Ten years ago this month, John and I stood together in front of our family and friends and exchanged our wedding vows. You know the ones - through the good and the bad we promised to stick together. What a wild ride it has been! I am not sure we ever do things the easy way. We buy old houses, live in them while we do massive repairs, at the same time managing a thriving business and a busy 3 year old. Sure we get stressed and overwhelmed, but that is what marriage is all about - staying together through all of the good and the bad.
Somewhere during 23 continuous weekends of weddings, we made ourselves (Well John made me) take a couple of days off. When we were newlyweds, we dreamed that at 10 years we would travel around the world for our anniversary, but you don't think of things like responsibilities and kids and things like that which prevent you from taking 3 weeks off! So we settled (such a harsh word to use when talking about it) for Ross Bridge and a staycation.
If you are an active blog follower, you will know that we spent our 9 year anniversary there as well and maybe even our 8th. This year it was a little different. I am Facebook friends with Ross Bridge and they announced a really great special for a week before our anniversary. Loving a deal, I made our reservation with the hotel and subsequently my dad (aka Pop) to come and take care of Will for us.
Off we go to Ross Bridge (with only one laptop I might add) for the evening. While we were checking in, I casually mentioned that it was our 10 year anniversary that we were celebrating. The wonderful man at the desk upgrades us to an AMAZING tower suite. I love hotels - I love everything about them right down to the little shampoo bottles - so this was HUGE for me! I really am a little kid in this body, running around the hotel checking out all of the nooks and crannies of our swanky suite.
So let's keep score here: Fabulous room at a great price = check
Exactly at 4:00 that afternoon, a knock occurs on the door. Much to my surprise when I opened the door, the very talented (and current bride of ours) Meredith Brown (One Fine Day Artistry) was standing there. She tells me that she is there to give me a makeover for our evening out. When you are used to filming people getting their make up done every weekend, it is very strange to just sit there and let it happen to you. But I did because my wonderful husband and set everything up for me as a surprise. Jealous yet????
Evening makeup done by a professional makeup artist = check
After Meredith had finished her masterpiece - she really did a great job, we dressed in our fancy clothes for dinner. Much to my surprise (once again) James Coats and Caroline (the 1959 Jaguar) picked us up from the hotel to take us to dinner. Traffic was unusually bad and Caroline was having a tough day. Because James is our friend, it didn't matter to us to switch cars. After all, a new transmission on a old car is a whole lot of money and we didn't want to be the cause of that! We made a couple of detours before arriving to The Village Tavern for dinner. What an adventure!
Riding in style in a Jaguar = check
Another great thing about the day was that we were going to be dining for free thanks to a gift card from one of our happy customers! John knows how much I love to not spend money so he was so wonderful to go along with this plan. Now he might have had an issue if we had a gift card to McDonalds or something! Please note, there were no slides, jumpy things, or chicken fingers at this restaurant. I was in heaven!! Our meal was amazing! After dinner, James and a 1955 Chevy were waiting to take us back to the hotel.
Fabulous dinner for FREE = check
We even had time to jump in the hot tub after dinner!
The next morning we used our breakfast coupons (did I mention that they came FREE with the room)!!!! If you have ever had Brock's breakfast buffet at Ross Bridge, then you know what a treat that was. Yummy!
Yummy breakfast for FREE = check
Swimming was next on the list. We couldn't have too much fun without our little Will-man. My father brought him to the hotel ready to swim! After being a little timid in the water, Will warms up to the idea of the big water slide! John and I took turns sliding down this slide while holding Will. It was so much fun!!! And on the way home, our little boy fell fast asleep.
FREE family fun for hours = check
Sure reality hit us like a ton of bricks, but it sure was fun to get away. Since our staycation, our actual anniversary has come and gone. But with the help from the guys at Jamm Entertainment, John had one more surprise in store for me. When I arrived home from meeting with a bride, John had a hot bath waiting for me AND a mirrored ball hanging in our living room with a spotlight on it, complete with a smoke machine and music. With our wonderful son tucked into bed, we danced and talked about the past 10 years that we have been married. I can't wait to see what is in store for the next 10! I am a lucky girl!
