I Couldn't Have Planned It Better if I Tried...

Mike & I celebrated our 11th anniversary this past weekend! I can't believe it's been 11 years already?!? In many ways, it seems like it's only been 2-3 years, but in other ways, it seems like we've been together forever. We celebrated by going to Ruth's Chris for dinner...


I had heard wonderful things about this place & those wonderful things were confirmed when their head chef came to do one of my shows. I took one bite of the steak he made for the show & called Mike immediately to tell him that we HAD to go there. It was honestly the best steak I had ever had in my life. So, we decided, since it's not the cheapest place on the planet, that we would go there for our anniversary.

It was delicious! To start out, Mike got their shrimp gumbo, and I got their beefsteak tomato & onion salad. If I had only had that salad & nothing else, I still would have left a happy camper. It was great! I love beefsteak tomatoes & it was perfectly ripe! It tasted like someone had just picked it out of a garden in the middle of August! I don't know how they got such a ripe beefsteak tomato in December, but it was divine!

Then, for our main courses, Mike got their cowboy ribeye (it was HUGE) crusted in blue cheese. I got the filet, also crusted in the blue cheese. HEAVENLY! We also got their garlic mashed potatoes & asparagus in a hollandaise sauce. That was one thing that I found interesting about Ruth's Chris. You order everything a la carte. And all your sides come in family servings, like in a Chinese restaurant. Very different than any other restaurant I've been too, but since Mike & I have similar taste it worked out just fine.

Then, to end the night, our waiter brought this out to us, compliments of the restaurant, for our anniversary...


Holy guacamole this thing was awesome! It was a caramelized banana cream pie. I thought I had died & gone to heaven! It is an absolute must if you go here!

We absolutely loved everything about the night! It was pretty pricey ($137 + tip), but I liked it way better than many of the other fancy restaurants we've been too, like La Caille & Christopher's. I would choose Ruth's Chris over either of those places in a heartbeat. It was your classic fancy restaurant, but with a more laid back feel to it. When I've been to other high-end places, I don't feel like I can make a sound with my fork without the entire restaurant turning to look at me. But, at Ruth's Chris, there were plenty of people laughing & having a great time. Much more my taste! It allowed me to relax & just enjoy the night. Overall, we loved it & decided it will be our go-to place each anniversary, if we can't think of anywhere new we want to try out.

Now, this is an anniversary post, so I can't end it without a little sappiness, right? Plus, I have to explain the title of this blog post, so here it goes.

I just have to say how blessed I feel to have had the chance to be married to Mike for these past 11 years. They have been the best 11 years of my life. A few months back, I had one of those moments where everything stands still for a second & you realize how awesome your life really is...to the point where you can't believe it's really YOUR LIFE! It was just a normal summer evening. We had just finished dinner & I was doing the dishes. Vivvie was sitting in her bouncy seat on the floor just smiling up at me. I looked out my kitchen window to see Mike mowing the lawn & the boys jumping on the tramp. I don't know what it was about that moment, but it just hit me like a ton of bricks how perfect my life is! The thought, "I really don't think I could have planned it better if I tried" popped into my mind. I have always been a planner. From the time I was a little girl, I have always planned out "how my life was going to go." In that moment, doing the dishes, I realized that my actual life has actually surpassed all the expectations of my "planned-out lives."

I basically have a perfect husband...well, as perfect as a husband can be. He loves me & cares about me so much. He is one of those people who sees the best in others all the time, is always empathetic to those around him & is constantly trying to become better. He is smart, driven & successful, and he works his tail off to provide a wonderful life for me & the kids. He is just all around awesome.

I have three boys that are happy, healthy, smart & (sometimes) polite & kind. I finally have my little girl that I had hoped & prayed for. She is such a good-natured, happy baby....and is super cute too.

I have my dream job! I've wanted to do weather in Salt Lake City since I was nine-years-old & every time I go to work, I am in awe that I have the opportunity to actually do my childhood dream. I'm also so grateful that my station allows me to be a stay-at-home mom to my kiddos during the week. I don't think I've ever heard of another TV station that allows someone to do what I do. I really feel that I have the best of both worlds...I get to have a career & be a stay-at-home mom at the same time!

I'm also so grateful for Mike's job. He is so good at what he does! You don't find many engineers that are as good with people & customers as Mike is, so he's a rare breed. Because of that, he was offered two promotions from two different groups in the company about a month ago! He picked the one that felt right to him & he is now a Program Manager over the company's program that has something having to do with the communication devices that are on the government drones that are flown over our enemies to gather data & intelligence. That's about all he can tell me. But, he loves it & that's all that matters in my book.

I hope this doesn't come across as bragging, because that's not how I mean it to be. It's just the thoughts & feelings I had in that moment a few months ago. This is my form of a journal and I just don't want to ever forget what I felt in that moment. I realized how much my Heavenly Father has blessed me with over the past 11 years. I don't feel worthy of any of it & wonder sometimes why Heavenly Father has blessed me with so much. My life is perfect...almost too perfect. I know that it can't always be this way. At some point, I know trials will come, as they always do. But, in that moment, life was perfect & I never want to forget that!

So, here's to the past 11 years! Happy anniversary Mike! I love you & all that you have brought to my life. Here's to the next 11 years...well, forever for that matter. XOXO! I love you! --Lindsay