18th Wedding Anniversary

Tomorrow Ron and I will celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary!  Well, actually we decided to do most of our celebrating today as the forecast for tomorrow's weather is stormy.

We have a picnic backpack that holds plates, cups and utensils for two, a thermal wine holder and a thermal zipper section for cheeses.  I bought this and have been anticipating using it on a romantic picnic for a while now.  One of the things I appreciate about Ron is that while we have gone on some great trips or eaten at incredible restaurants on previous anniversaries, he and I can also have just as good a time chilling together on the beach.

There is a road from Navarre Beach to Pensacola Beach that is 7-miles of nothing but beach, dunes and the road.  It is beautiful and Ron had never seen it.  So this is where we decided to head for our picnic.  We dropped the top down on the car and headed out to beat the rain.

We found a secluded spot on the vast empty beaches and spread out the picnic.  On our way there we had stopped at Fresh Market and the lady in the cheese section did an incredible job of helping us to select some cheeses.

Our picnic ended up consisting of all-natural grain crackers, olives, summer sausage, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, smoked sharp provolone, black wax asiago, smoked gouda, Don Julian 12-month manchego (a pricey cheese), aged gouda and mini baby bell laughing cow cheese.  As well as a chilled bottle of Blondie Chardonnay.

We had a great time eating, chatting and talking about how far we have come and future dreams.  A relaxing time to just enjoy each other and watch the waves crash up on the shore.  We both agreed that if we had it to do again, we would both marry each other again.  It's nice to know that we aren't together just because that is how it is, but because we are still in love with each other.  Probably even more so than when we first got married.  Back then it was just feelings; now there is a bond of raising children, maneuvering through life, moves to new cities and a new state, travels together, good times, bad times, silly times, sad times, basically 18-years worth of memories and life together that makes for a love that is deeper than just our feelings.  Right as we finished packing up our picnic it started raining. Grateful that we were able to have that time before the rain hit.

During our picnic I took this photo of our wedding rings.  They say the ring is a symbol of unending love, with no beginning and no end.

Happy Anniversary, Ron.  I love you!