Gowin Family Blog

As I mentioned the other day, Suzanne and I have logged eleven years together. To celebrate, we spent an overnight at the Mark Twain Hotel in Peoria. Here are a couple views from our ninth-floor room.

And a view from the window light in our room.

Though it had rained much of the morning and almost the entire drive up to Peoria, the rain stopped after our arrival, allowing us a chance to stroll up and down the riverfront for a few hours.

We enjoyed a great dinner at the newly reopened River Station on Friday night. Our server, Julie, had just completed her training the previous week and we were her very first table. She did an excellent job–she was attentive, personable, and courteous.
We spent Saturday stopping in at a couple garage sales, visiting some parks around town, talking, reading, relaxing.
It was really nice to spend time bumming around, no particular destination, no agenda, no pressure. A very relaxing weekend. And yes, I was there–those are my feet above.

Today Suzanne and I celebrate 11 years of (more or less) successful marriage.

For the sake of recordkeeping, in this time we’ve:

• Had two homes (one house, one apartment–but homes both)
• Lived in one town
• Between the two of us, held eight (or so) jobs
• Raised one dog
• Had three smart, beautiful, and reasonably well-behaved children
• Attended one church
• Enjoyed many good friends
• (Hopefully) been a blessing to many good friends

Some other stuff, too. I’ll check with Suz and add to the list as necessary.

Lord knows it’s not easy.

But it is good.