5th Anniversary of the Best Party Ever

By K.J. Cardinal

Five years ago today, Angie and I threw the best party I've ever been to... also known as our wedding.

Nearly 300 guests. The best DJ around. Amazing food. A bouncy house. Eight kegs. I could go on and on and on.

But, there were really two things that made the day so special.

1) the people involved...

300 of our closest family and friends. My dad as Best Man. Sammy as the Maid of Honor. Vicky as Justice of the Peace. Heather on the flute. Readings by our sisters. Jimmy and Corey as DJs. Mandy's cake. Candy's flowers. Carl & Lynda's house. Muddah and Papa John. The food crew. The clean-up crew.

2) the little moments that I will never forget...

My dad's cherry toast. Wearing the cake, not eating it. The mother-son dance. JuJu eating corn. Carl on the golf cart with the kids. Grampa dancing. Uncles tending bar. The downpour. The sombreros. Shoeless Polgreen. Fusta the bride. Keg stands.

And, I'm sure I'm missing some key people and events.

Nonetheless, day one of our marriage set the bar extremely high, but the past five years have not disappointed for one second.

Our wedding day actually foreshadowed what the next five years would be all about: family, friends and fun. Those are the three things that we wanted to make our wedding all about and it's also what we've tried to make every day as husband and wife about.

The past five years have been hectic and full of significant life changes and milestones for us, both personally and professionally, but we couldn't be happier with where the journey has led us. And, I'm very proud of the family we have started, the relationship we've maintained and the direction that we're headed.

With three healthy and wonderful kids, families that we love dearly and friends that we couldn't live without, we feel like the luckiest people in the world.

I love you, Ang. Here's to not changing the locks on me for a few more years. Cheers!

Two years and she has yet to change the locks

By K.J. Cardinal

What an accomplishment. Today marks the 2nd anniversary of our wedding and Angie has yet to change the locks on me.

Don't get me wrong when I say this, but it seems like we've been married for a lot longer than two years and that we've been together a lot longer than five years.

When I say this, I don't mean it in a "my life is horrible" or "what the hell am I doing" way. I just really have a hard time remembering what life was like before Angie.

We have blended our family and friends and personal and professional lives so greatly that it's nearly impossible to fathom our existence without each other.

Like my parents, Angie and I (and the girls too) do everything together. We are good at taking turns and taking time to do stuff with our friends, which helps keep us somehow in the "we're married with kids, but still not complete losers" category. So it's been great and, to be honest, married life isn't much different than how our lives were when we were dating or engaged.

We're not big on celebrating birthdays, holidays or anniversaries as much as we are big on living in the day and appreciating what we have. So, I guess today is rather an arbitrary day for us that just happens to mark the two-year anniversary of the best party we've ever thrown...I mean the two-year anniversary of our wedding.

It's great to recognize that two years ago today Angie was somehow suckered into marrying me, but that probably struggles to make the top-five most significant days of our relationship list.

• On July 11, 2003, we met.
• At about 3 a.m. on the morning of Tuesday, July 15, 2003, I saw Angie for the second time overall (and the first time sober) and I knew without my beer goggles on that I loved that chick.
• On Thursday, July 17, 2003, I made that daring trip to Montreal for a surprise visit to Angie while she was on a business trip.
• On (approximately) Friday, January 5, 2007, I knocked Angie up :)
• And, on October 5, 2007 we did the best thing of all and had Anna.

As you can see, our wedding itself was a big event, but probably doesn't mean as much to us as most of those days above. The bottom line though is that we couldn't be happier with how things have progressed in the two years that we've been married and we feel like the luckiest people in the world everyday.

Don't think this is a tongue-in-cheek Happy Anniversary post, but rather a recognition of how great our lives have been together to date if we can say that our wedding day might not make the top-five most significant days of our relationship list.

So, Happy Anniversary Ang. I love you and thanks for not changing the locks...yet.

The Cardinal Vault XVI: Lovebirds

By K.J. Cardinal

The 16th entry into the Cardinal Vault commemorates my parent's 27th wedding anniversary, which is today. Happy Anniversary!

Pictured below, the two lovebirds are nuzzling at what I believe is Grand View Camping Area in Rochester, N.H. My Meme and Grandpa (my mom's parents) camped at Grand View during my childhood and since that's their camper, I can only surmise it's there.

In unrelated news, when I was in high school I got banned for life from Grand View...becoming the third family member to get the heave-ho for life. My Uncle Doug and cousin Jeff also got the boot at one time...but I digress.


My absolute favorite thing about this photo has to be my Dad's shorts. I believe the correct term for those, which is also a Kimism, is "nuthuggers." I am also digging the white on white by Kim the elder...what a pimp.

Seriously though, Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad. You guys are the best parents, friends and grandparents that I could ever ask for. Thanks for being you!