Anna's Giveaway

Anna at "Around the Quilt Block" turned 32 yesterday and to celebrate she is giving away some neat stuff like a bag she made, some fat squares with Christmas patterns, chocolate, a quilting magazine and lotion. I have just finished my first quilt, so I could definitely use these items. If you want to win also, go to her blog here.

33 Years

Today is Thursday and my husband Gary and I have been married for 33 years. We got married on a Thursday in Frankfurt, Germany, where we met. Gary was in the service and I was working there. It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies with a couple of white cotton clouds here and there. I remember it well because the weather had been rainy earlier that week. We got married in the City Hall. At that time in Germany a church wedding did not legally count, so everyone had to get married civilly also. As I was getting ready and putting my dress on for the big day, "Sunrise Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof was playing on the radio. That song has a very special place in my heart now.

The next day Gary and I drove down to Bern, Switzerland, to be married for all eternity in the Swiss Temple. We had some of our very close friends come with us, Roy and Janneke, as witnesses.

While in Bern, I introduced Gary to Swiss Cheese Fondue. He just loved it and we have it now for dinner about once a month. On the way back to Frankfurt we stopped at the Black Forest. It sure was dark there even during the day because of all the tall fir trees. The sun could not find its way through them.

Back in Frankfurt we settled into a small apartment with one room, a bathroom and a tiny kitchen on "An den drei Steinen" within walking distance from my work. I like light wood, so we found a pine table with four chairs and we had a beautiful pine entertainment center to match. The couch was brown and I had made some green curtains for the big window. It was a cute little place. We lived there till the next April when we moved to San Diego, where Gary is from.

In San Diego we moved into Mission Knolls Apartments in Allied Gardens. Gary studied computer science at Coleman College and I stayed home with little Anna, who was born in August. She is not little anymore, she is a tall, beautiful woman who just turned 32. We had only lived there a couple of months when we were asked to house sit a nice home on Laurelridge Road for a couple who belonged to our ward (Church congregation). So we did that. When they got back, we were asked to house sit for another couple in La Mesa. Later we bought our own first home on Waring Road for about $53,000 with $3000 down. We lived there when Erik was born in 1979. My water broke about two a.m. on October 2nd. I called the hospital and this is what the nurse said "It's full moon and it happens all the time." I drove myself to the hospital so Gary could stay home with Anna 3 years old. Erik was born that same day a little after 1 p.m. When Gary came to see me, he was totally nervous. He said to the nurse: "Hi, I am Christina's wife, no I mean her mom."

When Erik was about one and a half month old, we moved to Utah. That will be another blog entry.