Our Anniversary

Boy did we luck out this year. Chris/Popi drove down from Snowshoe for a visit and to babysit the boys while Jim and I got to go out for our 5th anniversary. (This is only the second one we've actually celebrated!) There wasn't a lot besides going to bars in the area but they do have a "First Night" celebration here in Raleigh so we decided to give that a shot. We found there was a Maggiano's restaurant about 30 minutes away. Our first date was at Maggiano's back in 2001. They had one reservation left at 5:15 so we snatched it up. As soon as we got there we realized why it had been open because it was in the worst spot by the kitchen. We laughed because that was exactly how it had been on our first date with us stuck back by the kitchen.

It was a unique experience to have a 2.5 hour meal and to enjoy every course. I even told the waiter to hold off on putting our main order in so we could just sit and enjoy and not feel rushed. Every once in a while we sighed over the cuteness of some other child at a nearby table but mostly we just got to talk and enjoy our evening. As we were paying the bill I remembered having a Maggiano's gift card (that we had only used some of) from KT and Bruce and it covered our entire bill! That was a nice little surprise.

Off we headed to First Night. The first show we saw was an African Dance Troupe. I don't know why I thought we needed to sit in the front row but there we were. This huge man started booming "A-go!" and when he said that you had to say "A-may" as loud as he did. Jim decided to use his deep and loud voice to boom back at the man and got into a little competition with a kid next to us. My ear was ringing from Jim yelling so loud! So it was only natural when they were doing some audience participation he stopped in front of us (my head went to the ground refusing to make eye contact) when the next thing I know Jim is out on the dance floor jamming out and getting everyone to scream for him. (No, I didn't have my camera!) I personally think Jim was having flash backs to his BMOC days at Longwood.

Then we headed over to see the Wake and District Public Safety Pipes & Drums group. They got together to do the bagpipes and drums for their fallen police officers, fire fighters and soldiers. It was so different from the African dance event we had just attended but man it was breathtaking. I got a little choked up when the did the song they do for their fallen. All I could think was I hope I never have to hear that song for real. Then they did a rendition of Amazing Grace that would bring anyone to tears. The drums were so fast you could barely see them hitting with what you were hearing. It was just amazing. So after that we broke down and called Chris and got a chuckle because bed time for the boys had certainly not been easy for Popi. I told him they knew a sucker when they had one. I think they went down around 11! He even told me not to call again for fear of waking them up!

So next we traipsed across town to get to an Improv group that did a pretty funny set. Jim only heckled them once. (I was so proud!) Then we found our way to the big acorn (their version of the ball drop) and listened to a Raleigh native, Tift Merrin, and did the countdown. The fireworks started off and we were a little worried because they were really, and I mean really, small but then they took off and we had a nice firework show. It was so nice to bring in the new year together that way. This year promises to have a lot of life changes again. Jim has decided to join the Army instead of looking for the National Guard jobs. So that means another career change and a move and I'm starting my new business. I've been told that 2008 is the year of new beginnings! So here's to 2008!