Birthday/Anniversary Celebrations

So, on Friday night Shannon and I went on a date. We went to see Batman at the IMAX theater in downtown Raleigh. It was pretty good! Shannon gave Batman a five on a five-point scale. As for me...I'm not that big into movies, so I thought it was good but don't want to put a number on it.


Me and Shannon at my first IMAX! And I'm wearing my new sweater that I bought with money that Shannon's mom and stepdad Milton gave me. Thanks, guys!

Next we went to one of Shannon's favorite restaurants in the area: Shuckers. We don't go there often because it's fairly expensive to us, but for special occasions (like his birthday!) we get to go.


Shannon with his fried oysters. We were backed into the corner, so he had to duck so I could get his picture.

Then on Saturday we drove up to Virginia to go to a wedding. Here's Brian and Bonnie, the happy bride and groom, cutting the wedding (cheese)cake that Brian made!



After the wedding we headed up to Richmond so that I could see a couple of my Polish friends from when I lived in Warsaw. We didn't get to stay very long, but considering I hadn't seen them in nearly four years, it was a great treat, and we live close-by, so we should get to see each other again. Thank you Facebook for getting me back in contact with Gosia!


Ania, me, Shannon, and Gosia, with Ania's sister Ola in the back

After we left Ania's, Shannon drove me to a surprise location...a Bed and Breakfast in the Virginia countryside! This is what we saw when we drove up:



But Shannon had requested the private cabin by the lake, so this is where we went:




It was hard to get a good picture because it was small!

Anyways, we just got to do a lot of relaxing and we spent some time praying over the upcoming years of marriage and thanking God for the last one. We re-read our vows to each other and just had a great time watching tv, reading, and playing Scrabble. Then it was back to North Carolina where we've been relaxing for the rest of the evening. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty good anniversary, and I was way impressed that Shannon was so romantic as to surprise me! It was a weekend of firsts for me: my first time to an IMAX, my first time at a Bed and Breakfast, and my (our) first anniversary! They were all great.


Hanging in the hammock by the lake


An anniversary picture by the fireplace