Into the Second Decade - Part Two

If you've just joined me, read the post below and then come back up for this one. There is sort of a chronological-ness to this three-parter. Next up: Oh The Places We'll Go.

Over the past 11 years, we've seen and been to a lot of different places together. Vacationing is habitual. Once we got on the first plane together, which was also my very first time flying, we were hooked. That first flight I was scared out of my mind. Shawn, on the other hand, was just chatting away with some stranger beside him, instead of consoling the one he loved. In time, I forgave him and we traveled on.

Our very first vacation together in 2003 - San Diego, CA. We rode on trolleys, visited Sea World, laid on the beach and explored the coast together. It was perfect.

Spring Break 2004 - Ann Arbor, MI. This was the first and last time we drove somewhere of significant length together. I believe it took nine hours? We visited my aunt and uncle and cousin. This trip happened to fall on my birthday so above is the cake we ate in my honor. It was almost too beautiful to cut.

Spring Break 2005 - Vegas Baby. You just have to visit it once in your life.

Our honeymoon in 2005 - Marco Island, FL. One of our most relaxing vacations, except for the jet ski ride we took in the Gulf in which I was thrown from the water craft. Other then that, we sat by the pool or walked the beach and drank margaritas. It was wonderful.

1st Wedding Anniversary in 2006 - Lutsen, MN. I have to say this is still probably my favorite vacation. It's a tough battle between recent destinations but for some reason, we just had so much fun here. We took Old Hwy 61 up the North Shore and stopped along the way every time we wanted to explore: Betty's Pies, Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock Lighthouse, Two Harbors, Sven and Ole Pizza, etc. We stayed at a ski lodge so we slid down the alpine slide and rode the gondola to the top of the peaks and took in Lake Superior. This trip also had George Lopez. "Member? You member."

4th of July in 2006 - Norfolk, VA. Here we made our first trip to visit Team Cornstuble, which at the time, consisted of Andy, Mandi and Ainsley. Above we were watching fireworks on the beach. Ahhh… the beach(es).

Obligatory Trips - Gays Mills, WI. The above two photos are from annual trips my family takes to get apples, cheese and a few other things. We always stop and visit, the sign. You know the sign. I have pictures by this sign ever since I was a kid. It's tradition.

2nd Wedding Anniversary in 2007 - Taylors Falls, WI. We stayed at our first B&B. We didn't know what to expect but we ended up loving it. We took a riverboat ride, went to Wild Mountain Water Park and went down the Black Hole so many times I got sick (literally), ate at local restaurants and even hiked a little.

Washington's Wedding 2008 - Tulum, Mexico. We went with a bunch of friends. We played volleyball on the beach, basketball in the pool, snorkeled in the Gulf, visited the ruins and went to a wedding. This trip was all-inclusive. Translation: Shawn discovered sangria and I renewed my love of margaritas.

Summer Vacation 2008 - New York, NY. One of my favorites. I get more then one favorite right? Think cliche tourist attractions and that's what we did. One of the best parts - winning front row tickets to see Wicked. I knew my name wouldn't get drawn but Shawn was confident his would. Self-fulfilling prophecy.

Spring Break 2009 - Amsterdam, Netherlands. We finally took our travels international. Friends were grateful enough to let us stay with them and show us around the town and beyond. Favorite part of this stop in Europe - our night out.

Spring Break 2009 - Bruges, Belgium. Here was our second stop in Europe. We took a train from Amsterdam and arrived just in time to get in a canal boat tour and a lot of people-watching.

Spring Break 2009 - Mosel and Rhine Rivers, Germany. Our third stop in Europe and the greatest single day of any vacation, ever. And still, the best story we have to tell. I've posted about it before so I won't get back into it, but just in case you've forgot, think Fiat.

Spring Break 2009 - Paris, France. Our Europe trip finale. Aside from Amsterdam, this is where we spent most of our time. Like New York, there is so much to see and do here. Again, think cliche tourist attractions and that's where we went. You can't help it here. Everything is beautiful.

Summer Vacation 2008 - Cincinnati, Ohio. I got a little out of order here but above was our first trip with neighbor Woodruffs to the "farm" …

Summer Vacation 2009 - Cincinnati, Ohio …and here was our second.

Now I'm in the mood to plan a vacation. Where should we go next?

Into the Second Decade - Part One

This past September 25th, Shawn and I celebrated being together for 11 years. That's 4,015 days, 96,360 hours, 5,781,600 minutes… you get the point. It's been a long ass time. I will say, it has been… indescribable. It's been time spent with my best friend. My chosen person. My "sweat pea… keeper of my soul…"

To honor this occasion, I'm making this post a three-parter. First up: Major Events.

This happens to be a photo of the very night we started "going out," September 25th, 1998. It was the Homecoming dance.

Here is our first prom. We look mighty young!

Of course, our second prom. You can see where I'm going with this.

The last prom - Shawn's senior year. He brought a college chick that year. Yeah, he thought he was cool.

This, my friends, is the night he proposed. I was all up in my natural beauty and he had a cold sore the size of Texas. That's how we knew we really loved each other. For better or for worse…

This is our official engagement photo. I think this was the first time we posed together for pictures and it was priceless. Shawn was not an easy model to work with. I remember laughing the entire time. We got a great roll of film showing us, just laughing.

Which brings us to the wedding photo; May 21, 2005, it was official.

Unforgetable

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 4:00 p.m., Metrodome, Minneapolis, MN: date, time and site of the greatest Twins game Team DeBoer has ever witnessed. The Twins pulled off an amazing victory against the Detroit Tigers to win the division and make it to the playoffs. It took the Twins 4 hours and 37 minutes and 12 innings to beat the Tigers 6 to 5. We were 2 of 54,088 people in attendance, which was a regular season attendance record for the magical Metrodome. It was indescribable. If I had to try… I'd say loud, white, tense, exciting, warm, louder, surprising, nervous, amazing, a little louder still and just plain fun. Below are a few moments I took the time to sit down, rest my Homer Hankies, get my camera out and capture our favorite game thus far.

Proof we were there. This was in the early innings while we were still composed.

Our view from right field, upper deck. We only had to wait about 4 hours on 2 computers and on 4 different Internet browsers until we were able to get out of the "virtual waiting room" and could buy tickets.
Orlando Cabrera hits a home run and as evidence below, Twins take the lead!!
2 words: Homer Hankies.
Gomez scores and the Twins win!! Pandemonium. Twins rush the field. Everyone in attendance is going crazy. We're high-fiving complete strangers. The cheering is constant and so loud you can't even hear anything over the loud speakers… not even the music. Greatest moment after the victory: Joe Mauer leading the Twins around the infield to high-five the fans in the crowd. One acronym: MVP.
Second greatest thing about attending Tuesday's game: we could stand in line to get tickets to Sunday's game. Hopefully it's just as wonderful and we can finally shut down them damn Yankees! To be continued…