an anniversary celebration

I remember when we first got married and I thought that every anniversary was going to be this huge celebration- we would go on a trip somewhere, maybe get a hotel, have a nice fancy dinner,  you know- fancy.  Well, we were young and life settled in very quickly.  Those expectations vanished as the years went on, which isn't to say that I gave up all hope on a wonderful anniversary celebration.  We celebrated, but I remember always struggling with my expectations compared to real life situation.  

We're currently in a very busy season of our lives, and our anniversary snuck up on me.  And what caught me completely off guard were my expectations.  This year my expectations were realistic, and it was my amazing husband who turned our anniversary into something beautiful.  We tossed around the idea of staying in a hotel somewhere here in San Diego just for the night, but then I never looked into it.  The Mr. was on top of it and ended up booking us a room right at the cove in La Jolla.  Literally, we walked across the street and we were at the ocean.  And Saturday morning we woke up to this view from our balcony: 

We knew this was going to be our last anniversary just the two of us, so we tried to soak in as much "us" time as possible as well as some relaxation.  We took a long walk all around the cove, admiring how clear the sky was and how entertaining the sea lions were.  We grabbed coffee and breakfast.  We walked everywhere.  And it was beautiful.  

As I was sitting on the grass Saturday morning watching my husband admire the body surfers in the ocean, I thought to myself, "we have made it".  I was completely overcome with love and peace.  Over the last five years, we've figured out how to love one another unconditionally, with no grand expectations, leaving the other one hurting because they didn't meet our needs.  We've learned how to communicate better, how to listen inventively, and how to compromise.  The Mr. has made me love the ocean and I've made him love coffee dates.  We know what the other wants and what the other needs, and go our of our way to do that for them.  We've become selfless and humble.  We've become one.  And I think that is a beautiful thing.  In fact, I know that is a beautiful thing!