Chris' parents had plans to come to town for another reason (other than us - imagine that!?!) and they offered to come early and give us a date...a big overnight date. We actually waffled about saying yes for awhile. It wasn't great timing, as they were getting in late on Sunday night and we had plans on Labor Day, not to mention I had a lot of MOPS work to do. But, we came to our senses and realized THEY HAD OFFERED and we would be crazy to pass it up. Besides, our 9th anniversary is coming up next month so we would call this our anniversary celebration. I always need a really good justification for spending money on myself, so the anniversary was just the thing!
We got on Priceline, picked our region, our quality of hotels (the highest available, please!) and placed our bid. We were a little nervous as we waited for Captain Kirk to choose where we would be spending our anniversary date...
The Hyatt in La Jolla. Sounds good to me!
Grandma and Grandpa arrived, the kids were thrilled, and we set out on our date at 6:30pm. We took our tiny junky truck (sorry honey, just keepin' it real)...the one with NO CAR SEATS...the one we used to make-out in when we were 22 and in college...the one form of transportation we started our marriage with (unless you count a skateboard)...the vehicle in which I learned two lessons: 1. how to drive stick shift 2. I'm not a good student when my husband is the teacher. Being together in that truck just makes me feel young and in love. It also makes me feel like I want to pay a lot of money to have it professionally cleaned.
To make a long story short, we had a great date. We ate at The Melting Pot which has relational significance for us as it is where we used to celebrate big occasions when we lived in Littleton, CO. We finished dinner and took our REALLY full bellies back to our hotel at 10:30pm. The hotel was wonderful, and even though we couldn't sleep in (4 years of children will TOTALLY kill your ability to sleep in) we also weren't summoned out of, or joined in bed by little people at 7am. What a treat!
The morning was completely at our own pace. We wandered to Starbucks and took a drive up to Mt. Soledad, a place I have wanted to see for some time. We took in the panoramic sights of San Diego and marveled at the fact that we live in a place were people vacation. We are so blessed. Then we meandered home via the coastal route and ran a few errands along the way. 16 hours later we returned, hugged our kids, and hugged Grandma and Grandpa even harder.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to these two for that much needed time together!
What did we pay for? 16 hours, just the two of us. Waking up in a room where no one else needed us or wanted us. Doing things according to our own clock. Having uninterrupted conversation. Getting out of a vehicle and not having to unbuckle anyone. Walking hand in hand and not paying attention to anyone else but each other. Driving in a car without turning around to tend to the backseat...not even once.
We had all of these "luxuries" for 4.5 years, but sometimes you don't know to appreciate things until they are gone, or at least changed. I never knew taking a shower, or being in the bathroom ALL ALONE would be a luxury. I never knew 16 hours with my husband would become a REALLY BIG DEAL.
But hey, sometimes you have to pay for what used to be free. Sometimes the act of paying for things that used to be free reminds you of what is important and sooooo worth investing in...like marriage, or our kids being able to someday say, Yeah, I remember Mom and Dad going on dates a lot...sometimes even overnight.
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| Windy Mt Soledad |
