Anniversary #6: Still Nerdy after all these Years

July 12, 2002 - Seattle, Washington

What fun. Our 6th anniversary was yesterday. It was a fantastic day. We celebrated well. Here's how the day was spent...

• Slept in and took our sweet little time getting ready to go to...

• Breakfast at the Gustavian - a nice little restaurant that we both really enjoy but save for special occasions. I had delicious French toast made from nice big slices of soft raisin bread topped with berry sauces, fresh mango and a way too small dollop of whipped cream. Delish! Andrey enjoyed the English farm breakfast which included small portions of the following delights: sausage, thinly sliced smoked ham, bacon, fried eggs, sauted mushrooms, potatoes, baked beans, roasted tomatoes, and toast with jam & butter - oh and some kind of crispy fried rosemary & garlic on the side. The whole meal was delightfully satisfying. I know because I tasted absolutely everything. Ah, the joys of marriage: what's his is mine, what's mine is his. Don't worry, both give and take were involved. I did surrender one of my three pieces of French toast. The trade was mutually agreeable. ;<)

• A matinée at the mall - Not a bad idea on a hot, hot day. As much as we generally try to stay away from the mall on the weekends, the novelty of an afternoon movie attracted us since we rarely go to the movies here. I think yesterday was our third movie at the theater in one year. We saw "Wanted" which was entertaining but a little cheesy. Enjoyable, none the less.
  

• A trip to the European deli to buy ingredients for a delicious steak dinner at home. We enjoyed beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, asparagus, sauted mushrooms & garlic, and a green salad with candied pecans, cheddar cheese, and apples. We also enjoyed a bottle of champagne (sparkling wine, really). For dessert we had chocolate cake and coffee.
  

Our yummy dinner at home. Notice the lovely orchids Andrey brought home for me.

Throughout the day we recalled the details of our five previous wedding anniversaries and how each was celebrated. I was happy that we remembered most of what we did for each of them. Memories for all but the 3rd came easily but a little research in an old journal reminded us. I'll list them here, more for my own memory-keeping so if you don't wish to read further, I don't mind.

Anniversary #1 (2003) - We hiked up Mount Pilchuck in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. At the top we enjoyed the goodies Andrey toted up the mountain for us: A small carrot cake (a much smaller version of our actual wedding cake prepared for us by the gal who baked our wedding cake the year before) and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne purchased at a discount provided by the fancy restaurant I worked at at the time. Unfortunately it was a completely overcast day so we didn't get to take in the view but we still managed to have fun. Very memorable.

At the top of Mount Pilchuck

Anniversary #2 (2004) - Andrey and I had just agreed to move to Thailand. Andrey began training at IJM headquarters in Washington, D.C. which lasted three weeks and took place during our anniversary. I went with him. We spent our anniversary sight-seeing and in the evening we went out to eat a nice southeast-Asian-inspired restaurant called Tenpenh on Pennsylvania Avenue.

So nerdy but clearly delighted at our ingenuity in creating this fine picture

Anniversary #3 (2005) - A weekend in Bangkok. We stayed in a very cheap hotel and did the tourist thing. Even though we were able to speak some Thai to the taxi and tuk-tuk drivers we were slighted by the fact that it didn't reduce their attempts to try to rip us off. It only kept us from falling for their tricks. We heard them say in Thai, "They're foreigners. Charge them 800" for a taxi ride that we knew would cost 250 with the use of the fully-functional meter that they refused to use. We had several exchanges like this and we realized we didn't like Bangkok very much. But we did enjoy a nice river tour (with the help of our friend Hong) and a few really nice meals including one at a favorite place called Oishi Grande (amazing Japanese buffet).

Chao Pria River Cruise - Bangkok

Anniversary #4 (2006) - A stay at Baan Rai Lanna resort not far from Chiang Mai. It was a small, quiet resort with okay food but beautiful and peaceful surroundings. We did some bike-riding around the area, enjoyed the infinity pool, I had a great massage, and overall loved the quiet of a place with no TV or phones. Very relaxing.

Unfortunately, we didn't take ANY photos of our 4th anniversary. Bummer. Here's a shot of us around that time anyway.

Anniversary #5 (2007) - Three nights on Bantayan Island, Philippines. I blogged about this last year but I think you may have missed this photo...

I am happy to say that Andrey and I are best friends and we still really like each other. I am so happy to be married to that guy. We are thankful to God for what he's given us in each other.