9th, 8th, or 3rd Anniversary?! ♥

I guess it depends on how you look at it!  It is our 9th anniversary from our very first date back in 2001, our 8th from our wedding day in 2002, and only the third one we have actually been in the same state or country for!  Yeah, that last one would be courtesy of the Army!  Let’s see, we got our 1st anniversary together, but the 2nd one was spent apart because Soldier Daddy was in PLDC at Fort Knox, Kentucky while I was home in Virginia.  Our 3rd anniversary was spent apart because Soldier Daddy was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait.  Our 4th anniversary we were once again in the same country, but I was in New York and he was in Arizona at Fort Huachuca in AIT.  Our 5th anniversary, we were sort of together but only for 10 minutes before it wasn’t our anniversary anymore so I can’t count that one!  He had been at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama for pre-deployment training and I had been here in New York, he flew in late that night, so 10 minutes does not an anniversary make!!  :P Our 6th anniversar, we were actually in the same state AND country!  But it, too, was a downer because my beloved grandmother had died just 3 days prior.  We spent our anniversary at the mall, shopping for clothes for him and the boys for the calling hours and the funeral.  I spent most of our lunch at Applebee’s crying.  :(  Then came the 7th anniversary, and we were once again seperated by oceans and continents!  He was in Afghanistan and I was in Canada with the boys!  But here we are, 8 years in and in the same country AND the same state!  So, providing he gets out of work at a decent time,… we might actually get to go to dinner!  We better enjoy it because it will be the last one for awhile since he will probably be back in Afghanistan for the next one, and possibly our 10th, too!  So, Happy Anniversary, love muffin!  You are my best friend, my heart, my soul, and a legend in my own mind,… and probably yours, too!  That’s why I love you!  MUAH!