Happy 20th Anniversary!

I really can't believe that Marty and I were married 20 years ago! We were married on January 12, 1988 at around 10:00 a.m. in the Salt Lake Temple by Elder Marion D. Hanks. I remember walking into the room where the marriage took place and seeing our families and several of our close friends waiting for us. I remember that my cousin's wife had very yellow nylons on (I have no idea why that comes to mind right now!)Neither one of us can remember much of what was said, other than the actual ceremony but I do remember that after we were married Elder Hanks pointed out two huge mirrors that were on either side of the room (many of you know what I'm talking about). He had us look into one of the mirrors, and because the two mirrors reflected each other, the images went on forever and ever! He compared that to our marriage, as long as we remain committed and righteous. We were not married until death but for all eternity! Following all of the picture taking, we had a wonderful luncheon at the Lion House. I was so excited to have my best friend, Deedee come from Colorado to be part of my wedding. She was VERY pregnant so rather than stand in the line she sat at the guest book. We had our reception at Marty's parent's church and it was absolutely wonderful! The ONLY thing I would have changed was the orange carpet!!

Marty's sister, Diane, got us the honeymoon suite at the Red Lyon Hotel, where she worked. She had flowers and goodies waiting for us (and had arranged for wake-up calls about every hour!!! - THANKS, DIANE!) We spent a couple of days in Park City and then went to the cabin for one night. I'm not sure why, but we brought my brother Boyd and his wife Linda to the cabin with us! We still laugh about that!

Now, 20 years later:
Marty took off work last Friday so we could spend the day together. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch and shared a plate of lettuce wraps and then we each ordered a piece of cheese cake. If you haven't been there yet, you MUST go soon! Normally I'm not the biggest cheese cake fan. I like it just fine but can usually take it or leave it. HOWEVER, the brownie sundae cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory is the acception. It is SO amazing! They also have THE best lettuce wraps around!

After lunch we went to see the movie "The Bucket List" with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. We both loved it! Other than a little strong language from Jack Nicholson it was a clean, up-lifting movie!

We then went to the new Ashley Furniture store to check out my competition and to look at the furniture in real life. (in case you don't know, I have a little company and sell Ashley Furniture)I usually just get to see the furniture in a picture.

We had a little time to kill before dinner so we headed to the Capitol building to see the new renovations. We didn't have a lot of time but it was fun to see the beautiful building and listen to a choir that was performing. We also ran into President Roth (our Stake President) and his family.













For dinner we decided to go to Ruth's Chris for dinner. It is seriously one of the best restaurants I have ever been to! It's quite expensive but absolutely worth it for a special occasion!











After dinner we spent a little time shopping at Barnes and Noble at the Gateway. One of our favorite dates is to hang out at book stores!

Diane (Marty's sister) gave us a voucher for a nights stay at a new hotel downtown. Thanks, Diane! It is located directly North of Pioneer Park and although it's not located in the safest part of town, it was very nice! On our way to the hotel we noticed several police cars with their lights flashing and several people standing around (about a block from where we were staying.) As we passed by, we saw the police men take off running after someone. I just love watching the action and would have been happy to sit and watch (yea, I know it's not very smart). Once we got to the hotel we felt safe and secure! Can I just say that Marty has THE sweetest brother?! When we got to our room, we found that Aaron had stopped at Cummings Chocolates and bought us chocolate covered strawberries and a box of chocolates and then drove all the way downtown to leave them in our room! That was such a nice surprise!











We finished off our wonderful anniversary on Saturday morning with breakfast at Market Street Grill - another of our favorite places. Only their downtown restaurant serves breakfast every day but it is SO yummy and very reasonably priced (except for their fresh-squeezed OJ which is something like $4.99 per glass!!!).

As you can see we had a wonderful 20th Anniversary! I am so blessed to be married to Marty! It's so fun to look back and see how much we have both changed and how much we have grown together. We talk a lot about how we make our marriage work and how we have made it through all of our ups and downs. The one thing that we both agree on that has kept our marriage strong is COMMITMENT! We have said many times during the "down" times, "Well, eternity is a long time so we can either work to be happy together or be miserable together but those are the only two options!" We choose to work things out and be happy and our commitment to each other is the glue that holds us together. I can't wait to see what the next 20 years have in store for us.....