Ticket to Pardise

 As a part of my birthday celebration, I took some time Saturday night to watch a movie I have wanted to see for a few months now -- Ticket to Paradise with Julia Roberts and George Clooney.  It looked like a funny romantic comedy, (which seems to be hard to come by these days).

It certainly was a cute, funny romantic comedy... but can I just say, movies are so different once you're a parent!!!!

This is about a divorced couple and their daughter graduates from school and then goes on a fun summer trip to Bali before beginning her job as a lawyer (they never talk about law school... so I'm not really sure what liberties were taken by the writers in terms of the reality of qualifications for becomming a lawyer... but I digress.

While she's on her fun summer trip, she meets a man in Bali, a seaweed farmer and she decides she is going to marry him (in four days time) and stay in Bali for the rest of her life.

The movie was funny... but so HORRIBLE!!!   This is any parent's nightmare no matter how many jokes you incorporate.

The kids and I watched Cool Runnings on my birthday, which if you remember is about the Jamaican Bobsled team who goes to the Olympics.  One of the bobsledders is very well-off and he decides not to tell his father that he is becoming a bobsledder and that he is going to the Olympics.  I found myself pausing the movie to explain to our children that they can always tell us anything I hope they would not lie to us if they were ever in a similar situation.

Oh goodness.

Movies are so much harder now that I'm a parent.

Bigger In Texas

Continuing the trend of the most romantic things my Hubby has ever done for me is something he did when I was about 5 months pregnant with Tracey Ann.

That being said, of the first five months of my pregnancy, Hubby and I were apart for more than 3 of those 5 months.  When we found out I was pregnant, I left four days later to study a graduate program that took me from Greeley, Colorado, Tuscon, Arizona, Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Austin, Texas for 3-4 weeks at a time... and Hubby was along for none of those placements.

For a first-time, emotional, hormonal, pregnant mother, it was not ideal.

When I went to my placement in Austin, Texas, it was my final placement, and the last component of my graduate degree (with the exception of a comprehensive national exam).  Hubby was still in Colorado, and I had a few friends in Austin, and several in Dallas, so it definitely wasn't the worst place to be... but we were both ready for my graduate obligations to be done and to enjoy the remainder of my pregnancy together in Colorado.  The week days throughout these placements went by semi-quickly, but the weekends away from Hubby were very hard.

One of my friends in Austin was Kelley, a friend and sorority sister from undergrad, and maid-of-honor in our wedding.  She was finishing her PhD at the University of Texas and it was a very chaotic time in her life, but she was making time to spend with me when she could.  One Friday night, about halfway through my time in Austin, she had completed a big accomplishment of turning several chapters of her dissertation, and we had arranged a Texas girls night.  The plans involved dinner at one very Texas place, and then dancing at another very Texas place.  Then, on Saturday, we were going up to Baylor to attend a Baylor football game with another friend of mine (from graduate school), Obinna.  Hubby was going to be hunting all weekend, and I was excited for all the events of Friday night and Saturday.

I was very excited for the time with Kelley, and I even made a point to take a nap, because I knew how hard she had been working and how much she needed to blow off steam, and I didn't want my pregnant-ness to keep me from being a anything short of a great friend for our girls night.

We had a great dinner, and went to a fun dance place.  She was in touch with several friends throughout the night that she said might join us for dancing, and she checked voicemails and texts a few times to check in with them.

We were having a great time, and then, around 10:00pm, I wandered outside to get some water from the car, and she said that she just got a video from her friend who was going to meet us, and we needed to watch it.  I thought it was random that we were watching this random video on her phone in the parking lot of a Texas dancing bar... so I looked around to make sure we were okay to be doing this... and standing behind me was my wonderful Hubby -- not in Colorado, hunting, but standing in this Texas dancing bar parking lot.

Little did I know, he had been planning this with Kelley for weeks, and the video we were watching on Kelley's phone was a video compilation of his journey from Rifle to Austin to see me.  It was to the Blake Shelton's song, "Austin," -- a song that still makes me tear up to this day because of Hubby doing this.

Hubby arriving in Austin made that one of the best weekends of my life.

I loved having that time with Kelley before he arrived.  I loved that he conspired with one of my college best friends to pull off a surprise.  I love that he, and Kelley, and I got to dance at that Texas club, and then went to Kelley's favorite late-night snack spot.  I love that Saturday was spent with he and I going to meet Obinna at that Baylor game (although I would have loved if Kelley could have joined us -- she had to get back to her work on her dissertation... she was never going to go to the Baylor game).  Before we drove to the Baylor game, we went to a baby store in Austin and bought our child a Texas outfit, and discussed at length if "Austin" should be included in the child's name as either a first or milddle name for either a boy or a girl.  After the football game, we got back very late to my housing quarters in Austin, and Hubby felt our baby move for the first time.  It was one of the most amazing weekends of our marriage, and I still fall more and more in love with him every time I remember it.

Even my hubby's romantic gestures are bigger in Texas.

My Romantic Groom

Leading up to this Valentine's Day, I want to try to remember the most romantic things Hubby has done for me thus far in our relationship.  I'm not sure how many posts I'll do, or what exactly I'll remember, but I think it will be fun to see which memories I consider most romantic in our history thus far.

Romantic Memory # 1

My Romantic Groom

On our wedding day... it was an amazing wedding and a day I still recount with great fondness and gratitude.  I still consider our wedding the most romantic and beautiful wedding that has ever existed and Hubby and I still talk about the day as being such a fun day, and one of the best and most special days of our life.  Nearly everything on our wedding day was wonderful... but Hubby did two things on our wedding day, that were not planned (on a day when I planned everything to a T), and the memories of these two things always makes me fall more in love with him every time I remember.

Before the wedding, our groomsmen came out to have their pictures taken with me.  While posing of the pictures, I commented on the way that the handkerchiefs were folded in their lapels.  The handkerchiefs were rectangular, and I asked if they weren't supposed to come to a triangular point.  The groomsmen and some wedding guests who were helping said that this was the way the tuxedo inserts said to fold them.  I just let it go knowing that I defintely would have preferred the handkerchiefs like triangles, but all the men were dressed and all the handkerchiefs matched in this rectangular shape... so that's the way they were going to stay.  No big deal.

However, when I walked down the isle and saw my groom, and all his groomsmen at the front of the church, all their handkerchiefs has been changed to be folded like triangles.

I later found out that word had gotten back to Hubby before the wedding that I preferred the handkerchiefs to be folded like triangles, and so he told everyone that's what they were going to do.  If his bride wanted triangular handkerchiefs, that's exactly what she was going to get.

To this day, I look back at those pictures with those handsome groomsmen with triangular handkerchiefs and I think my husband is so romantic for doing that for me.

Secondly, Hubby and I had a delicious wedding cake.  The baker came highly recommended to us from a friend, and one reason her prices were lower than other places were that we didn't get to tastes sample cakes.  We had a four-tiered wedding cake, and each tier was a different flavor.  I don't remember all of them, but I know we had carrot cake, red velvet cake, and some tiers that Hubby really liked with fruity fillings.

After we cut the cake, all the waiters distributed cake around the ballroom to everyone's seats.  Meanwhile, many people, including myself were away from the table when the cake was delivered.  At some point, I swung back by my table to see that I had been left a piece of cake, and I was thrilled to see that I had been left a piece of carrot cake.  I love carrot cake, and I was most excited to have that flavor of cake.  I didn't know if the waiter had been told that carrot was my favorite flavor, or if that was just the luck of the draw as the cakes were distributed.  Either way, I was thrilled, and the cake was delicious. 

I mentioned this to Hubby sometime after the wedding, either later that night or on our honeymoon, and he then told me that a waiter had brought me a different slice of cake, and at some point, Hubby was at our table and noticed this.  He sent the other piece back, and specifically asked a waiter to bring a slice of carrot cake to my place.

This is the man I married -- someone so thoughtful, and considerate, who on the biggest day of his life took every opportunity to the biggest day of my life even better.  Our day was full of very big activities all day, with so many people - friends and family from many miles away... but he knew that these two really small things -- the shape of the handkerchiefs and my slice of wedding cake would make my day better and Hubby made sure they happened my day.

To this day, I look back and think these are two of the most romantic things my Hubby has ever done for me.

 

Valentine's Day

I don't think Valentine's Day is all that important to maintaining a healthy marriage.  Now, that doesn't stop me from sending Valentine cards to my nieces and nephews, making Valentine cards with my children, and enjoying the fact that my parents and a sweet aunt send my children Valentine cards... and giving my Hubby a card.

That does not mean I think Valentine's Day is important to maintaining a healthy marriage.  Yesterday half of the day was over before I realized it was Valentine's Day.

What is important to maintaining a healthy marriage is that spouses take the time to romance each other, focus on each other, prioritize each other... take time away from the chaos of the children to say, "I still choose you, my Dear Valentine."

Now, that doesn't have to happen on Valentine's Day... in fact, it should happen many more days throughout the year besides Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day is fun because its a break in the monotony of winter and stores get to sell pink candy -- a color missing from the candy they market at Halloween and Christmas.  Also, its nice that restaurants create special menus and become more romantic than usual in order to allow couples to be more romantic than usual.  That being said the two times that come to mine that Hubby and I went out to dinner on Valentine's Day, the restaurants were SO packed it took forever to get our food both times and we came home disappointed.

My favorite way to spend Valentine's Day is with my Hubby at home in front of a fire in the fireplace, watching a romantic movie of my choice, with a glass of wine and takeout Chinese food.  After we eat the Chinese takeout, we give each other foot rubs.  That is the perfect romantic Valentine's Day to me.

That is not how we spent Valentine's Day this year, in fact due to circumstances outside our control, I didn't see my Hubby all day... but that is fine.  Celebrating on Valentine's Day is not important to maintaining a healthy marriage... but we will have a romantic evening at some point in the near future.  We might have missed actual Valentine's Day, but we will romance each other, focus on each other, prioritize each other, take time away from the chaos of our wonderful children and say, "I still choose you, my Dear Valentine... even when its not Valentine's Day."

 

Our Weekend Part 2

After the aquarium on Saturday, Hubby and I went out to dinner -- a glorious, relaxing, simple dinner of not worrying that our toddler would suddenly melt-down or leave a mess for the wait staff.  Then we came back to the hotel to enjoy time without a toddler... and then watched Netflix and fell asleep early.

On Sunday, we SLEPT IN -- and "sleeping in" has changed... we slept until 8:30am, and then heard that Tracey Ann had a great night.

Fun with Geepa Miller

After I ran on the treadmill, Hubby and I enjoyed a Sunday brunch, ran some errands around Denver, and then headed to the Alan Jackson concert.

It was hysterical to observe which couples at the concert were married, and which were on dates.  The forecast was 50* and rain, and those who were married were bundled up and prepared for rain.  Those who were on dates were dressed in very cute outfits -- and not at all prepared for rain or cold.

As happy, boring, married people, we were prepared for rain and cold.  We looked cute before the rain started... but once the rain began, we bundled up, looked funny, and stayed warm.

Before rain...

Ready for the rain

I'm not usually so coordinated... but we saw the forecast when we were at Ikea, and we bought ponchos and an umbrella

A gorgeous rainbow shown after the rain -- we could see the whole thing and it was right across the stage

  
Only in Colorado would you see a sign like this

Alan Jackson

What a great concert

Old and Boring and...

Hubby and I are officially Old and Boring and... Incredibly Happy.

We came down to Denver this weekend for an Alan Jackson concert, which is tonight, but what initially was just supposed to be a nice concert ended up being a very special romantic weekend while Tracey Ann is with her grandparents.

Hubby's parents flew in from St. Louis Saturday morning and we are all staying in the same hotel, but Tracey Ann is with them this weekend.

So, as of 11:00am on Saturday, what did Hubby and I do with our freedom?  He took a nap and I took a relaxing bath... and then we immediately wanted to tag along with Tracey Ann and her grandparents while they went to the Denver aquarium.

After the aquarium, we separated from Tracey Ann and the grandparents and went out for a romantic dinner.  We, party animals that we are, were back at the hotel ready to crawl in bed at 6:45pm.  I know... we are officially very old and boring.  But, we are so happy, and we absolutely love our life as parents of our precious toddler.

With anything and everything we could have done in Denver with our night away from parenthood... we wanted nothing more than to back to the hotel, play a movie on Netflix, and enjoy our take-out dessert from the Cheesecake Factory.

It appropriately reminds me of Alan Jackson's song, Just Anther Day In Paradise, which I really hope he sings for us tonight.  Life, regular life with bills, and babies, and burnt dinners, and cuddling in bed... that is another day in paradise.  Paradise is not sipping margaritas on the beach -- although that is a nice vacation from time to time.  No, regular life with my husband and toddler, with a special weekend with wonderful grandparents in town to love on her, and a little romantic time with my hubby, is paradise.

Year of Dates: January

My hubby gave me a WONDERFUL gift for Christmas... a year of dates.

This does not mean 365 dates... it means 12 dates.

An OFFICIAL date night every month for the year 2013.

We treat ourselves to dinners out or special weekends here and there, but we don't officially call them dates.  I LOVE the idea that every month this year we are going to do something and CALL it Date Night.

Last night was our Date Night for January... and it was wonderful.  It took us three tries to find a date, but when we did, we had a blast.  :-D

Initially, the plan was going to be bowling... but they have special Dollar Days on Sunday... so we figured it didn't make sense to pay full price tonight when we could pay 1/4 the cost if we went back on Sunday.

Next, we headed for dinner at Rib City before I remembered that we had Ribs for my birthday, and they didn't really sound good again so soon.

Lastly, we hit the jackpot... SONIC!

We are total nerds, but we are also completely in love and we had a blast at Sonic.  We treated the dinner like we were at a real restaurant.  We ordered appetizers.  Then we ordered the main course.  And the plan was to then order dessert, but we were full after the main course and decided to head home to curl up in bed with an old comedy.

We played music from our phones through the truck speakers and sang out loud with our windows down... we felt like teenagers.

At one point, we went in to kiss each other, and Lloyd (from the backseat) stuck his head right between our lips at the last minute.  It was pretty funny.

What a perfect date night to commence our Year of Dates.