Tyler is the best husband I could ever ask for!

Yesterday I came down with the cold and was feeling fine until it really hit me hard last night when I got drowsy. I tossed and turned all night and basically stayed in bed until 3PM today. I kept apologizing to Tyler that I ruined Valentine’s Day even though we didn’t really have any plans other than to run some errands.

Tyler went to the store to get some groceries for lunch & dinner. He woke me up and suggested I move into the family room where it was colder. It gets hot in our bedroom during the day because of the sun (we really should get sunscreens soon). I came out and saw he got me a card & roses! At that moment I did feel a little bit better and especially after we ate chicken sandwiches.

I knew I probably would feel better if I showered and cleaned up. Also I didn’t want Tyler have to see an ugly & sick wife all day long. I did feel better as long as I didn’t move around too much. Sometimes the best Valentine’s Day gift is just lounging around the house together watching movies.

We saw more than 10 hot air balloons in the sky today and it was beautiful as the sun was setting. Love was in the air today for sure!

Even our furries got some love today! It is a reminder that we should also be pouring our love for everyone we love everyday… not just on Valentine’s Day.

2000:

A time when we were friends.

2001:

The beginning of our relationship at prom.

2002:

We chose to continue our relationship long distance when my family moved to Arizona and I visited Tyler in the summer.

2003:

Tyler came down to Arizona for my graduation & to stay for a few weeks during the summer.

2004:

We went across the country together to attend college in New York.

2005:

We took a road trip to Arizona for the summer.

2006:

Tyler and I attended a dance for my sorority.

2007:

The Summer we got engaged in New York!!

2008:

The engaged life when we were planning our wedding in Arizona.

2009:

The first year of being married & we finally purchased our first house together!

Here’s to another decade. . .

Two days ago when I got home I knew Tyler was up to something. I asked him if he did something for our anniversary because we both decided to save money for the Holidays especially right now with the court situation. He smilingly ignored me. I can’t stand the suspense so I quickly ran to his computer to see what he was up to. Tyler’s smart & beat me to the mouse and went to FireFox > Options > History > DELETE!!!

Yesterday at work the receptionist came by my desk with red roses that Tyler sent me! It was perfect and smelled good. Getting the roses in a beautiful vase & our anniversary cake home in one piece was hard work though. Good thing there were not a lot of turning on the way home.

We went to PF Chang’s for dinner and it was probably the first time we’ve really gone out on a date in a while just by ourselves. After getting home we got our anniversary cake out and it was delicious! 

We just love the video Jason, our good friend & awesome photographer, created for us at our wedding with a message from all of our friends in American Sign Language and I’m sorry there are no subtitles. If you fast forward to the end you’ll see everyone saying “I love you”. This is a video we must watch every year on our anniversary!

Wedding Video from steph anne on Vimeo.

Me & Katers over the weekend

We went to Lake Pleasant again over the weekend. This time we came prepared – cooler, food, & floats. My float was rolled up for so long in my parents’ garage that it remained rolled up the entire time.

While we were mingling and relaxing we noticed a dust devil form near us and actually this family’s things, inflatable toys, table, and tent go up in the air. An hour later it happened again on the other side. It was like watching a tornado in a movie. Too bad we were all into watching it and did not take a picture. It’d be easier to just take pictures with our own eyes… a new eye-camera implant coming out 2030! :P

Tyler took his wedding ring off before he took a dip in the lake and placed it in the trunk of my car. Don’t ask why.

Now it’s nowhere to be found.

Poor Tyler was frantically looking for his ring when it was 109 degrees outside. And it was not helping him when I kept asking why he didn’t put it in the glove box. We’re hoping it’s still somewhere in the car and will still keep looking for it.

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

Friday night we went to South Mountain to watch the sunset and it was gorgeous being able to see Phoenix all at once. While on top of the mountain, I wondered how many people…

won the lottery?
got married?
just gave birth?
died peacefully?
etc…

Tyler got on his knees and did a fake proposal. Who ever does that!? I tried getting him up to stop gaining attention for something that wasn’t real and I didn’t need people to start congratulating us.  

So beautiful… you’ve got to come visit Phoenix!

More photos from South Mountain

Swimming this weekend was actually nice and relaxing since no one was really at the pool all weekend. Probably because of the cool weather we have been having lately. Saturday we went in the hot tub then relaxed by the fire poolside. It reminded me of a Summer night in Seattle with the cool night breeze we had and the sky was clear like always with a full moon.

Sunday morning we got up early and went hiking. Amy adventured up on her own because she walks fast and Tyler injuired his back a few days ago. I tried getting him to admit that it’s just because he’s getting old! Next time we’ll make it to the top when no one has injuries and everyone has enough water.

Sunday night we got the giggles when Skyping with Megan and making fun of Rahul on AIM. I can’t wait until we all reunite again in Las Vegas next month. Summer is going by real quick and I’m afraid to blink to find out it’s over already.

Everyone was hoping it was going to rain yesterday but instead we got a beautiful view of the sunset from our balcony. Amy and I are suckers for beautiful sunsets and probably will run outside every night to just take a picture like we did last night.

Tyler, my hubby!

Am I the only one that feels like there’s never enough time to relax, do something, enjoy each other’s company, and all that jazz in one night after work? It drives me crazy and I noticed that I’m always staying up late because I’m not ready for the day to be over with.

I love having our “end of the day” conversations when Tyler’s ready to go to bed. He whines that it’s already late and needs his sleep and reminds me that he has to get up earlier than I have to. It was nice having Tyler computer-free for 2 weeks since it was in Amy’s room and never just had the time to move it and hook it up to the Internet…until yesterday. He set up his computer on our TV stand (the 2nd bottom shelf). He’s weird like that… laying on the floor with his mouse and playing on the computer.

Amy, Tyler and I have a nightly tradition of playing a card game called Idiot. Probably a bad idea to play right before going to bed because we all get pumped up trying to beat each other! I miss being a carefree kid running around in the backyard through the sprinklers and slipping all over the place and getting hundreds of bruises. Swimming all day until my fingers are way too wrinkly and eyes are tired from keeping them open underwater. I used to buy one jawbreaker that would last me the entire Summer and make my tongue colorful!

Nothing is better than being at the pool on a lazy Sunday

After this weekend I miss my girlfriends! Rahul, Bryan & RJ came from Rochester, NY to find a house to rent. It was nice to be around friends that I have known since college. It’s a great comfort feeling. Tyler and I are really excited that they will be moving here. Although I do need to convince some of my girlfriends to move here now even though Amy will be temporarily living with us for the Summer only.

I’m seeing babies everywhere. Tyler and I discovered that I was a few weeks late and it turns out that I’m not pregnant. We’re not trying. Some people have been asking us when we are going to start a family. Tyler and I both agreed that the timing isn’t right for both of us right now but if it happens then of course we’ll both be thrilled!

I’m still losing weight. Usually after dinner I crave for something sweet. But lately I have not been craving anything sweet (I better not be jinxing myself) and that has helped the numbers on the scale. Chewing gum helps with my cravings. My favorite flavor is berry peardise. It’s amazing how it functions as a perfume for purses! My purse smells awesome – so berry peardilicious.

Me & Jason, a very good friend who’s leaving me to go to Italy for 5 months.

Engaged: July 14, 2007

We both were living in New York and Tyler had just graduated and I still had 1 more year left to go. At the beginning of the Summer we both went home to see our families. After 4 weeks I came back to NY because I had signed up for summer classes so I could graduate on time. Tyler stayed home for a few more weeks. A few weeks later, Tyler was coming back and I was excited to see him again and spend the rest of the Summer together. His flight was not coming in until around 11 that evening so I hung out with Nicole at our apartment until it was time to go pick him up. My Mom was texting me constantly asking me when I was going to the airport, if I was already there, to tell Tyler hi, to ask if I was by myself or if Nicole came with me. I thought it was a bit weird since it takes a while for Mom to text me back. I ignored it and just answered all her questions.

I was at the security checkpoint gate waiting for Tyler to arrive. As he arrived, we went to the baggage claim. I kind of noticed he was quiet since he’s usually excited and catching up after being away from each other for a while. I didn’t think much of it though because I knew it was late and he was probably tired. We got 1 of his bags and we were waiting for the other one and he seemed to be focused on waiting for it to come out. I saw a duffel bag come out and only caught “Steph V” on it and I immediately thought it was cool that this bag belonged to another girl here with the same name as me and I looked around then back at Tyler to find him on his knees. Right there it clicked in my head that the bag was Tyler’s. He asked me to marry him and of course I said, “Are you serious?” over and over and he assured me he was serious! I said Yes!

As we were walking out to the car, I texted my Mom and then realized that’s why my mom was texting me earlier because my family knew. Tyler called my Dad the night before to ask for my hand in marriage, and my Dad said he would love to have him in our family. I’m surprised my Dad didn’t tell Tyler No as a joke since my Grandpa told him No when he asked him if he could marry my Mom. My parents had to threat my sister not to tell me and that if she did she would be in trouble. It was nice to come home to e-mails from relatives and my Grandma congratulating us since my parents had called everyone.

Engagement Photos by Jason Gervase

We got married on November 24, 2008 and I’d do it all over again if I could.

Credit: Absolutely Beautiful Things

While I was comfortably sleeping and dreaming of the breeze, Summer and my dream home. . . Tyler did it again in the middle of the night. I woke up to see that Tyler wasn’t in bed. I had to pry my eyes open to see what time it was. 3:45AM! I get up and find Tyler wrapped in his towel and playing a few games on the computer. I asked him if he knew what time it was and he said he was getting ready for work. I had the biggest WTF look on my face and told him it was three : forty five AM in the morning. He stood there and gave me his “confused in the middle of the night” look then said, “Wow… I’m really tired”

How can 3:45AM look like 6:00AM? If I had not woke up I wonder how much longer it was going to be until he realized what time it was. I love coming home from work and asking him if he remember what happened the night before and he tells me, “I know! I did it again!” before I can even finish my question. Haha!

Now I’m off to bed and hoping that tonight won’t be #3487.