Hello and happy Monday! Some Mondays are happier than others - and this one feels pretty good after what felt like an extended weekend of fun!
Thursday night Danny and I went out to celeberate our four year wedding anniversary. Over the last year for various reasons we keep having "the talk" - you know the one - we need to try new things, we need to review our goals and focus, we need to have more fun and just enjoy! Sometimes we hear ourselves and sometimes we revisit the same talk again - this time however Danny was determined to turn talk to action.
So first Danny put the romance on with a Wednesday night surprise - a red rose! We had been experiencing a bumpy week and he said the rose was because of love - before, during and long after the anniversary. It was a great surprise and meant extra as I could tell he thought about it.....so sweet.
But to my surprise another yellow rose showed up on Thursday the anniversary day! I guess my face had a funny look so Danny explained four years is the anniversary of flowers (who knew!!) and since yesterdays was for love today's was for friendship. Wow - he had put quite a lot of thought into this and certainly shamed my card and his favorite candy bar (we talked about no gifts.....)! Yellow has an even larger implication for me, as it is the exact flower my grandfather always would give to my grandmother for thier special anniversaries or celebraions. Their marriage is an incredible example to us - so my heart was officially melted to a pile of mush! :)
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But Danny's fun had just begun! After a walk with our pup we had an evening surprise waiting for us at 9:15PM in Old Town Alexandria! We both have always loved Old Town and actually lived their our first two years as husband and wife....I was thrilled - but beyond curious as 9:15 was not exactly dinner time (at least for us old folks :) )- and he said we could eat before or after pending our time getting down there.
What really is awesome though, Danny was giving me the BEST gift...the gift of time! Our only appointed time was 9:15PM.....that meant I could take my time getting ready and he would not get frustrated with the Jackie waiting game! Well when you give the gift of time....I take it!! We did not leave until around 7:00PM - which put us in Old Town with enough time to wait but not enough to sit down and eat....so instead we reminesed! We went and saw our old building and stared at the porch, we drove past our old Church and some of our favorite spots….it was a perfect! We realized how much life has taken place, yet we are still standing together.
?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?Before we knew it, 9:15 was approaching, so we drove closer to the surprise and as we looked for a spot, I noticed this sort of hidden door with a blue light and folks waiting outside of it. I noted “that is odd” - but we just drove, MY FIRST CLUE. It is so rare that Danny does not have a comment or joke or witty response….yet nothing. Before I knew it we had parked and were walking towards the blue light…..I just looked at Danny and started laughing - OOPS! We both laughed that at least it was not a first date, his poor confidence would be shot. So we stood with another couple as the little window in the door slid open and we were taken inside. It was a little narrow corridor lit all by candle light. At this point Danny explained it was a hidden “speak easy”. How cool! I had heard of these and wanted to try it!
?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?We were taken to a back room and sat amongst a group of other guests. It was…cozy! The cocktails were complicated a little new for us, the setting was unique and the experience…..like nothing we have done previously. And you know what? It was perfect…..since no one knew what to say or order, or how to sit - do we talk to the person right behind us, do we whisper (a difficulty for me) - it was just new. When you do something new you feel connected - you are experiencing a first together….it was something we giggled about and will remember fondly! That was followed by a nice dinner at a restaurant we had always wanted to try living there…..seemed like a good night to keep the new experiences going. It was wonderful, thank you to my sweet husband!
?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?The fun was just getting started though…..Friday we loaded up the car, dropped off our puppy with my in-laws and we were off to North Carolina! This weekend we had a very special friend form High School’s 30th birthday bash on Saturday…..so we combined that with a trip to see my cousin, her husband and her little boy!
During some earlier health issues with Danny we went to Chapel Hill 2-4 times a year and always stayed with our family there. In recent years we have not had to visit down south as much and we MISS THEM! Jaclyn and I have been close through the years (we are from a HUGE, LOUD, CRAZY, and LOVABLE Irish/Italian family….) and as the milestones of life pass it seems we only get closer. She and her husband, Michael, are (almost exactly) five years our senior as husband and wife - and have been incredible mentors - a strong sounding board, guides, offered unconditional love and support that has meant the world to us. Now as parents to a beautiful 15 month old little boy, Mason, again they share the joys and challenges of a growing family - and living through them, watching them, has truly just made my heart explode. I can’t think of better people to receive nothing but the many, many blessings life has to offer!
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Most of the weekend we enjoyed with them except Saturday night where we ventured to Durham for Matt’s 30th! He has been an incredible friend to both Danny and I, a groomsman in our wedding, a support as we came and went through Chapel Hill…..a truly special person! We had a fantastic time partying beneath the trees in Matt's yard with wonderful food, great company - it was a beautiful night and we wish Matt a wonderful year!
Once Sunday rolled around we were ready to head home and see our puppy! He got a glowing report (only one time in time-out) and we enjoyed a nice BBQ with my in-laws. It was a nice weekend…..one we have been pretty tired from and realized that perhaps we are getting a bit older! Road-trips used to be no big deal and suddenly the hours were longer, the traffic worse…..but it was a break and we were happy to actually attack the to do list today after some away time!
Hope you and yours had a great weekend too!
