An Early Anniversary Celebration

Bill and I will celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, April 7th. However, thanks to our friends, Pat & Shelia (Sydney's dad and step-mom), we were able to have an evening alone last night. And thanks to a great deal from our friend Gerry, we spent it in a jacuzzi sweet at the Hampton Inn instead of just hanging out at home.

We actually started the evening by attending the Good Friday service at church.

It is a very different experience going from remembering Christ's death on the cross to any type of a celebration. But between our schedules, this was the only weekend anywhere near our anniversary that we could take for ourselves.

We started our date with dinner at:

After a quick stop at home to drop off our leftovers (who wants their "romantic" hotel room to smell like bruschetta chicken salad, NUM!), I filled the tub with lots of bubbles and relaxed for a little while. When I say a little while, I do mean little. I get over-heated very quickly. So long baths are just not my thing.

My sweet husband had made chocolate covered strawberries. It was supposed to be a surprise, but... I had taken a 30 minute nap (so I could stay awake for our date) after Shelia picked up the girls. During that time is when he made them. But I have incredible senses, I smelled the chocolate right away. Surprise blown (I have a way of doing that).


He dropped me off at church early for worship rehearsal and was able to surprise me by chilling this for us:

Since we are no longer real party animals, we were going to enjoy a pay-per-view movie. But they are $15! We are both too cheap for that. Bill ran to Redbox and picked up Couples Retreat for $1 and plugged our portable DVD player into the hotel's television. It was a funny movie and really had a good message about making a marriage work instead of just giving up on it.

For those of you who read my blog, you probably know that this is a second marriage for both of us. Yesterday was the anniverary of our "engagement" date. Yes, we were engaged and married within five days. But Bill was once again being deployed. And what started as somewhat of a hasty decision, has turned into something more incredible than either of us could have ever imagined. We certainly have hit a few rough patches. Marriage for any couple comes with it's share of stresses. We've added a blended family component as well as being a military family. I must admit that there was a time where I wondered "what have I done". But God is funny that way. He knows what we need better than we do.

In the past couple of years, we have truly given our relationship to Him, the creator of love and marriage. It has made such a difference. I certainly wouldn't say that we are perfect. But we are together. We are married and committed to each other. There were a few that thought we wouldn't make it. In retrospect, I would have had to agree with them. That was until we not only committed to each other but to our Creator.