20+ Favorite Memories to Mark Our 10 Year Anniversary
10 years ago today, Korri and I had our first date enjoying the Idaho Ice Cream Potato at Westside Drive In. (We picked up Westside for dinner tonight including an ice cream potato to mark the occasion, but naturally, we both forgot to stick the ice cream in the freezer when we got home so it partially melted…lol. It’ll still taste good, but it doesn’t really look like a potato anymore sadly!)
When I noticed that our 10 year anniversary landed on a Friday, I knew I had to put together a blog post to commemorate the occasion! I decided to go through every year of our relationship and pick out one of my favorite memories from each. It’s also been quite a while since Korri contributed to a blog post, so I roped him into sharing his own favorite memories.
It was pretty funny to go through old photos (wow, we looked so much younger 10 years ago) and reminisce on everything we’ve done together over the past 10 years. We had a hard time remembering what happened in which year. I honestly can’t believe it’s been a decade already! I hope you enjoy going down memory lane with us. 🫶🏻
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20+ Favorite Memories to Mark Our 10 Year Anniversary
Kimi: We split our memories up by the year of our relationship, starting with year 1 (June 26, 2016 to June 26, 2017).
Korri: Looking back over the past decade, it’s wild how much life can fit into ten years. Here are the memories that stuck with me most.
Year 1 Memories
Kimi: We started dating in the summer of 2016 while I was still in graduate school in Utah and Korri lived in Boise (my hometown and where we call home now). Luckily, Alaska Airlines offered a nonstop between SLC and Boise at the time, and we never went more than about 10 days without one of us flying to see the other one! (RIP that flight. I miss it!)
Our first major trip together was a road trip to Nebraska for a friend’s wedding. Korri drove from Boise to SLC, and then we drove from SLC to Nebraska (about 13 hours) in one day and DIDN’T want to kill each other by the end of it. Then, we did it all over again coming back. I call that a success!
Year 1 was marked by me finishing my PhD in atmospheric sciences. I graduated, successfully defended my dissertation, turned in my completed dissertation, and moved back to Boise all within a couple of months!
Korri: Year 1 was our Salt Lake City era—full of trips and adventures. I’ll never forget seeing live Kelsea Ballerini from the front row or coming face-to-face with the biggest spider I’ve ever seen on the Living Room hike on the foothills next to the University of Utah.
Year 2 Memories
Kimi: We were fortunate to go on a couple of great tropical vacations, first to the Florida Keys with my family and next to Cabo San Lucas with Korri’s family. It was my first time to both destinations!
Of course I have a lot of memories from those trips, but another one of my favorite memories was seeing the total solar eclipse from Stanley, Idaho. It was an out of body experience, and now I tell everyone that they must witness a total solar eclipse. I want to see as many as I can from here on out!
Korri: Year 2 took us to the Florida Keys for our first family trip with Kimi’s parents and brothers, where we nearly didn’t make it back—caught out on a boat in the middle of a Florida lightning storm. As a meteorologist, Korri was terrified of the lightning danger, and was the only one inside the boat cabin not fishing (We love telling this story to everyone.) We balanced out the adrenaline from this trip with a calmer escape to Sunset Beach in Cabo during the holidays with gorgeous sunsets and relaxing beach time.
Year 3 Memories
Kimi: Korri injured his knee at the end of our second year together, but luckily, he was pretty mobile by the start of our third year. We road tripped to South Dakota to visit my family and drove through Grand Teton, Yellowstone, the Bighorn Mountains, Black Hills, and of course had to stop at the World’s Only Corn Palace in Mitchell. Sadly, we didn’t experience any big storms while we were there!
We were also fortunate to attend Taylor Swift’s The Reputation Stadium Tour twice (in May right before his knee surgery and again in August in Minnesota with Korri’s parents). At our Minneapolis show, we were along the B stage barricade and she walked right by us from one stage to the other!
Korri: Year 3 brought a road trip to South Dakota with Kimi’s family. We drove through Grand Teton and Yellowstone, but I couldn’t do much because I was on crutches recovering from knee surgery. But the highlight was seeing the Rep Tour for the second time in Minnesota, where I touched Taylor Swift’s hand and she smiled right at me.
Year 4 Memories
Kimi: I turned 30 in the first half of year 4, and I impulsively booked a trip for us to the Cook Islands to celebrate. Korri was so worried about the long flight (his first international long-haul), but he ended up loving the trip so much, and we both talk about wanting to go back all the time! Rarotonga and Aitutaki were dream destinations, and next time, I want to spend two weeks there instead of just one.
Unfortunately, we all know what happened at the start of 2020 (second half of year 4): COVID! We spent way more time at home but were able to get out for hikes fairly regularly.
Korri: Year 4 was something out of a dream: visiting Rarotonga and Aitutaki of the Cook Islands for Kimi’s 30th birthday. I’ll never forget the food or those impossibly blue waters of Aitutaki.
Year 5 Memories
Kimi: COVID was in full swing, so we weren’t able to do much. But, for my birthday weekend in late September, I booked us a couple of nights in Yellowstone because the cabins opened up from cancellations. We visited the Idaho Potato Museum in Blackfoot for the first time, a highlight for me! Of course, Grand Teton and Yellowstone were beautiful, too.
In spring 2021, my brother graduated from college in Colorado, so we embarked on another long road trip—this time through southeast Utah (Moab area) and southwest Colorado (Cortez area). It was so fun to cross more national parks and monuments off the list!
Korri: Year 5 was 2020—no flying anywhere. We made the most of it with COVID hikes, takeout from our favorite restaurants, and a whole lot of long drives, including to Grand Teton and Yellowstone for a last minute birthday getaway in late September. We also visited southeast Utah and southwest Colorado and headed to Gunnison, Colorado, for Kimi’s brother’s graduation. Seeing the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in person was truly eye-opening.
Year 6 Memories
Kimi: Korri and I visited Cabo again, this time in one of the “luxury estates” with my parents and Korri’s parents. It was so nice having our own pool! We also traveled quite a bit for gymnastics meets, including to Arizona (my first time there) and Washington (for regionals). In Washington, we met up with my parents and also got the see the cherry blossoms in bloom on campus! We also loved all of the boba shops close to UW.
I can’t let this year go by without mentioning that we also chased an epic storm south of Boise in June 2022 that dropped hail around 1” (that’s big for here, haha)! It’s not often that we get big storms here (they tend to happen when we go out of town…), so when we do, it’s very exciting and we try to make the most of it.
Korri: Year 6 packed in a lot. We stayed in a villa with an infinity pool at the Pueblo Bonito Montecristo Estates at Sunset Beach in Cabo with my parents and Kimi’s parents, caught a gymnastics meet in Tempe, Arizona, featuring Boise State against Oklahoma and Arizona State, and flew to Seattle to catch NCAA Gymnastics Regionals hosted by University of Washington when the cherry blossoms were in bloom.
Year 7 Memories
Kimi: In fall 2022, the Seattle Mariners made the playoffs for the first time in over 20 years, so we flew to Seattle for one of the playoff games. The game ended up being 18 innings long with the Mariners losing to the Astros in the end, but the funniest part was that we had to leave the game (which started around 1 pm) EARLY to catch the last flight home to Boise.
My mom and step dad celebrated a milestone birthday, so we joined them and other siblings on a cruise to the western Caribbean! It was Korri’s and my first time on a cruise, and we enjoyed it way more than we thought we would. A few weeks after that, we road tripped through southwest Utah to hit up all the Utah national parks we hadn’t yet been to (plus one in Nevada), culminating in a gymnastics meet in Cedar City.
Korri: Year 7 included exploring San Diego and Oceanside with lazy days at the beach and visiting Kimi’s grandparents. We also enjoyed a western Caribbean cruise aboard Royal Caribbean—complete with four-meter waves. Then came a southern Utah trip through Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion followed by a stop in eastern Nevada at Great Basin.
Year 8 Memories
Kimi: My dad celebrated his own milestone birthday at the end of 2023, and a whole group of us (parents, siblings, and friends) flew to Germany to explore the country for a couple of weeks and then attend Oktoberfest in Munich! That was also our first trip flying international business class, and we are now forever ruined.
Within the same year, we also flew to Scotland to visit Korri’s extended family and attend The Eras Tour in Edinburgh. (That was our second time flying international business class, also with Singapore Air!) Korri’s family was so sweet to let us stay with them AND take us on day trips AND cook for us every night.
Korri: Year 8 was our European chapter: Germany for Oktoberfest and the best döner kebab ever in Berlin, then the UK—Glasgow and Edinburgh—where I got to see my cousins. We took a Rev class taught by my cousin, my uncle drove us to multiple places, including St. Andrews, and my aunt cooked us the most amazing meals.
Year 9 Memories
Kimi: We traveled a lot again in the 9th year of our relationship! We flew to Honolulu to watch Boise State football take on Hawaii and met my parents and one of their friends there. The following weekend, we jetted off to the other side of the country to catch our final Eras Tour show in Miami (worth it for Florida!!! with Florence).
I struggled with some health issues through the holiday season and late winter, which was not a favorite memory, but I’m so happy I was feeling better by the time we flew to Haida Gwaii with Korri’s family. We stayed in the house his great-great grandfather built (it’s now part of an accommodation), enjoyed delicious food, and saw tons of wildlife!
Korri: Year 9 took us to Honolulu for a BSU football game with Kimi’s parents, Florida for our final Eras Tour show, and Haida Gwaii in Canada with my side of the family.
Year 10 Memories
Kimi: We kicked off our 10th year together by celebrating Korri’s 40th birthday in his favorite place on Earth, Alaska. We stayed with his grandparents in Anchorage and traveled north to see Denali and south to see Seward, his favorite town in his favorite place. And, of course, we had to top it all off with a cruise through his favorite national park: Kenai Fjords!
We had a few more short trips during the year, but one of my favorites was when we flew to Columbus, Ohio, last minute for me to meet and try a horse I was considering purchasing. Long story short (blog post to come!), we added Josie to the family! It’s been a whirlwind jumping into horse ownership much sooner than I had anticipated, but it’s been so fun, and Korri (a non-horsey person until now) adores her.
Korri: My favorite memory of year 10 was taking Kimi to Alaska to show her all my favorite places for the very first time. We also caught two truly epic games: a Mariners playoff game that featured a grand slam, and a Seahawks playoff win where they crushed the 49ers. And to top it all off, we got Josie, a Hanoverian horse from Columbus, Ohio. I never thought I’d get into horses, but it’s been such a joy. What a way to close out the decade.
Ten years, so many places, and the best company along the way. 💙