Happy Anniversary to Me! And Matt!

Today (March 13, 2013) marks the 9th wedding anniversary for Matt and me.  In nine years together we have had two kids, have moved four times (five for me if you count my initial move from Clearwater to VA Beach), lived in three different time zones and two different countries.  And as is typical of life as a military family, we are spending yet another anniversary apart as Matt is currently deployed.  I've been doing the math, and I think we've spent three out of nine wedding anniversaries together. 

          2005 - Dinner together at the Occidental Grill in Washington, DC.
          2006 - Matt deployed
          2007 - Matt deployed
          2008 - Matt in HI/Julie in FL
          2009 - Matt in VA/Julie in FL
          2010 - Dinner & a movie in Richmond, VA
          2011 -  Dinner
          2012 - Matt in school in VA Beach
          2013 - Matt deployed

It is what it is.  Honestly, it's fine.  Anniversaries almost seem like New Year's Eve or Valentine's Day to me.  Too much pressure to have the end-all, be-all good time or have the most romantic night ever.  Or to buy some extravagant gift.  I would rather spend our money on experiences (concerts, travel, etc.) than buy/receive jewelry.  If Matt and I have learned anything from our nine years together it is to communicate with each other and to make the most of the time we have together. 

So like every other birthday, holiday, school event, etc. that we haven't been a foursome then the three of us look for the bright side and celebrate on our own.  Today that meant Aaron and I took a mulligan and did absolutely nothing productive other than going to the commissary.  (In our defense, our lethargy was predicated on the fact that it rained all day.  All day.  The weather did not inspire activity.)  I cooked a nice dinner of steak, baked potato and corn and despite the kids' objections, they ate it.  Then we watched our wedding DVD (just the highlights and the photo montage).  They seemed to like the video while we were watching it but after Leah asked me, "Why do we always have to watch this on your anniversary?"  Then she reiterated her desire to marry Aaron and her disappointment in knowing she can't.  We quickly moved on to watching an episode of Blue Planet we had DVR'd on Saturday and that's how we ended the evening.