Can you believe that Patrick and I have been together for 11 years?! Me either! I mean I know that we know each other inside and out, that we have been through everything together, that we love each other as much or more than we did when we first started dating when we were 16, but it’s amazing how time has flown. Not to mention that 4 of those 11 wonderful years we have been happily married! We decided to make this year special for just us, since last year we took a family vacation, and the year before we were pregnant and moving so we didn’t do a lot of anything. I planned our wedding anniversary date, and Patrick planned the weekend after.
For our anniversary, Sam and I spent the morning at the store getting Patrick a bag of his favorite candy, my hubby has a sweet tooth, and then the afternoon playing. I had arranged for my parents to come up and watch Sam so that I could “surprise” (right, my husband spoils every surprise ever) Patrick and take him to a nice interruption free romantic dinner at his favorite steak place. My parents brought Sam some dinner and Patrick had a lovely time at dinner and even had an adult beverage with our meal. When we got back Sam was happy to see us, but had obviously had a great time with her Granna and Grandpa.
Patrick decided for his portion of the date, we would go away for the night, which meant leaving our sweet girl for the first time. I asked my parents if they would mind spending the night at my house, so Sam could be in her own surroundings sleep in her own bed, and hoped that she would have a good nights sleep for all of their sakes. My parents jumped at the opportunity as they are always offering to just take her home with them, but I’m obviously not quite ready for that. We spent the day with Sam’s Mimi, and then late afternoon she left and my parents came over to take the night shift. It was hard for me to say goodbye, I have never left for more than a few hours for a dinner and a movie, or to help with a shower, or to wrap Christmas presents. Right before we left Sam started running a little bit of a fever, I got out my charts and the tylenol for my mom to give her and told her to call if it went up. I was a little apprehensive, and to be honest I cried for a minute when we left the house, but Patrick reassured me she would be great, and so would we.
We went to Bridge Street in Madison so that we could have dinner, watch a movie, have some drinks and go back to the hotel without ever having to get in the car. As soon as we got there I called to check on Sam, and her fever was gone, what a relief. After that I felt like I could relax a little. We checked into our hotel, walked down to get dinner (ran into some good friends and talked for a minute) and started our night. After dinner we went and got some chocolate and white chocolate covered strawberries at a candy shop and took them back to the room so we could call Sam to say goodnight. We said prayers with her over the phone which made me feel better about not being there, and my mom said that she was asleep shortly after. We saw “DRIVE” at the theater, not exactly a romantic date movie, but we both enjoyed it and then we had a few drinks at the bar afterward. It was great to walk out of the theater and see only a couple of people in one of the busiest shopping centers around. We walked down the strip a bit just to enjoy the beautiful night, and to just be together like we had been when we first met. It was amazing! We are going to try to start doing this for ourselves once a year, for our anniversary of course, to be able to celebrate us as a couple, not just us as a family.
When we got home, my parents had taken Sam to church with them. It gave me a chance to clean up and wash our clothes from our overnight bag. The best part was seeing Samantha’s face when she saw us back home. She missed us, and I missed her! I’m not sure if we will do another overnight alone anytime soon, but I’m glad she enjoyed herself, and we did too.
We also got some very sweet gifts for our special day. We decided the date, the candy I got Patrick and the flowers he got me were more than enough for us to do for each other. His parents got us a gift card to one of our favorite seafood resturants, and my parents not only gave us free babysitting but paid for our dinner on Saturday and my dad gave us a bottle of my favorite wine that he bought 4 years ago to give us later on. He decided that this year we had been through a lot and had earned it. It was the sweetest thing, especially since now there aren’t any of the wineries left in Alabama. It could be our last bottle.
Well that’s all for now. I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband and family!
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Dear God,
Thank you for everything that you do for us. Thank you for giving me my best friend for a husband 11 years ago. Thank you for letting us make it through the rough spots and for becoming a stronger and happier couple. Thank you for giving us this weekend away, and for letting Sam enjoy her weekend too. Thank you for our families, especially our parents. Please bless us with a lifetime of happiness and love. Please help us through our hardships so that we may grow even more as a couple and as a family. Please give us another 80 years to love each other. Thank you for everything you do for us.
AMEN
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Happy belated anniversary to you two!
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