11 Short Years Ago

"I need your IDs and boarding pass, please," the gentleman at the ticket counter proclaimed.  As we held out the requested documents, my hands were shaky.  "Here's our marriage license, too," I replied.  I just knew he was going to reject us, tell us we had to hop back on a plane and head back home.

The fact is, we were too young to go on a cruise with out adult supervision, but we'd gotten a great deal on it and our travel agent (my sister-in-law of two whole days) explained that although we weren't yet 21, we could still cruise for our honeymoon if we had proof of our marriage.  And, she was right...he smiled at us, congratulated us, stamped our boarding pass and pointed us in the direction of our cruise ship, the Carnival Ecstasy.

And, that's when it hit me...we were really married!  We were embarking on a new adventure, our first adventure, as husband and wife.

That was 11 years ago {March 11, 2000} and little did we know that the adventure we began on that amazing day would pale in comparison to the life adventures we would embrace in the coming years.

Together in 11 short years, we have:

1. Graduated 5 times
2. Built 2 homes
3. Experienced the birth of 2 children
4. Experienced the death of 4 grandparents
5. Gained 7 semi-immediate family members {2 brother-in-laws, 1 sister-in-law, 3 nephews, 1 niece}
6. Gained many amazing friends
7. Changed jobs 11 times
8. Traveled out of the country one time
9. Vacationed at three different beaches
10. Had 8 different vehicles {the last 4 of which we have owned free and clear, thank you very much!;)}
11. And began one amazing journey towards our next two children through adoption

What an amazing and wonderful whirlwind the last 11 years have been!  We are so blessed and I look forward to what the next 11 will bring!

P.S. I even got flowers delivered to work for this anniversary!  Aren't they beautiful?!