like a feast and had my heart not told me to push through and order from the menu, I totally would have craved and ate my weight in breakfast potato patties. One of the hardest things I have ever done was to walk past the omelet station. They had fresh prosciutto for cryin' out loud!

Anyway, the Lemon Souffle Pancakes came highly recommended from Steven. I'll be honest, I had my doubts when I came through the buffet area.

John was already finished eating by the time my pancakes came around. The chef hadn't been happy with the way they were rising. They looked like a thin pancake topped with powdered sugar with raspberry syrup on the side. By the way, I must say, that the only raspberry or strawberry flavored syrup that I have ever had was from IHOP, and I almost didn't put it on there because that syrup is so gross (I apologize if that is your favorite syrup). Anyway, the pancakes were very hot but, OH. MY. WORD. They melted in my mouth. It was pure heaven. The lemon in the pancake was so slight and mixed perfectly with the raspberry syrup. I told John it was like food art. Who comes up with this stuff?!!? It was the highlight of my weekend.

I also did what any self respecting blogger would do.. I took a picture to share with y'all. I didn't want to any of these pancakes to go to waste. They were too good to have to go to the garbage. THEY. WERE. THAT. GOOD.

The moral of the story is, if you are ever in the Birmingham area, stay at Ross Bridge and eat the restaurant, Brock's for breakfast and if you have a great hubby like mine, then he will sneak you some grits and breakfast potato cakes.

Right Here Waiting...

John brought it my attention that he doesn't like my posts that don't give him at least a full paragraph of praise and admiration. As you can tell, my husband is a modest person. Aside from his apparent Richard Marx obsession, he really is an awesome guy. Here are some of the reasons that I love him, or I may love him in spite of all of these reasons. I'm not quite sure yet. 

1) He LOVES Alabama football. More than me. His Crimson Tide is number 1 in his heart. Most evenings are spent on message boards. I learned very early on in our relationship not to talk during clips in ESPN. You will get shushed. 

2) He knows more about cars than the people selling them. Seriously. It bothers him that the people selling the cars don't know every single thing that is included in a certain package. He really loves BMW's though.

3) He knows anything and everything about home theatre and home audio equipment. ( I am starting to notice a pattern about John and his obsessions, I mean, interests.)

4) He is a HUGE gossip. More so than most women.

5) He loves to cruise as a vacation and would probably go on at least once a year if I liked it. Which I don't. 

6) He is very dependable. 

7) He hates when people don't return his phone calls in a reasonable amount of time. 

8) He is very punctual and doesn't like it when people are late.

9) He hates to read books and doesn't understand why I like it so much.

10) He loves movies. Sometimes, he even likes a chick flick. 

11) He loves Chinese food and mexican. 

12) He worries about his weight. 

13) He gave himself the nickname Philly-fied in college. 

14) His sense of humor rivals a 12 year old boy. Fart jokes are his very favorite.  No wonder he gets along with my nephews so well.

15) He hates the sand but loves going to the beach.

16) I think he would  crawl over hot coals for his daughters.

17) He loves Apple products.

18) He can nap like a cat.

19) He is a people person.

20) He is very protective of my girlfriends.

21) I think he would have a Star Wars bedroom if he could.

22) He has fabulous legs. 

23) He goes to bed early, and will opening fall asleep on people's couches if we are over there too late.

24) He was Paul Finebaum's Top 5 caller of the year. And he is actually very proud of it. 

25) He spoils me entirely too much, but you will NEVER hear me complain.

Here's to you Philly!! An entire post all to yourself! Don't say I don't love you!