Happy Anniversary to me...

I mean, happy anniversary to us.It was our second anniversary last month but since DJ and I were 1,400 miles apart, we thought it best to wait to celebrate. I'm noticing a recurring theme here... Last year I went kayaking on my anniversary. Without DJ. (Although I did actually get to have dinner with him that night which wasn't the plan originally because he was supposed to work.) This year, I wasn't even in the same state. Hopefully this is not a sign of future anniversaries but even if it is, I don't mind. Not really. I sort of signed up for this when I married my football-lovin, career-driven man and then married him during football season. So you could say I asked for it. And I'm glad I did.

DJ planned a whole surprise date for me on Sunday night. I was more excited than ever because one, we were in a brand new place so I didn't have any idea of where he would be taking me (normally I can venture a pretty accurate guess) so this would be a total surprise and two, because we were in a brand new place, it kind of felt like a vacation and anyone whose anyone knows that dinner out while on vacation is the best. I was full of anticipation.

I got all dressed up, hair properly corraled into an up-do, and face powdered and colored for an evening out. We started to the restaurant (which I knew at this point) and I started trying to guess which one. Because that's just how I am. Then I stopped guessing because the two places I knew about and thought he might be taking me to weren't it. We drove and drove and drove and ended up down by the river. I knew it had to be good because anything down by the river is both gorgeous and upscale. And I was right. We ended up at the Lakeside Tavern, a gorgeous riverside restaurant with a beautiful view. Also I should state that DJ planned it so we would be sitting down looking out on the river at sunset. 1,000 points for DJ. He also planned to have the champagne we had for our wedding there but that didn't actually work out because the liquor stores aren't open on Sundays. I will give him 550 points for that because it was a great idea and we'll do it another time.

Because it was a nice restaurant and it was getting dark and I have not gathered the nerve to take pictures in a dark, nice restaurant, these are the only pictures I have. Sorry. Maybe next time.

View from our booth. Due to the large table impeding your view of the river in this picture, you cannot see it. So you must imagine it.

I was shooting without a flash thus the fuzzy in the picture.

My very handsome romantic date.

Whose body decided to revolt and have a cold/allergy/asthma attack during our very romantic dinner.

And because of the mutiny, shaky hands resulted.

We stuffed ourselves. The food was good, not fantastic, but definitely averaged good. We started out with a spinach artichoke dip. Ok, this was not good. It was weird and not normal spinach artichoke dip and yet, I ate too much of it. But we didn't know that we would next be served the warmest, butteriest, most delicious bread in the world and could have just had that for an appetizer. So I ate that too. Next we had salad wedges. Now these, these were great. They had a white dressing that was maybe ranch but then it was covered in bacon, carmeled pecans, feta cheese, tomatoes and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Absolutely divine. I may never be able to enjoy a salad again if it doesn't involve all of these flavors. Our entrees were served almost immediately after the salads came to the table (the food was served almost too quickly. I barely had time to enjoy each course before the next one came. Next time I will plan for this and allow the food to wait to the side so I can enjoy each course more thoroughly. Especially that salad.) DJ ordered a steak and I ordered salmon. We both agreed that our food was a little too salty for our liking but it still tasted quite delectable. The sides were great. I had a spinach casserole and we both had white cheddar mashed potatoes. Mmmm. At this point, we were so full that even the thought of dessert was unappetizing so we decided we would be coming back to sit on the patio outside, eat dessert and drink some wine. It was a great evening.

Oh, and I almost forgot, Maia's present to me that morning after we got home from church was just so...her...

Thanks Maia. How thoughtful.