Today marks my and Heather’s 7th anniversary and as usual it will come and go with little fanfare. When we planned our wedding, we chose the holidays because it is our favorite time of year. We also honeymooned in New York City for New Year’s Eve, so there’s that. In hindsight, it’s kinda hard to really celebrate anything around the holidays and make it feel special.
It all gets caught it in the hustle and bustle and rarely is there much money left after Christmas to really celebrate. But we’re okay with that. It seems senseless to save all that for just one day anyway. We share our love for one another in the little things we do… it might be Heather warming up my car for me in the morning or sweet texts throughout the day.
Our love is real. It’s not overbearing or pushy; we’re not trying to convince anyone else of our love. It just is. We were talking to one of our friends the other day who will be getting married soon and she asked if we had any advice. For us, it was simple. Marriage is not easy. Sure there will be time where it seems that way, but it’s not. You have to work at it every single day. But the most important thing to remember is that whatever you put into it, that’s exactly what you’ll get out. You must make time for one another. Even with kids, there still needs to be time each day for one another. Sure it’s important to have regular date nights and such, but sometimes those quiet moments over coffee in the early morning or those conversations laying in bed late at night mean even more. Rough patches will happen, that’s guaranteed. But you must make sure you build a marriage that’s worth having in the end. The kids will grow up, the careers will end. One day, that marriage and its memories will be all that is left.
My family loves Buffalo Chicken Dip. This is Heather’s adaptation of the recipe. We like this one a lot because it’s not all mixed together. Drizzling the ranch and buffalo sauce on the top allows you to get a taste of each without them being all combined. It’s also great because you can control the heat level by adding more or less buffalo wing sauce.
Heather’s Buffalo Chicken Dip
Ingredients
- 2 (12.5-ounce) cans white meat chicken, drained
- 1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3/4 cup prepared ranch dressing, divided (or blue cheese dressing)
- 1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a small baking dish (about 2 quarts). Combine the chicken, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 cup of the ranch dressing in a medium sized bowl. Spread mixture into the the prepared dish and drizzle with the remaining 1/4 cup of ranch dressing. Drizzle buffalo sauce over top adding more or less to suit your taste. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the dip is bubbly around the edges. Serve alongside celery sticks, corn chips, pita chips, or crackers.
With Wings says
Have not had it before, but it looks wonderful and yummy!!! Happy Anniversary to y’all!!! It’s the love that we have for God that sustains our love for each other (40 years)!!!
Tina says
Happy Anniversary! A wonderful post! Many blessings to you and Heather.
Joanne says
Happy Anniversary!!
Stacey says
Thanks!
PoopseyMarie says
Happy 7th Anniversary Stacey & Heather!! :()
Know exactly how y’all feel. Hubs and I got married on 12/21, 18 years ago. Our youngest son was born on a 12/20 a few years after marriage and of course there’s always Christmas Eve 24th with family and Christmas Day 25th with family and well, you get the picture. Most of the time we look at each other a few days PAST our anniversary and say, “We had an anniversary, didn’t we?”
Marriage is definitely give and take but more giving than taking, for sure. Several years ago we stared a new thing for our anniversary. Our first date was on Jan 19th so we now celebrate our anniversary on that day instead. The delay gives us a little time to recoup from the holidays, stash a little cash for celebrating and no hustle and bustle. My husband has a motto for married folks that goes like this “You can be right or stay married.” All the little petty things will be just that, “petty”, once we look back and examine whether its really so important to always be right.
Love all your recipes and of course the stories too!
Stacey says
Thanks so much!
Joan in VA says
Congratulations! Before you know it, you will be celebrating your 50th!! We were married on June 30th – last day to be a June bride. Our daughter and son-in-law chose New Year’s Eve for their wedding. It seems to be a family tradition because my husband’s parents also chose New Year’s Eve.
Stacey says
Thanks! How neat!!
Nat says
Congrats Stacey! I made this for my family last night and they adored it, thanks for all of the great recipes. Sending you New Year’s greetings from Mississippi.
Stacey says
Awesome! I’m so glad they enjoyed it! Thanks and Happy New Year!
Carol says
I really like that dish! Can you tell me what brand it is or where to locate it? Thank you.
Stacey says
It’s from Crate and Barrel. We have a couple different sizes and love them.