Happy Anniversary to Me

In honor of my darling husband, since we are celebrating nine wonderful married years together today, I have updated my "About Me" page with all of the delicious details he said I should share with you. I told him no one would be interested, but he assures me you want to know. After nine years I have learned sometimes he might be right.

Our Babymoon Getaway

 

Just recently my husband and I decided to plan a weekend getaway. We usually take a "babymoon" near the end of my pregnancy and leave the kids with my wonderful parents. We decided a weekend close by was in the budget and the agenda would be to "do nothing". Now this sorta goes against the grain for us movers and shakers, but these days I'm feeling like a little sitting around is just what I need. I searched around the internet and found the Overlook Inn on top of Fort Mountain in the North Georgia Mountains. We have been to Fort Mountain State Park way back when we were dating and liked the area. I figured it might be a little cooler and boy was I right. It was cool enough to enjoy being outside in the evening.

The Overlook is a bed and breakfast that also rents out cabins. We picked the BandB so I wouldn't have to cook or clean. While we were there, we checked out the cabins, they are down a really long gravel road, so pretty remote and very cute inside. The Inn was surprisingly right off the main road, but the traffic died down at night so it didn't bother us. Our room was the Moon Eye and it was quaint, comfortable and very clean. The bed was divine (and I'm like the princess and the pea when it comes to beds and sheets)! There were plenty of pillows to create my "pregnancy nest". The bathroom had wonderful soft towels and organic toiletries that smelled great. The BEST part of the room however, was the screened in private porch with rocking chairs and a hot tub! This is one of the main reasons I chose the Inn. The tub was way too hot for me to go in when it's set on their normal temp, but Neil, one of the staff members,  was so kind and helped us change the temperature so we could enjoy it for our weekend. It was heavenly to soak weightless in the tub with the katydids chirping around us in the evening.

 

One of the other main reasons we picked the Inn was due to their write up in a 2008 Southern Living issue which they advertised on their website. I was also excited about the descriptions of the elegant, gourmet 3-course southern breakfast, afternoon tea service, wine and cheese hour and candlelight dessert. I know - it's all about the food for me!! I have to say this is one area where I was disappointed. The breakfast the first morning was a muffin and granola for the first course, a broiled half peach for the second course, and a dry frittata, overcooked frozen sausage patty and huge croissant for the third course. The next morning was worse with the same first course, broiled grapefruit for the second, and pancakes that obviously had too much baking powder in them (only one guest actually ate them). Good ideas that fell flat when executed. Why not make use of the local fresh peaches and showcase their freshness? Why serve so many breads when one would do and spend the money on a little garnish for the plates like uh.... jam and butter. None was served with the croissant. Why not offerr creamy, softly scrambled eggs and dazzle us with a homemade coffee cake? Unfortunately the afternoon tea continued the pattern of lack of attention to detail.

There was a lovely tea pot set up with hot water and coffee for the non tea drinkers. Sadly the only kind of tea bags they offered was green tea - no black, no herbal. The only time I like hot green tea is when I'm eating sushi. So I settled for the bottled water they provided and partook of the only snack served at this "tea"...cookies. I figured the wine and cheese would be yummy. Wonderful Heather, who was very kind and helpful like the rest of the staff, offered to break out the sparkling cider in my current preggo condition.  I told her it wasn't necessary, but it was sure nice that she offered.  (As a side note: she's a talented writer with a gift for wit and you can pick up her books at the property's gift shop.) The wine and cheese turned out to be precut chunks of cheddar, colby jack and the like.  Nothing like what I expected. Even a wheel of brie would have been better than the Kraft package products that were used.

That evening there was an optional Fondue Night package that we did not try, so it might have been delicious. But I had splurged and gone to Whole Foods where I picked up some artisanal cheeses, sausage, crackers, huge greek olives, a loaf of fresh bread, gourmet chocolate and grapes. It was the perfect dinner as we sat on our porch and enjoyed our meal. A relaxing and quiet way to end our weekend together. The Inn was great for solitude and romance.

All and all we had a special time together which is exactly what we wanted. We got to talk and laugh and remember why we like each other so much.  Sometimes it's easy to remember you love each other, but the liking part is a little harder in the chaos of everyday living. To this day, I'm am so grateful to have found my husband and thankful that he chose me. He is my foundation and support and I dearly love him.

Marriage Planning Weekend

My husband and I are involved in a wonderful Sunday school class that is led by some incredibly smart people. These folks are all a little farther along in their lives than we are. Where we have young kids and we are "newly" married, their kids are grown and their marriages more seasoned. These are the kind of people you want to learn from because they have already been there and done that.

More than once, the leaders have talked about their "planning weekends". They take a whole weekend and work through a goal setting questionnaire to map out their year. Many of them have been doing this for a while and said it really has helped them be purposeful in their decision making and direction. Being a Type A person (as is my hubbie) this sounded right up my alley. Plan out our lives (okay maybe only a year) in a weekend?? I'm in!

Romantic Weekend in a Yurt

Are you going "green" for 2010? You might want to check out the Cedar House Inn & Yurts in Dahlonega, GA. You can actually stay in a yurt. These yurts are made of canvas, the traditional ones you've seen on NatGeo in Mongolia are made from animal hides. They are meant to be very portable because the people are nomads. At Cedar House, you can stay in a yurt "out back" from the big house or stay at the Inn. Either way, breakfast is included and was wonderful! Super yummy.

It was a great Valentines adventure one year for us because it was private, out of the ordinary and cozy. I would not want to stay in the yurt during the summer because they get a little toasty even with air conditioning units, but it was perfect for a winter snuggle. Check 'em out next time you want a romantic getaway.