January Part 1: Our 17th Anniversary

In January, Brian and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. The traditional wedding gift for this particular anniversary is furniture. We usually try to each come up with something creative and not to expensive with the anniversary gifts, but I couldn't think of anything creative or clever for furniture, other than to buy a doll couch or something, which seemed a bit too ridiculous for me. So, a week before our anniversary, I broached the subject with Brian. Not because we are bound by traditional gifts, but because we've been doing them for so long, I didn't want to stop now. And also because furniture isn't something you just go out and buy without consulting the other. We talked about how we don't really need any furniture, except maybe a new table since ours has been disaster since we bought it almost 6 years ago. It had been on our big purchase list for a while, and we decided to go ahead and go order the one we actually wanted, the one we should have just sprung for back in 2020 when we were searching for a new dining table, the one from C.F. Home that lets you customize the build. 

So, the week before our anniversary, we headed to Gardiner Village, and I spotted an antique shop on the way and made Brian stop. The stuff was cute, but overpriced, and this painting caught our eye. We had a good laugh over it, snapped a picture to share with our children, and left the store. Now this painting will haunt our family history forever. 

We wandered around C.F. Home trying to find their custom furniture displays and options. We double checked their double pedestal table to make sure it was still what we wanted and hadn't changed since we first scoped it out in 2020. Still looked good. 

Next, we looked at finish samples. They let us check some out so we could take them home and test them against our current furnishings. This is the one we decided on: 

A day or two before our anniversary, we officially ordered our table. We learned it would be built by the Amish, and it would take about 12 weeks to be finished and shipped to us. It's the same size as our Rachel Ray internet table with the terrible top, same amount of leaves, but made of actual, nice maple wood. 

On our actual anniversary, we headed to the temple in the morning for a sealing session. We always love the reminders from our own wedding day. 

Brian got me these beautiful flowers. 

We got free tickets to the home show from C.F. Home, so we decided to drop in and check it out. Everyone wondered why we were so dressed up for a home show. I wore the same cardigan and skirt I wore to the temple and luncheon on our wedding day, and Brian wore the tie that he also wore to the temple and the luncheon. 

We ate dinner at The Tuscany, and it was fantastic once again. 

They gave us this cheesecake for free for our anniversary, and when they packed it up for us, they didn't include any of the sauce. It was very sad. Don't they know we ordered it for the raspberry sauce?! It was almost as bad as MSC's raspberry sauce stinginess. 

I made our traditional rainbow chip cake earlier that day, but I didn't have a chance to frost it, so I asked our sweet Rachel if she wouldn't mind frosting it for us. She not only frosted it, but she even decorated it a touch. 

 I thought I loved Brian when we got married, and I for sure did, but each year, some how, our love is deeper. We have more inside jokes. We depend on each other more. We've cried together more, laughed together more. We've walked through fire together, and we've been refined in the process. Recently, I was once again reminded that Brian is one of the few people that I allow myself to be silly around. My natural shyness keeps me from completely being myself around most people. I can usually only be completely relaxed with my siblings, my mom, occasionally my kids, and Brian. Those who know our story know that I reached out to Brian after my mission because he was "safe;" I wasn't interested in him, so I didn't need to worry about trying to impress him or anything. 18 years later, he's still safe, and that's why he's the best husband I could ever ask for, and I'm so grateful everyday the God gave me Brian Saville.