Ten Years

Tonight was a pretty special night for Ryan & I. At least, it felt like a big deal to me. On this very night, 10 years ago, Ryan nervously picked me up for our very first date. And anyone who has heard or read "our story" knows that my darling husband was so very nervous, that he had to keep rushing to the bathroom to throw up. (Gross to some, sweet to me.)

In honor of this important day in our history, we recreated that night as best we could. (Minus Ryan rushing to the bathroom...) We headed to the Chili's in Flower Mound where we had our first date and even got to sit just a few booths over from the "original"! We shared chips and queso, just like we did that night 10 years ago. We laughed and talked and reminised.

I asked Ryan what was going through his mind that night of our first date. He said "Well, first it was mostly that you were so hot and so out of my league. Girls like you didn't date guys like me. And then I just couldn't understand why you wanted to see me again, haha." My eyes filled with tears as I was easily transported back to that night, and remembered the way I felt that night. I explained to him, "There was just something so...sweet...about you. You were so shy but when you spoke it made me smile and laugh. We kept meeting eyes and grinning - instant chemistry. And I knew you'd be nice to me and treat me right. Plus you were so darn cute - that dimple!" We both got a little bashful for a moment at that table, remembering what we were like all those years ago.

Once we finished dinner, we got back in the car and I just wanted to drive and listen to music - one of my favorite things to do. I put my iPod on shuffle and it's like it read my mind. Playing all of our my favorite love songs, giving our drive the perfect soundtrack. Soon we were winding through the roads we drove as teens. We briefly stopped in the driveway of my parent's old house, where we shared our first kiss. Then we followed the roads Ryan drove after leaving my house almost every night and paused in the driveway of his old house. We drove past our high school and then, our last stop before heading home, was Rheudasil park. We went to this park after our first date and spent hours on the swings - talking, flirting, laughing, being teenagers. The park where we spent so many nights eating Sonic sundaes and falling in love. The park where Ryan asked me to be his wife. He squeezed my hand as we rounded the corner to head back home. The entire drive back to our apartment, I was feeling lucky and grateful and loved.

Thank you, my sweet Ryan, for mustering the courage to ask me out back then. My life changed forever on April 27, 2002. Here's to the next 10, ten year anniversaries!