Seven years ago, Vivian and I went out to have sushi with a couple of our friends at Sakura Bana one Friday night in January. I had asked Vivian a week earlier if she wanted to be my girlfriend, and on this particular Friday after dinner, she asked me, “So… you want to make it official?” A year and a day later, I got down on one knee and asked her the same question on bended knee.

Every year since that fateful night, we’ve been celebrating January 26 as our Sushi Anniversary, having some form of sushi even if it meant going to the seafood buffet at the Rio in Las Vegas. This year, we braved 60 mile-per-hour winds to eat at Matsu Sushi in downtown Omaha, having some delicious bento boxes with sushi and vegetable tempura together. Vivian’s parents were nice enough to watch Hannah for the night, so we spent a little time after dinner being adventurous, trekking out into the long-forgotten corners of Omaha in search of First Street, which turns out was tucked away on a lonely dirt road behind the Zoo. Who knew? We also discovered that the Gene Leahy Mall, always the location of choice for Lindy in the Park, appeared to be all finished with its reconstruction. Maybe once it warms up we’ll be dancing there once again.

In other news, Hannah got some portraits done at JCPenney, so we can now share her cuteness at a professional level. My parents also sold their house in North Carolina and are planning to move back to Omaha in about a month, which is amazing news. That means we’ll have both sets of grandparents living nearby to provide free babysitting visit anytime, which is certainly exciting.