9 Years Ago...They Got Married

Yep, we got married 9 years ago today.  Funny how times flies, huh?  Sometimes, I can't believe we've been married that long, and other times, it feels like it was just yesterday.  :o)  No lie, we were *young* (like, I was 20), and we've been through the good and the bad, but no way in the world would I ever change a thing.  I love my husband more than anything in this world.  :o)

So, if you were around last year, you got to see what a great time we had for our 8th anniversary.  And if you didn't, you can take a stroll down memory lane by clicking here.  I also put up a post last year that shared how we got engaged, and how our anniversaries all seem to have a theme to them (well, at least 3 of them thus far).  But this year, we did things a little differently....hehehe...  :o)

I don't share much about my love of basketball on my blog, but I do tweet about it on occasion.  And lately, I've been like a crazy, screaming fan at least 3 days a week.  Why?  Because the Grizzlies made it to the NBA Playoffs this year!!!  (What?  Have you been under a rock?)  :o)  Seriously, this year was the best season they've ever had.  Not only did they MAKE IT to the Playoffs, they were also the ones that beat the #1 Seed San-Antonio Spurs.  (Holy cow....people all over my neighborhood probably heard me screaming that day!)

So, with that series in the bag, they moved on to play the Oklahoma City Thunder.  Now, I was a little nervous about this team, and I knew the Grizz would be exhausted going into this series considering they had less than 48 hours to rest between the last game against the Spurs and the first game against the Thunder.  Um, they won.  :o)  The series went on to be 3-2 in favor of the Thunder, which meant that Game 6 would be played in Memphis.  Now, if you haven't been following any of the Playoffs (esp. in this area), the tickets for these games have been selling out in record times.  One of the Spurs games sold out in 30 minutes, I believe.

So, Game 5 is almost over, and hubby (who's been casually following all this sports drama) asks me, "Have you thought about what you want for our anniversary?"  He'd already asked me once, and I seriously didn't have a clue.  All of a sudden, the light bulb went off in my head.  I said, "If we can manage to get tickets, then, I want to go to Game 6 and see the Grizzlies play."  And so, a plan was born.  (Cue the beautiful music.)

No joke, I've never been to a Playoff game.  Hubby had been to one when the Bulls were in their prime in the 90's with Michael Jordan, but this would be my first opportunity.  So, a couple of days later, the tix go on sale at noon, and I'm just praying that we can get in.  Hubby and I are both refreshing our browser pages just waiting for the chance to start hunting for some seats.  Finally, he gets in, and there are two seats in the nosebleeds.  Having only sat in the nosebleeds once at the Forum (where the Grizz play), I knew that it wasn't all that bad up there.  So, I said yes...grab 'em!

And guess what?  We were on the very last row at the absolute top of the Forum.  We didn't know this until we actually got there.  And the other cool thing?  All the seats had t-shirts on them that said "Believe Memphis."  That's kinda been their motto through their whole Playoff journey because nobody thought they'd make it as far as they did.  We got comfy, slipped our new shirt on, and had an absolute blast at the game!  We also got a "Growl Towel" when we walked in the door.  :o)  And guess what else?  The Grizzlies Won!!!!!  It was a thrilling game because they were down by 10 at the half.  But they clawed their way back like they've done so many times, and won by 12 points.  I will never forget being there for such an exciting experience.  :o)  (Unfortunately, they lost the next game which would have sent them to the next round, but that's okay.  They accomplished more as a team this year than they have in any of the previous nine years, and I'm proud to be a fan!)

 

 Scoreboard: 95-83

 

Me and Hubby after the game

Also, while we were downtown, we stopped to look at the Mississippi River.  In all the years I've lived in this area, I've never seen anything like the flooding that the river has caused this year.  It is seriously heartbreaking.  Two years in row now, and almost to the day, there has been widespread flooding all over our county.  Last year, it was from an abundance of rain that fell in just a matter of days.  This year, it's been from all the rain and snowmelt that's flowed into the river north of us, and caused the river to get to an extremely high level.  Last year, my parents almost lost their home because of it.  This year, they've been out of danger...thank God.  I cannot imagine what some of these people must be feeling...to know that you have to abandon your home and stay at a shelter.  That has got to be one of the hardest choices to make.  All I can say is that I'm thankful that the area I live in was spared.  We're fortunate that we don't live close to one of the smaller rivers that flows into the Mississippi.  All of those rivers backed up at some point, as well.  It's going to be a long road back to normalcy in some areas of town, but we'll make it.  We did last year.

Overlooking Riverside Drive - Part of this street had been underwater before this picture was taken.

These two pictures are at Tom Lee Park.  Where those posts are sticking up is where a walkway is usually at.  There's also a stairway that's out a little further in the river that's almost completely underwater.