it's been nineteen years...

i realize it's probably silly to still acknowledge your dating anniversary when you've been married for over a decade, but whatever.  you already know what a sap i am anyway.

and i always love an excuse to trot this old photo out...

look at those kids!  so young, so full of enthusiasm and promise, such great skin.  heh.

19 years and still so in love.  i'm grateful every single day for the life we've built together and the family we love so much.  it's been a crazy whirlwind, and i can't wait to ride it out and see what happens next.

still crazy after all these years

eighteen years ago tonight, i went on my first official date with the hub, who presented me with a single rose when he came to pick me up.  and it just got better from there.  who knew the cheesecake factory's chicken marsala was so magical?

i know it's probably really silly that we still acknowledge our dateaversary so many years later, after almost thirteen years of marriage, countless moves, a new human, and lots and lots of love and laughter.  i know.  but if you didn't already know what a huge sap i am, you do now!

happy dateaversary to my love, the best man i've ever known and the only one i want to keep on getting older and older with.  and yeah, i'll just keep on getting older since he'll never catch up to me, but that's okay.  i know he'll always be there to (point and laugh, snicker and snort, hug and love) catch me if i fall.

(also, the bean made so much fun of me because i confessed to her yesterday that i always, always get the date mixed up between yesterday and today.  oops)

it's our date-aversary!

seventeen whole years ago today, the hub and i went out on our first date.  and while this picture isn't from that day, it's the oldest one i have of the two of us together.

it's been one hell of a roller coaster since then, with some of the highest highs and a handful of the lowest lows.  we've weathered many a storm together, raised one very stubborn kid and created another who's growing way too damn fast, traveled near and far, moved a bazillion times and celebrated even more milestones.

as cliché as it sounds, i really do love him more today than i did yesterday.  he's my best friend and the one person i know i can always trust to help steer me in the right direction.  and really...who else would put up with my shenanigans?  we're far from perfect, but we're pretty perfect when we're together.

happy date-aversary, love.

your love is like a heat wave

ten years ago today, the hub and i went out on our first date.  i can hardly believe it.

he's been putting up with my silly ass for an entire DECADE!  amazing.  happy date-aversary, dear hub.  every day is an adventure.

speaking of adventures, one of our favorite things to do is to hop in the car when it's butt ass hot (like it was this weekend) and head off to the beach.  and we often find ourselves heading west, to a sweet little sort-of hidden spot in malibu.

of course, nothing happens without some sort of glitch.  as we're driving along, with my nose in a magazine and the bean engrossed in a DVD in the backseat, the hub stomps on the brake.  "holy shit, that car just flipped over!"

yikes.  i looked up, and sure enough, two cars in front of us was a big ass cloud of smoke and debris flying into the air.  the hub immediately dialed 911, stopped the car, hit the hazards, and ran out to help.  shockingly, his call was answered even before he'd opened the door, and he was reporting the accident within minutes of it happening. 

a couple of other cars stopped, too, and the drivers got out to check on the victims and try to move the bigger pieces of debris out of the lanes.  the cars behind us were annoying, though, as they honked and yelled at us.  seriously, people?  WTF!

first on the scene was a traffic cop who was absolutely no help whatsoever, and disappeared as soon as he heard the fire truck sirens.  CHP arrived soon after, and the fire trucks pulled up in front of and behind us.

luckily, the couple in the car wasn't seriously hurt.  they were being taken to the hospital anyway, and the hub had the task of calling their grown son to let him know what had happened to his parents.  geez.

the cops and firemen thanked him for his help, and then we were on our way.  we hit a little traffic as we got off the freeway, but it was worth it - there was a 30-degree difference between here and home.

along the way, we passed a long line of valets parking cars in a nearby lot, and i wondered if we'd get to see anyone interesting.  alas, it appeared to be a gathering of the l.a. clippers - with no paparazzi around but me.  ha!

 we stopped at a grocery store to pick up some snacks and then made our way to the beach, where we found that our cute little hideaway wasn't so secret at all.  but there was still plenty of room for us, and we set up our towels and umbrella and basked in the beautiful weather.

the bean was anxious to hit the water, and the hub was more than happy to oblige.  it's so funny how willing she is to play in the ocean now, considering she was super scared of it before.

they frolicked at the edge of the water for a while, while i stayed behind, relaxed in the shade, and munched on some grub.

btw, a tip:  don't buy those whoopie pies.  they sure looked good, but the filling was so full of yuck.  i've just gotta make some myself.  after all, i have a fabulous new cookbook dedicated to those little nuggets of yum.

and then she came back and tried to get me to come along.

"come on, it's fun!  i'll show you."

"the water tastes yucky, though."

"ah, forget it.  i'm going back in."

when she'd had her fill and teeth started to chatter, we packed up and headed off for a drive.  along the way, i noticed this party set-up at one of the beachfront homes and thought of how lovely the rest of it must be:

i always grin when i see this house.

we wove our way along PCH, going through santa monica to marina del rey to torrance before finally hopping on the freeway.  the bean had fallen asleep within minutes of getting buckled in after romping on the beach, and we took advantage of the quiet time to chat and take the long way home.

i'd seen on twitter that the tropical shave ice truck was in chinatown at the moon festival, and managed to talk the hub into stopping.  by then, the bean had woken up and brightened up at the prospect of a sweet and icy cold treat.  after doing a bit of circling, we finally found where a bunch of different food trucks were stopped.

and then i found it!  whee!

the bean was quite happy to share this giant (regular-size!) shave ice with me, with grape & bubble flavor plus ice cream at the bottom and a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk on top.

from the slammin' sliders truck, she got to nosh on some kobe beef yummies.

i may have taken a bite or two.  heh.

it was a lovely way to beat the heat and spend some quality time together.  and i can't wait to see what other adventures we go on together in the years to come.  awwwwww....