Our anniversaries are a lot like our marriage: Nothing ever goes quite like we planned.

(Monsoon took this photo of us. Future photographer, I think.)

Anniversary #1: Hubs and I saved up for months to stay in Cinci and go out on the town for an evening. The day before, my family had our annual reunion a state away, so we drove down and stayed with my grandparents - as did Miss Kitty and my mom, who brought our year-old dethawed wedding cake top. The best part of that day was having breakfast and coffee with them, then digging into our cake (it was actually delicious). We ended up spending the rest of our first anniversary stuck at a T/A station in the burning sun and using all our carefully saved cash for a something-or-other to make our car run.

Anniversary #2: We decided to keep it more low-key and just hit a movie. We did venture 45 minutes out of the way to the new theatre with "stadium-seating," though. It caught fire 20 minutes into "Liar Liar." We were evacuated, nobody was injured, and everyone was aloud back in an hour later.

After that, we pretty much stayed home and had relatively small mishaps. Last year, my cousin's rehearsal dinner was on our anniversary, so it was kind of like having a big party thrown for our tenth... except I didn't get to be the bride and no one was taking pictures of me.

This year, hubs surprised me with reservations at a fabulous restaurant, old Hollywood style and service fit for a queen and the best filet mignon you've ever imagined... We took Monsoon. I was expecting (being our anniversary) something outrageous to happen, but no, it was perfect right down the spoonful of vanilla bean seeds under my creme brulee.

I guess our anniversary magic got it's digs in a couple days early this time around. Seeing a black bear running at our car in a West Virginia Mountain and spotting a tornado on the road in front of us (all in one day, all while traveling home from vacay) were quite enough for one week.

Even with all the excitement, my husband always remembers to get me a card. He always spends time at the store reading and shopping for a card that is perfectly fitting for however we are that year. He never forgets our anniversary (even if it sneaks up on me) and never fails to surprise me with something special (even though I almost always end up saying, "sorry hon, catch ya next year").

It's possible he's trying to make up for things like "accidentally" spraying sunscreen into my contact case or not rubbing my feet every night like he promised (that was in the vows, right?). Every marriage has flaws - it's made of people, you know - and nothing works out quite how we planned, but I'm grateful for the last eleven years and all the unplanned excitement that has made such a mark on our lives.

(Hubs took this of Monsoon and I... guess where the boy gets his fab photo skillz.)