Cheers to 17 Years + 4 Marriage Tips

Kevin and I celebrated 17 years of marriage on Saturday!  What a big milestone :)  We didn't plan any big trips or do anything extravagant; just celebrated with our little family and it was nice.  I guess you'd call that a real life anniversary.  Sweet and simple.

We always look forward to our family's birthday and including the kids in our celebration.

We exchanged cards and no gifts.  Actually, I take that back.  We bought a few things for the house that had been on our wish list this year - like a nice patio table!  And we really love having a big table for entertaining out there.

Let's walk down memory lane for a sec... July 24, 2004.

We planned our wedding in 6 months.

It was an unseasonable cloudy and cool day in Southern Indiana.

We took almost all of our wedding pictures before the wedding.  It was so nice to have those done first.  And we had a private moment alone where we got to see each other for the first look.

We had a candlelit service at 5:30pm

I loved my dress.  I tried on several and just knew this one was perfect for me.  It was only $99 and my veil cost more than my dress.

We ordered a square cake to go with my princess cut diamond ring.   

Kevin wanted to wear gray tuxes and my mom said no.  He still gives her a hard time about this.

I wanted hot pink and light pink roses in my bouquet, but my florist said no.  Something about brides do don't bold colors in their bouquets.  We compromised by adding Lily of the Valley, greenery and some pretty ribbon.

Back to reality... We enjoyed a quiet weekend at home :)

We headed to our favorite hibachi restaurant in town with the whole crew.  Our waiter was one of Kevin's former students.  He got called Dr Jordan all night :)  We also bumped into some friends that used to be our neighbors when we first moved to town.  It was fun to catch up with them and everyone wolfed down their food.  Leo loved it, too.  The kids love the hibachi cooking in front of them.  We headed to a bookstore afterward to do some browsing and book buying.

This cutie was the only one at our table who caught the zucchini the chef tossed at him in his mouth.  Everyone else missed and he was very proud of himself.

I love this crazy crew!

Kevin picked up grocery store flowers (probably with a coupon :) in our wedding colors like he always does - light pink and dark pink.  They are so pretty!  I am making us a strawberry pie - our favorite summer pie - to celebrate. 

I'll end with 4 marriage tips:

1. Communicate.

Talk about everything.  The good.  The bad and everything in between.  Don't expect your spouse to read your mind.  Even after 17 years we have plenty of things to talk through.

2. Always ask your spouse, "How can I help you?"

Whether you're having people over for dinner, planning an event, managing kid schedules, working full or part time, making dinner or cleaning the house.  It just feels good to know that someone sees your effort, notices you and is asking how they can help.  Both spouses need to ask and answer this question.

3. Establish your own family traditions

Both of you will come into your marriage with traditions you grew up doing.  Some will be super meaningful and others may be less important to you  Pick and choose the ones you want to continue and then establish some of your own.  It'll feel really special to have these traditions to look forward to all throughout the year.  It's especially fun if you add kids to the mix and you include them in your family traditions.

4. Do new things together.

Visit new places.  Learn new hobbies.  Move to a new city.  Buy a new house.  Try new recipes.  All those new things you do together will bring you closer.

What's your best marriage tip?