A Surprise Anniversary Post from Billy

Hello everyone,

This is Katie’s husband Billy and today I’m taking over her blog for my first blog post. I promised Katie that I would surprise her with a blog post for our anniversary, but she has no idea what I’m going to talk about. After about a million hours of thinking, I decided to talk about and show you my 10 best memories I have with Katie - starting with number 10.  I’m sure you already know a lot about us and probably know about the few things that I’m going to share, but hopefully you learn a few new things about us.

#10. Mr. Spots and BW3’s

The 10th best memory I have with Katie are the nights at BGSU (where we went to college) when we would go to Mr. Spots, an amazing Philly cheesesteak restaurant, and BW3’s.  We wouldn’t go on separate nights but on the same night.  Before Katie was a vegetarian, she used to LOVEEEE all types of food obviously. Her nickname was the “human garbage disposal” Haha. She would eat anything in front of her.  We would each get a cheesesteak and then 12 wings. Our favorite thing to do was order them to-go and then we would eat on her bedroom floor and watch TV like big dorks. I always had the remote because I had the upper hand in the relationship back then.. I remember those days. lol  

#9. Our tradition to go to local pumpkin patches in the fall around Thanksgiving time

My #9 top memory I have with Katie is going to local pumpkin patches.  We have a blast year after year doing this. We usually start off by going to Starbucks so Katie can get her “MUST HAVE” pumpkin spiced latte.  We start off by walking through the pumpkin patch finding ones for our front step and then we make it inside the building where the checkout is and usually buy random things like Apple Cider, some corn stalks, or BBQ sauce for myself.  It’s the best when you go on one of those days where you can taste the air and its comfortable enough to wear a short sleeve shirt or a sweater.  We love it.

#8. Christmas Traditions

Every Christmas we’ve started the same tradition. Well, Katie started the tradition for us and that is to put up the Christmas tree together and Katie cooks her Mom's lasagna recipe just for this occasion. We have a fake tree so we put the branches on together and then I add the lights while she cooks for us. She only cooks the lasagna recipe once a year and it’s on this very night that we put our tree up. The lasagna has meat in it so we’ll see if maybe this Christmas she will give in and eat the meat. Another tradition is that we gift each other an ornament for our tree. This past year was our first Christmas being married so I gave her a Newlywed ornament.

#7. Horseback riding and Lake Norman in Charlotte

Last year we visited my cousins who live in Charlotte and had an amazing trip.  It was extra special for me because I love the area so much.  We had a day planned where we went horseback riding which ended up being a hilarious experience. My horse started to attack Katie’s horse and then her horse took off and she almost got bucked off.  The next part of the day was taking a lunch cruise on Lake Norman which was a blast.  We had drinks and BBQ pork sandwiches which were awesome.  

#6. Halloween

Another one of my best memories seems to occur every Halloween.  I’m not sure if it’s because I dress up for Spiderman every Halloween and fight crime or if it’s the free candy.  We have started to have a Halloween party at our house which has become a big hit so if you’re near feel free to stop by.  Even you BranAAAHham!  I have a confession.  One day around Halloween when we were at school I wanted to watch a scary movie and my buddy who lives deep in the woods had the rob zombie movie that I was going to force Katie to watch.  While driving a ¼ mile in the woods and it being Halloween time and I’m full of jokes I turn to Katie and say, “I’m going to kill you” and I grabbed her leg. Of course she screamed and 10 seconds later I told her I was joking haha I was laughing.  But that’s not the end of it.  We parked in the pitch black driveway and I run inside to get the movie and left Katie in the car.  My friend happened to have a Michael Myers mask so I put it on and snuck up around the side of the car and stood up real slowly on the passenger side where Katie was.  She slowly turned to the window as she saw the movement and screamed so loud and jumped into the driver’s seat.  Hilarious!!!  She stuck with me after all that abuse...gotta love her.

#5. Driving to Kentucky to get Rocky

The # 5 most memorable times with Katie was when we drove 5 hours to pick up our ‘fur child’.  I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t think this was the best idea at first, but I’ve grown to love that lil guy.  Anyways, the drive to the meeting place with the breeder was great...we did our normal road trip thing, like stop at Tim Hortons and get an iced coffee, and a Boston cream donut for me.  So when we arrived to pick up the little monster we were both nervous as hell, but it all turned out great.  Except for the drive back when we reached Cincinnati and Rocky puked all over the car!  

#4. Our First Trip to Boston

Our first trip together was also a family trip. Let’s just say the trip was epic from the get go.  As our plane landed in Rhode Island we rented a car to drive to a small town called Sandwich on Cape Cod.  During the drive Katie spotted a sign for Dartmouth college and pronounced it DART—MOUTH and her Aunt Anne heard this and spit her gum out into the front seat.  As we arrived to our home in Sandwich for our week vacation, I discovered it was a very large old cottage that her entire family was staying in.  The place was really cool because I love history and it was like stepping back in time.  The best part of the trip that I will never live down is when we went on a lobster dinner cruise with a few of her family members.  Katie’s Dad had bought my dinner and the dinner included a piece of chicken, corn on the cob, green beans, potatoes and a full grown Lobster!  So having no idea how to eat a lobster I’m watching the people around me eat it up and I just follow their lead, and after the first bite I notice I didn’t really like this bug. I force this thing down because I didn’t want Katie’s parents to be offended. I mentioned to Katie while on the deck of the boat that I did not like the lobster and about a month later she tells her family (of course) and they haven’t let me live it down since.

#3. Swimming with Dolphins

Our last trip to Florida was extra special for Katie because I made one of her dreams come true - to go swimming with dolphins.  This was really cool for me because I got to be pretty close to the animals and Katie got to jump in the water for about an hour and play with them.  The funniest thing was seeing them push their nose on the bottom of her foot and push her across the pool.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so happy!  We got to cross it off the bucket list and share this special memory together.

#2. The Scrapbook

My #2 best memory with my better half happened before we were officially boyfriend/girlfriend.  We weren’t official for a while because I was way too stubborn to settle down. Just before we left for the summer from school, Katie said she had a gift for me.  I said ok, where should we meet?  She really wanted to meet at the ice rink because I played hockey and she knew it would be a special place.  So at the ice rink she gave me this gift bag and I noticed she was shaking which she had never done.  I opened the bag and it was a scrapbook that she created for me that had pictures of all my friends, family, and us.  She was so nervous to give it to me and how I would react. This was one of the best gifts I ever got from someone and I know she put a million hours into creating this book.  I don't have any pictures of it but it is awesome.  Thanks babe.

#1. OUR WEDDING

My #1 best memory with Katie is the day my best friend became my wife.  We had such an amazing day, it was everything we could wish for.  The most nervous parts for me were seeing her walk up the aisle because she looked so beautiful and I hoped I looked half as good as she did.  Then when we made our entrance; me and dancing don’t mix that well, especially in front of other people.  We have talked about this day for so long, and for it to be as perfect as it turned out was a dream come true.  Happy 1 year anniversary babe!  I couldn’t be with a better person, you are truly my better half.  I love you with all my heart, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you.

I hope you liked my post for Katie. I know how much she appreciates you all because she tells me all the time. I can't believe how long it took me to type all this and she blogs almost everyday..geez oh man it's a lot of work. Until next time..

-Billy