I still have to pinch myself when I realize I’ve been married for three years. Not only has it been much more enjoyable than I ever anticipated, but the time has absolutely flown by!

It’s interesting to observe what type of ‘married people’ we’re turning out to be. Being my first go-round (it’s my husband’s second), I was pretty gung-ho in the beginning about all things “marriage,” even though I had never pictured myself having a big wedding or anything that extreme. It was more the idea of marriage and a lifelong partnership that was appealing to me, not the showy wedding aspect. Lucky for me, my husband and I were on the same page about this…Vegas — CHECK!

Once married however, I was really into the anniversary thing and my original Big Plan was to adhere to the traditional wedding gift for each year of our marriage. I secretly pictured myself coming up with a clever gift that my husband actually loved year after year, no matter how challenging the traditional gift material (I must admit I was dreading the ‘tin’ year).

Needless to say, although I was pretty impressive out of the gate, this year I completely forgot our anniversary was even approaching. Yikes! I thought the guy was supposed to be the forgetful one! I was only reminded when my husband announced he’d made dinner reservations for our special day.

When he caught my momentary blank look, I was compelled to admit I had totally forgotten our anniversary. Imagine my surprise when instead of the hurt reaction I feared, I swear he actually tried to backpedal, thinking he might be able to save some cash and not have to take me to dinner after all!

Because we are becoming a little more familiar with the nuances of each other’s personalities every year, although this little incident gave me a chilling glimpse into the depths of his frugality, I can’t hold it against him…

We did end up going to dinner, and after quickly agreeing that gifts weren’t necessary, came to the conclusion that what would really mean the most to both of us was a cool outing to commemorate the date. We never need an excuse to kayak the Lower Salt River, but this trip was especially sweet!

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