{Celebrating 39 Years of Marriage}

We celebrated our 39th Wedding Anniversary on September 23 and spent a quiet, relaxing evening at home. 

WOW! BABIES....JUST BABIES! 
We were both 18 years old. Actually my man was about to turn 19 but oh my...that seems so young to me now! Of course years ago couples married at a young age. My man's grandmother was 14 years old. His mom was 16 years old. So...I guess being 18 meant that we were REALLY GROWNUP'S! LOL! 
We dated two years before we married. I can remember to this day as my grandfather was driving me to the church and about 1 mile from the church he pulled over on the side of the road, took me by the hands and said, "Baby, you don't have to go through with this wedding if you don't won't too." I remember saying, "Papa, I love him! My grandfather simply said, "Then that's good enough for me". 

Basically, we have grown up together. We started our family at the age of 20 and God has truly blessed our family. Through the years of marriage we've had trials, tribulation, tears and MUCH laughter. We've had ups and downs and at times all we could see was down. BUT, we have shared JOY that has surpassed anything that I could have ever imagined for my life. God in His ultimate mercy and grace has kept His hand upon us.

So for our 39th wedding anniversary we had a quiet evening at home dining at our table that my grandfather built for me eating my man's favorite food with our favorite colors...red and black!

Since we are Georgia Bulldogs fans and in the midst of football season it just seemed right to use red and black. Though right now I could pinch their heads off for playing badly! However, as I told a lady once...Your favorite ball team can be like your children at times...They MESS up but you still love them! 

I enjoy playing around with tablescapes and honestly I was ready to get my fall table done. But...the red and black seemed to be PERFECT for our at home anniversary dinner. 

Of course you must have a couple of candles right?

I love my red and black dishes. I wanted to mix match them for this tablescape along with soup/salad bowls because I knew what appetizer he would enjoy with his main course meal. 

We started out with a bowl of hearty clam soup with bacon, green chives and his favorite ingredient...red pepper flakes.

Grilled Salmon with rosemary from my stash of fresh herbs, topped with feta cheese, chopped spinach, chopped fresh parsley and basil from my herb stash and green chives is his favorite. He really likes Salmon anyway you make it! Along with that came lobster cake, another seafood favorite of his along with crab fingers, broccoli, mushrooms and jalapeno peppers. (The pepper was the last of my peppers from my garden) NOW THAT IS WHAT I CALL A SEAFOOD MEAL!

Of course we ended the night with my favorite dessert that we shared.

Cheesecake and coffee!

Well I must say that I don't think that we could have went anywhere else that we would have enjoyed our meal as much as we did our seafood extravaganza.  

I had secretly began my prep for our meal early that morning as this would be my gift to him. And my gift from him kept me away from home most of the day.........PEDI, NAILS, FACIAL, SHOPPING AND STARBUCKS! YEP....my kind of gift!  

We had so much food left over! I ALWAYS overcook and guess that I will NEVER learn to cook for just two! But....I don't waste food either. I took all the seafood that was left and tossed it in the clam soup and it became Seafood soup! And...it was very good!

 

 Yes, 39 years ago we said I do! Homemade wedding dress by my grandmother. Simple homemade cake by my grandmother with punch, mints and nuts. Simple, simple decorations. Nothing fancy. And yet...here we are all these years later still a part of a love story that God is STILL writing. 

 I am looking forward to every year that God gives to us together. 

  Hugs and blessings, Cindy