Five years ago... {Part Two}

We're celebrating 5 years (!) of our relationship this Sunday, so I thought I would share some of my favorite moments in those years with all of you.

Did you miss Part One? Read it here.

Year Four {2010-2011}

More family time...

 We both graduated.

 More boating with Travis' family {he doesn't always cooperate with the sunscreen...}

We went camping at Pike's Peak {Iowa}.

 We were really proud of our fire and tent!

Lots of beautiful views!

And we moved to Ann Arbor! {Thanks to our family for all their help!}

Travis received his white coat and started Medical School!

We decorated our first Christmas tree!

And then again there is a gap in my pictures - probably due to the large amount of time spent wedding planning, and going to wedding showers.

Year Five {2011-2012}

Most importantly, this was the year we got married!

We went to Aruba for our honeymoon!

 {Oranjestad, Aruba}

 Yes - that's a flamingo!

 Our favorite restaurant of the trip - it had delicious seafood.

 Snorkeling and typical underwater photos

 We both did lots of reading - in and out of the pool/hot tub/ocean.

The north side of the island during one of our tours.

 The whole north side of the island has rough cliffs along the ocean - a stark contrast to the beautiful sandy beaches on the south side.

 The old fort

 I learned how to feed ostriches.

 One of the caves that the natives used to inhabit - it still has paintings covering the walls and ceiling.

 Beautiful sunsets

 Lots of fish and coral seen during snorkeling expeditions.

 A little cove that we snorkeled on the north side of the island.

 More fish pictures

 Land sailing.

Visited Niagara Falls with our friends!

 I swear I did take these pictures myself - the falls are just that beautiful!

We welcomed our two little gliders {my first furry pets!}

Managed a whirlwind trip to both Iowa, {Sophie and Travis are playing with sock puppets.}

 and made it to Chicago.

It seems like the gap in my pictures is always in this January to March/April season of the year, and I think it has to do with our school schedules after the holidays. *Mental note to self: make sure to still plan activities during the winter months.*

We went through a lot in these first few years, broken teeth, medical school and graduate school applications/interviews, traveling, being apart in the summer for research, and more experiences than I can count. I don't think I would change any of it. When we started dating, I had no idea I was dating my future husband, I had no idea what I wanted to do or where I wanted my life to go. He is a big part of who I have become, and I can't thank him enough for all of the times he's been there.

So for our 5th year anniversary, we're going to Gratzi, an Italian restaurant in Ann Arbor, that we've been meaning to try. Then we're planning a re-re-watching of the Matrix, which was the movie we watched together the night Travis asked me out {for the second time-more on that here}.

I've loved every minute of our time together and I can only hope for many many more years to come.

Five years ago... {Part 1}

on Sunday, I started dating my best friend. Sometimes it seems like it has been forever, and other times, it seems like only yesterday.
Forgive me for the large number of photos - I had too many favorites, so I split the post into two for the sake of loading times.

Here's the second post.

Since this blog is meant to be my digital scrapbook, I wanted to take this chance to highlight some of the best moments of our first five(!) years together.

Year One {2007-2008}...

There was this geeky guy...

who climbed walls with his roommates! {believe it or not - this was not a one-time occurance}

He met this girl - and asked her out - twice.
They watched The Matrix. {Image courtesy of google images}

And went biking in Chicago

 and saw "the Bean"...

 He took her to dinners

 and to the zoo 

He put weird hats on his head and tried to act tough. {This is still one of my favorite photos!}

But she saw right through to his sensitive side {ooh - look a butterfly - let's take a picture!}

They got along pretty great.

They went to concerts together, and he met her brother... {Linkin Park 2007}

He taught tried to teach her how to waterski {for about 5 seconds}.

 
And then showed off his mad skills on a wakeboard {pretending to be really cool}.

 

They got tired and decided to sit in a tube and relax. {all on the Cedar River, near the in-laws' cabin}.

They hung out with family :) {sorry for the blurriness, but I like this photo!}

And went on road trips {Madison, WI}

Year Two {2008-2009}

His whole family came to Chicago to meet her family, and hang out in the city.

She taught him how to make Greek cookies {my favorite, but he HATES them}.

They practiced their artistic skills and made snowmen.

So apparently, not much else happened this year - as I don't seem to have many other photos -oops! However, if I were to summarize the year, this is probably it: Just before our 2-year anniversary - Travis proposed, and I said yes. {I know the photo says 2010-but that's when we took the photo, not when we got engaged. Yes, it took us a whole year to take "engagement photos."}

Year Three {2009-2010}

We went to the Iowa State Fair, and I had my first encounter with a cow.

We found a piece of the Wartburg Castle {the origin of our undergraduate school} that traveled all the way from Germany to sit in a wall at the University of Chicago.

 With some help, I cut down my first-ever real Christmas Tree!

[And again there is a gap in my pictures - although this can be explained by the fact that for 6 weeks straight I was at graduate school interviews and we spent the rest of the time debating where we wanted to go to school for the next 5+ years, so taking pictures was pretty far down on the list.]

Tomorrow's post: Part 2