25 Year Milestone in Paradise

I hope I can get through this post without tears welling up in my eyes for the 100th time in the past few days. Back in July, when the doctors estimated that Dad had up to 2-3 months with us, we never expected him to make it to Labor Day, or Mom's birthday, or Halloween, or Thanksgiving & his 60th Birthday, or Christmas, or MLK Weekend and now...mom and his 25th wedding anniversary. Technically it's on February 20th, but Ian, Lindsey and I gifted them a surprise a little early -- a  night away at the beach. Dad has been anxious to see the bright blue ocean and relax his toes in warm white sand so my siblings and I went on a mission to make this dream come true for mom and dad's upcoming anniversary.

So I set out to find the perfect resort that was on the beach, within a few hours from Orlando and wheelchair friendly. After lots of research and Trip Advisor reviews,  I landed on the perfect spot -- Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater Beach, quickly booked a room and whipped up this cute card that Lindsey wrapped up and brought over for mom and dad to open. 

They were totally surprised and excited.

A few days before mom and dad's arrival I emailed the resort to explain dad's situation and politely request that a beach wheelchair be available for the day. I also included a picture of our family so the resort wouldn't think it was spam (which I later learned happens a lot!). Within a few hours I received a call from Jennifer from Sand Key who was so excited for mom and dad to spend their anniversary at Sand Key. She assured me that dad would have access to a golf cart anytime he wished and that they would take the best care of him.

I was also really worried about their room view and dad's comfort level being away from home. In the event that dad wasn't feeling well enough to sit on the beach, I really wanted to make sure he could at least see the beach from his balcony and not a view of the parking lot. Well, this is the view from the balcony that mom sent me after arriving to their room.

I meannnnnn, there are no words. They also surprised them with a welcome fruit and cheese board. After getting settled they made their way down to the pool bar for lunch and drinks.

But the best surprise came when Jennifer asked me to have my parents meet her in the lobby at 5:45 pm. She had the golf cart waiting for them to take them down to the beach...for a private sunset dinner.

I know. I knowwwwwww. I've sobbed over this picture she sent me like 12 times already. 

I was worried dad wouldn't be able to get into the golf cart but he did! And what a huge blessing it was that he was feeling well enough to make it down!

Every single detail that was put into their dinner had me crying like a baby. When I received this picture from Jennifer of their table I melted into another puddle of tears. First of all, dinner on the beach...at sunset...with the most gorgeous tablescape of fresh flowers, shells and the family picture I had included on my original email that SHE printed and framed!! But the part that made me the weakest at the knees was that blue bottle. She went out of her way to find a special glass bottle for mom and dad to scoop up some sand to remember this trip forever. Someone pass another box of tissues...

 

Is this not the sweetest picture EVER? Tears, tears, tears.

For dinner, their private chef recommended the crab stuffed grouper which they both ordered and LOVED.

It was the most perfect evening for mom and dad and I honestly couldn't be more thankful to have found the Sand Key Resort, for dad feeling well enough to make the trip, for "meeting" Jennifer and for this magical experience that mom and dad were able to have.

Happiest (early) 25th wedding anniversary, mom & dad!!!!

**This post is NOT sponsored in ANY way. The Sheraton Sand Key is seriously just THAT amazing.

SIX YEARS!

Today we celebrate SIX years of marriage! I'll save you the sappy post (you can always refer back to last year's anniversary post if you came for sap)! Anyway, I can't think of a more fun way to celebrate on the blog than to recycle one million wedding pictures for ya...

Happiest anniversary, Matt. Thanks for being my favorite person to do life with. And cheers to many, many more!!

Anniversaries Five + Letter | Four | Three | Two | One

Our 5th Anniversary!

November 5th marked our 5th anniversary! To celebrate, Matt and I took Friday off of work and enjoyed a day date in the mountains. We are huge fans of weekday day dates because we don't lose our precious weekend time with our kiddos and we don't have to pay a sitter -- a double win. So bright and early we dropped the minis off at daycare, grabbed some coffee and hit the road for Asheville! The drive is about two hours which we didn't mind one bit since it's a rarity to have uninterrupted time to talk.

On our way to Asheville we took a slight detour for DuPont Forest to hike Triple Falls. I have hiked this trail numerous times but Matt had never been so I was excited to hike this beautiful trail with him. Also, the traditional anniversary gift for five years is wood, so we thought it was pretty appropriate to be hiking through the woods.

We sat on the edge of this cliff for the longest time. It was so nice to fully relax in our happy place!

 

This is a super popular hike near Asheville so I was worried it would be crowded. However, we got to the falls early enough that we had it all to ourselves for awhile. And then, out of sheer luck, just as we were packing up to leave a photographer appeared and offered to take our picture...and then took the time to convert my camera to manual and adjust all the settings to capture one of my most favorite pictures of all time.

After our hike we continued to Asheville to eat lunch at my favorite place ever - Early Girl Eatery. If you've been following my blog for 5 minutes you know how obsessed with EGE I am so I won't beat a dead horse. But it was amazing. As always.

After lunch we made our way back to Charlotte with a little time to spare before picking up the kids so I took my time getting ready for our anniversary dinner. As we were running out the door for our date night we asked Ms. Jamie to take a picture of us. And Caroline was adamant about joining. Thomas declined participation as he was too busy devouring cheese pizza.

Matt's parents surprised us with the most thoughtful anniversary present -- a gift card to Capital Grille. We enjoyed the most delicious steak dinner in the very spot we had our rehearsal dinner exactly 5 years earlier. It could not have been more perfect.

On Saturday, our actual anniversary, we ran our usual errands, attended a birthday party, did some yard work, laundry, etc. However, once the minis went down for naps we popped champagne and cut our cake -- our annual tradition. Oh, and Matt presented me with not one but two gifts, which was against the no-gift agreement. He surprised me with a beautiful bracelet and earrings. And all I gave him was a letter.

Later, as we were putting our Halloween decorations up in the attic Matt grabbed my dusty wedding dress bag. I was nervous to open it in fear that spiders or something worse would come jumping out. I carefully unzipped the bag to find my dress, exactly as I had left it at midnight on November 5, 2011 -- covered in stains, dirt and even ripped in places (I guess our wedding was more wild than I remember). Oh and it was 800 shades more yellow than I remembered be but I still let Caroline play in it. And then I felt guilty that she loved it so much and I had done nothing to preserve it soooooo we promptly dropped it off at the dry cleaners for preservation...five years later. 

 

 Does this girl know how to work the camera or what? She kills me.

And that's a wrap on our fifth anniversary celebrations!

Previous anniversaries:

One Year Anniversary Two Year Anniversary Three Year Anniversary Four Year Anniversary

5 Years

Dear Matt,

Five years ago we exchanged letters just moments before meeting each other at the end of the aisle. We were full of excitement and anxious to begin forever together. Through handwritten letters we professed our love for each other. I penned the memory of me approaching you in a crowded bar. And the unexpected whirlwind romance that followed. I thought you were incredibly handsome with your beautiful blue eyes and fabulous head of hair. I also thought you were brilliant and enjoyed our witty banter and deep conversations. I loved you wildly and knew I wanted to wake up in your arms every single day for the rest of my life. 

Five years later all of those things still remain true. But if just for a moment I could have peeked into our future, my letter would have been written much differently. I married you for so many reasons back then but what I couldn't possibly have known is how much deeper I would fall in love with you through the following years.

So after 5 years of marriage, if I could go back and edit my wedding day letter, I would add this... 

Dear Matt, 

Thank you for choosing me to marry. We can't possibly imagine the insane highs and lows we will face together over the next five years. We will take a leap of faith when you open a business and we will celebrate as you outgrow 3 office locations within 5 years. You will support me in starting a blog, help me take a million pictures and smile as you eat your food cold. We will pick out the most perfect home where we will expand our family and make countless happy memories in. We will bring a beautiful baby girl into this world who will steal your heart. And 14 months later we will bring a handsome baby boy into this world who will steal mine. Life will be good. So good. 

However, the storms will soon roll in and we will cling to one another as we weather them together. Our babies will bring us immense happiness, yet we will embark on a challenging journey with our latter and will lean on each other in ways we never expected. We will experience profound sadness through my dad's cancer journey. We will grieve the loss of your grandparents and mine. I will undergo a prophylactic double mastectomy and we'll spend our 4th anniversary together as you help me to the bathroom, shower, sort pain pills and more. In these times I will be more thankful than ever that you are mine and that I get to do this crazy life, for better or for worse, with you.

This season of our lives will (hopefully) be the hardest, yet also the best. Even though we’re immersed in our roles as mommy and daddy right now, you’re still the person that completes my heart and makes me the happiest. When I married you all of the signs were there that you would be a good dad - you are patient, compassionate, selfless and fun. But it wasn't until our babies arrived that I realized just how extraordinary you really are. My heart will expand again and again as we research swaddling techniques together at 3 a.m., as I overhear you (and only you, by request) tuck Caroline into bed, while you play picnic on the floor for hours, as you proudly introduce Caroline and Thomas to golf, as you chase sopping wet toddlers around the splash park, as you sing Sesame Street songs, pray, cuddle and dance with our children. Being a daddy is one of your greatest gifts.

We will love each other fiercely but won't always have time or energy to show it. Date nights will be fewer and farther between. Weekends away will be nearly impossible to schedule. We'll never sleep-in again. Our late nights together will consist of trading shifts of rocking a baby back to sleep for hours from a cold, teething, a nightmare or a sleep regression. Our tiny, wonderful people will become our number one priority and we will fight like hell to get put each other back in that sacred spot. There will be many moments of frustration and exhaustion (largely dependent on how our babies slept the previous night) and sometimes as we’re going through the daily grind, it may seem as though I’ve forgotten you. Please know that I haven’t. 

As we continue this adventure together, regardless of the phase we're in, one constant will remain: my love for you. We began our journey together in love, and we’ll continue that way through all the moments of our life. More than ever, I am so incredibly grateful for you. Thank you for choosing me all those years ago to create this wonderful life with.

Love your wife,
Christina