. . . And We Danced

If you ever happen to see Matt and me at an event that there is dancing involved, we will most likely not be dancing together.  If we happen to be, either he is drunk, or I just layed some some sort of thing upon him that makes him feel really guilty (does it make me a bad wife that I remember EVERYTHING?)  It's not really because we don't llike to dance, but more so because of  the fact that neither one of us has any rhythm.  We are horrible dancers!  Sometimes we can shake it off but other times, not so much . . .

Today, it just dawned on me that Matt has willingly danced with me (by his choice, not mine - although I do not mind at ALL - I LOVE it!)  every May 2nd since the day he proposed to me.  It also dawned on me how many dances we have had in my/our living room . . . 

A little background - Matt proposed to me on May 2, 2007.  He prepared a delicious steak dinner for me that night and served me a bottle of wine that he had saved from one of our first dates (we had been dating for 3 months and went on a date to Hermanhoff Winery) . . . Oh and he also gave me a kickass diamond - not that any of that would have changed my answer to him . . . shhhh, don't tell Matt!  Anyway, this was all prepared for me at my house.

After the proposal, many phone calls and our AWESOME dinner, Matt took me into the family room and  . . . We danced.  He had a playlist going (that he had put together especially for that night) and he just took me in his arms and we danced - and NOTHING ELSE MATTERED.  We were so freakin' giddy at the time.  I will never forget that night! 

When we were planning our wedding, I suggested a "daring" song for our first dance.  I wanted to dance to Queen's "My Best Friend".  Then Matt mentioned to me that he really wanted to dance to Bobby Darrin's "Beyond the Sea".  He clearly gave a convincing enough argument because that is indeed what we danced to on our wedding day.  I DID tell him that we would have to take dance lessons because that is not one of those songs you can just "sway" to.  He agreed.  So we danced - many times in a dancing studio with Elena (our dance instructor) - but also many times in my (soon to be our) living room practicing for our wedding day.  And as we danced - NOTHING ELSE MATTERED.

Then, of course we danced on our wedding day, May 2, 2008.  It was almost magical to me.  I can remember every moment of it.  I remember looking at Matt and actually saying to him as we were dancing, "Wow, we're actually doing this!" - AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERED.

A year later, on our 1 year anniversary, we ate brunch out on our patio, had a lovely dinner at the Tenderloin Room and then headed back home to eat our 1 year old wedding cake.  It was surprisingly delicious!  (we think we need to be hired on by ziplock to do commercials - I think ziplock is the only difference between ours being good and others' being bad - just saying). Anyway, after we devouered cake and smashed it into each other's faces (since I wouldn't let him do that on our wedding day), he took me into the family room  . . . and we danced - AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERED.

Just a couple weeks ago, Matt and I had our 2nd Anniversary.  I was gone for the weekend and things were a bit hectic.  We couldn't find our gift card that would allow us a lovely dinner . . . after many tears and lots of searching, we found it!  So after our wonderful dinner at Ruth's Chris (thanks to Uncle Thos!) we came back in the house.  Soon after we walked into the house (the music was going already) a song from "It's a Wonderful Life" came on. (from the title of this blog you may know that that is my favorite movie ever!)  It's the song that was playing when George came "home" from the bank raid right after he got married.  Mary says, "Welcome home Mr. Bailey."  That's the song that came on.  We were in the family room, and Matt took me into his arms . . . and we danced -   AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERED . . . at that time . . .

It was a beautiful moment until a nice little jazzy number came on afterward.  As if on cue, Matt and I unveiled our internal "Elena" moves and started doing the East Coast Swing that we learned for our wedding.  It was fun until Matt tried to turn me.  For a moment we had forgotten about the cancer and the mastectomy and the implant and with one lift of my right arm and a big OUCHHHHH!  The moment was over. 

Sad that it ended like that . . . but I guess the point I'm trying to make is that we were able to actually forget about everything bad in life . . . if even just for that moment.  I will never forget all of our special dances, especially the impromtu ones in our family room.  Even though it ended how it ended this year, I know I have many more years to dance with Matt . . . because of the pain I have gone through.  If someone gave me the choice, I'd go through all this pain over and over and over again - if it means that I get just one more dance with the love of my life.

Today's Wonderfuls:

• If you really don't know, please read above again . . . I'm thankful to be alive . . . I'm thankful to have such a great husband . . . I'm thankful to have TIME . . . time that most cancer patients aren't awarded.

Here are a couple pictures of us dancing on our wedding day:

Anniversary Dinner Recap

Hello All!

As promised, here is Matt's guest post recapping our conversation at our anniversary dinner. The only thing we regret is that our camera is still being fixed, so we don't have any photos. You know that all you would have gotten though is a bunch of pictures of delicious looking food that we already ate and that you don't get to eat - hehe! Without further ado, here is how our conversation went - a la Matt:

...thanks, Caitlin! This is my first guest blog post so I hope you enjoy.


"The 2nd Anniversary Recap"

We decided to posts this recap to give everyone a look behind the curtain of the life of Caitlin and Matt. In addition to all of the mushy, romantic conversation standard with anniversary celebrations we also tackled some of the most important issues of our time. The following is not intended to “funny” but you may be left with a strong sense of intrigue as to what makes us who we are, or you could be board out of your mind and contemplate suing us for your five minutes back. Read at your own risk…

Caitlin and Matt ordered a bottle of wine, a first for the young waiter, who had spent hours practicing with a corkscrew and never the chance to open one for a customer, but the excitement waned after learning the bottle was a twist off.

Caitlin claimed her successful breast surgery was a miracle and that she was well on her way to becoming the first, Saint Caitlin. Matt disagreed this constituted a miracle worthy of sainthood; Caitlin explained the intercession of faith.

The food order was switched, posing the question, does the order or the placement determine your meal? Are you obligated to switch or can you have order’s remorse if the creamed spinach looks/tastes better than the steamed broccoli?

Safety was discussed when the debate of at what age would you take your child to an expensive restaurant led to whether throwing a temper tantrum is kind of like treading water, and which is a more strenuous activity; the buoyancy factor of fresh vs. salt water was considered.

A discussion of implant awareness led Matt to admit he has been mildly successful at growing breast in recent months, and whether Caitlin can feel the presence of her implant without touching.

Important topics like, are the pearly gates really made of peals or is it just pearl colored paint? And, does Saint Peter still use scrolls or has heaven gone digital? They also discussed the whether heaven like a country club, God has to be absolutely sure you’ll wear the blue blazer with the silly crest on it.

Mr. Belvedere’s official title on the 80’s sitcom, Mr. Belvedere, was he a butler or many (male nanny)? Also, did he wear a maroon blazer or was a more like a robe?

Matt dared Caitlin to eat a mint leaf and she did it, as did Matt per the dare. Caitlin then revealed that she and cousins ate mint leaves at their Grams. Matt concedes the bet but considered filing an official protest due to Caitlin’s lack of disclosure about her past mint eating escapades.

Two Years Ago Today . . .

Was the best day of my life:





I love you Matt!

Happy Anniversary!

P.S. Later this week Matt is going to guest blog about our Anniversary Dinner. It was quite an interesting and random conversation we had after spending all weekend apart. He's much funnier than I am, so he has volunteered to write all about it. Stay tuned!

13 Days of Fun Before the 13th (continued)

I was really tired as I was posting last time, so I had to quit. I am FINALLY off all the "hard" stuff (Morphine, Percocet, Valium . . . and sorta Vicodan - I still take that at night time!) Anyway, I suppose I left off on day 11:

April 10:

Day 11 started out pretty boring. We cleaned, and cleaned and cleaned. Number one because I knew I would be out of commission for a while and I didn't want everything to go to sh*&. Also, because I have allergies and I really didn't want to have swollen eyes and be sneezing in addition to all the other pain I would be in. So we cleaned and it was a success. All the laundry was done (my mom would still have to do a few loads before I healed) and the dust was cleaned up (Matt would still have to do some dusting before I was healed). But it was as complete as it could be at the time.

That night we went to a benefit trivia night. The proceeds went to a charity that is very near and dear to my heart especially because of what I went through on May 7, 2004. (P.S. Read at your own risk . . . also, if you read that, please read more of that blog. I plan to get it going again once I am feeling better about my current situation).

Anyway the cause for the trivia night was for The Angel Band Project. Please read here to learn more about the Butz's story. Buy their CD if you have the means. The proceeds will all go to here. As I said, I plan to start back my other site again soon, so all this information will be posted there too. But honestly this is a silent crime . . . NOBODY talks about it! Please support rape victims. If you are in the St. Louis area, I also like to donate to the Women's Resource Center. I cannot tell you how much they have meant to me over the years!

Ok, so back to trivia night. We had a GREAT time! Our table consisted of my mom, dad, Sarah and Tim Peniston, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Darell and Matt and me. We actually did quite well coming in 4th place (Thanks to Uncle D who is a music master!) Here are some pictures from the night:

Uncle D, Aunt Li and ME!



Mom, Dad and Me:


Sarah, Tim, Matt and Me:



Tim decided to build a tower:



And Dad decided to wave his cell phone to the music during intermission:


We also met up with some old friends from CJA:
(Amy, Me, Karen and Sarah):


It was a great night for a great cause!

April 11:

Day 12 - I told Matt that I wanted a Steak 'n Shake date. You know, like in high school?? He will never eat in there with me so I decided this would be the perfect opportunity. We woke up and went to 11:00 mass and then headed straight to Steak 'n Shake. He took me to the original one which I had never been to despite the fact that it is right by our house. It was nice. We had a normal conversation and of course I was talking to all the little kids next to me (for those who don't know, I LOVE children!) Anyway, there was a little boy named Camden and he had a 7 year old sister named Jade. I was smiling at them and talking to them a bit, then our food came so the conversation ended. Matt and I finished eating and suddenly I cracked! I mean CRACKED. I just stared at Matt in the face and said, "Oh my GOD! I cannot believe they are going to cut off my boob in two days! It will just be GONE!" The tears came and wouldn't stop. Matt found me a clean napkin and I cleaned myself off. I heard in the background little Jade saying, "Mommy, why is she crying?" Poor Jade! I hope she can stay so innocent . . . sadly I know that can't happen. Anyway, after I cleaned up with the napkin, I looked at Matt and asked how I looked. He just smiled at me and said, "You look beautiful sweetie, but maybe you should wear my aviators home." (I know, I married well!) He took me home and told me I don't need make-up and had me take it all off. Then we were off for "Family Day." (Mom and Dad have us over every Sunday for dinner, we call it Family Day.

And then I got to see the "other" love of my life . . . my handsome and perfect nephew Will! We played in his grandma's pond for a while and got to spend some good quality time together. I love Will so much! I CAN'T wait to have my own! Here are some pictures of us playing with the pond and looking at the fish.









Is that enough pictures of Will? Didn't think so . . .

Look at those beautiful BLUE eyes (sorry, couldn't quite correct the redeye in the right one):


And this is what his Grandpa Ray calls his "Tough Guy Face":


Oh man does that boy make me smile!

Oh yea, and clearly I am a terrible mother, because I forgot to include a picture of me with MY baby! Here's my little furchild, Sunny:



(I know, he looks just THRILLED to pose for a picture with his mama . . . you should see him when I brush him though . . .)

April 12:

DUM DUM DUM . . . DAY 13!

April 12th happened to be opening day at Busch Stadium. Long before we even knew this was all going to happen, Matt's sister, Elizabeth and her husband Jason gave us a wonderful Christmas gift of tickets to opening day! It was the first Opening Day game I had ever been to! Jason promised me some pictures (since our camera broke) so I plan on updating this soon with opening day pics, but for now just know it was a great send off to my right breast. It was a lovely day and we had a lot of fun!

Todays Wonderfuls:

Quite honestly, these 13 days really were wonderful. I realized how many people really care about me and love me. I also realized how supportive my husband is and that he really meant that vow he (we) took when we got married - In Sickness and in Health. But I will elaborate more on this in my next post because as much as these 13 days meant, I have been WAY overwhelmed with what happened after the procedure. More to come I promise . . .

Oh,and if you are reading this, can you please just send me a little hello or hi in the comments section. I mean, I am doing this mostly for myself, but I'd like to know if anyone else is looking at this. Thanks! Love you!

13 Days of Fun Before the 13th

March 31st:

Today is the day I sprung it on matt that we are doing this and that today is day one.  It was a gorgeous day!  So I had marinated some chicken and bought everything we needed for BBQ.  Well as it turned out, Matt didn't get home till after 8:00.  So the BBQ did not happen as planned, but we still had some delicious baked chicken with creamy mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli:



Girl Scout Cookies are out, so I made Matt a special dessert:





April 1

For day 2, we went out to dinner at Sybergs:



We shared a yummy Sybergs Salad:



Some Beers:



And delicious food:



Then we saw this which gave us a little chuckle:



A little background on the above picture. Matt bought the same shirt in a gold color at a thrift shop for 35 cents. One day Kevin Pfeiler showed up in the same shirt. We asked him if he got it in the thrift shop. He said, no, he helped clean out a stream and so they gave him that shirt. So of course, much to Matt's dimay and embarrassmant, I had to ask this guy if he helped clean up a stream. He looked at at me and said, "No, actually I just bought this at a thrift shop for 35 cents." Haha, gotta love it!

So after dinner, we went to play mini golf. I don't think we have played mini golf since we first started dating. We had a great time:





April 2

Ahhh, day 3 . . . Day 3 had so much potential. We planned on having a crazy club Schulte Night. Instead it turned into us sitting on the couch listening to some music and having some drinks, but not actually getting up to dance to the music. Oh well, we were tired from the work week. We still had fun haning out with each other and we had a nice Good Friday "Dinner" of cheese, bread and fruits and veggies. Early to bed that night for sure!

April 3

Day 4 started out with brunch with Staci and Jason (and the baby). We went to Duff's in the Central West End. We had a lovely brunch and great conversation. It was the first time I had actually seen the baby showing so it was fun seeing Staci as a cute little preggo!







Later that night we met Matt and Kayce out in DeSoto for some fun at Tina's. Matt had his first taste of "Hot Monkey Sex" (a yummy banana chocolate shot). We always have fun with Matt and Kayce, here are a few pics of the night:





April 4

Day 5 was Easter Sunday. For Easter this year, we went out to Uncle Thos's house again. It was a gorgeous day! We were able to ride the 4 wheelers, walk along the lake, fly kites and just run around the yard. It was quite a nice Easter. The poor "Lamb of God" was a little damaged in the commute however (notice the lack of eye and the fallen off ear):



Nathaniel wanted to ride the 4 wheeler, but is just a bit young. Don't worry I gave him a little ride (at about 3mph) around the field eventually:





Katie and I have a new Easter tradition where she takes me for a fast ride all over the place (read through creeks and everything!). We always come back a bit muddy, but it is fun:



Dad taught the kids how to fly a kite:



Dad and Me:



Cousin Robby and Me:



Mom and her Girls:



April 5

Day 6

Day 6 was a little more low key, but probably the most important day. Ever since I found out that the mastectomy was inevitible, I called Fr. Dave (the priest that preformed our marriage ceremony). He agreed to give me the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. It was a beautiful ceremony. Fr. Dave talked, had my dad do a reading and then anointed me. He talked to Matt and me about how this is where the whole "sickness and health" vow comes in . . . we really didn't think it would be so soon . . . but we meant it when we said it so here we are. He gave me and my family blessings and it gave us all some peace of mind.

Afterward Matt and I had a simple dinner at the Bean House and reflected on everything Fr. Dave spoke to us about. It was a nice and peaceful evening.

April 6

Day 7 happened to be a night where LOST was on. Thanks to Bridget, we have become obsesses with LOST. And since this is the final season, we couldn't miss an episode. So instead of doing something out of the ordinary and skipping LOST, we decided to incoproate our LOST watching into our special night. So I bought us some champagne and we drank it out oof our wedding toasting flutes.



I also got us some Ted Drewes for dessert:







April 7

On day 6, since it was a Wednesday, we ended up going to Cunetto's. We forgot our camera, but if you look back at the pictures from when we went to Cunetto's for my birthday, they would look about the same. So you get the idea. It was delish as usual!

April 8

On Day 7 we went over to Anna and Matt's house to visit Braden. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold a baby for a while after my surgery, so I wanted to hold as many of them as possible. So we went over there and ordered some pizza. While I was eating, Matt took Braden and actually used the boppy for its real purpose:



After I was finished eating, I was a baby hog. No one seemed to mind:





April 9

On Day 10, my old co-workers decided to throw me a happy hour at the Schlafly Tap Room. We had a lot of people show up but unfortunatly I forgot to take pictures until all but one person left, but here is a pictre of Nick and me:



And Nick was kind enough to take one of Matt and Me:



April 10
(Work in progress still . . . I'm napping)