I started my Friday morning as usual...
I got my loud Reesie out of bed and down stairs at the crack of dawn so that the other two kiddos could sleep in till a decent time... I got a bottle for Reesie & had some quiet time with my Jesus for me... Then breakfast, clean up... Up stairs to get the crew and myself dressed for the day...
But lo and behold, on my way up the stairs my Joey walks through the front door and busts out a poem for me on my birthday. (you can read it in the post below if you'd like It's hilarious and totally Joey. He read it to me out loud which made me feel special cuz I know that reading out loud is not always his thing:)
Forty minutes later, I'm showered, dressed, packed and kissing the kids good bye as I run out the door draggin my man out with me as fast I we could go. Not really, but I was super excited to have twenty four hours alone with my Joey.
The surprise destination????? CATALINA ISLAND. WOOHOO!!!
It's not to far from home, but just far enough to feel like we're really far away. The drive up was lovely. We held hands... YES WE DID. :)
We took the fairy out of Dana Point. It was smooth and quick.
We got off the boat and walked to our hotel that turned out to be maybe 200 feet from the water. It was gorgeous! I am going to try my hardest to not be corny here, but seriously it was one of the sweetest things ever. If you know Joey and I at all, you know that we are budget folks... we camp when we travel... we're perfectly content at the motel six... But this hotel room was for royalty (ok, maybe not royalty, but it was pretty close.) As we were walking up the stairs Joey sweetly told me that he had asked for the best room they had. And when we walked in I was MORE THAN STOKED! I started to cry (no surprise there.:) It had a huge balcony that overlooked the ocean, a giant jacuzzi tub that could easily fit a whole slew of people, a king size bed that had the softest pillows I've ever felt and a down comforter that made it feel like home. Fancy is far from the norm for us, so I decided that I would just soak it up, be forever grateful, and enjoy every second of this extra special gift!!
The hotel that we stayed in.
Our Giant jacuzzi tub!
After we dropped our stuff off and I pulled my self together from all those tears of joy, we put our suits on and headed down to the beach. I took a long nap and I am pretty sure that while I was asleep Joey just might have been playing on his iphone. :) It was beyond wonderful! Being alone, on an island, with my Joey, soaking up some sun... YIPEEEE!
Us getting ready for the beach.
I had suggested that we just pick up two $5 subs from the grocery store below our hotel and bring them back to our room but my sweet Joey insited that he had been saving for this trip for some time and he was stoked to be able to take me somewhere nice. What a treat!!! So I put on a dress and even tried to put on some make-up. But while I was trying to put on my mascara I poked myself three times in the eye. I was annoyed and flustered, so Joey just kissed my forehead and said that I looked beautiful with out that silly eye stuff. So we had dinner without my mascara. :)
That night we had dinner at the Via Portafino. It was a quaint Italian restaurant right on the water. We got there before the crowd so we sat at one of the only two tables that faced the water.
It was a most lovely dinner... we talked about things that we love to talk about... memeories, dreams we have for our family, friends we love, things the Lord has blessed us with. We laughed, ate really, really good food, & Joey even got me to taste this (really nasty, I must say) wine. I am not a big fan of the taste of alcohol. Although sometimes I wish that I was. On occasions like this it could be a nice treat. :)
We spent the rest of the night at our hotel, eating ice cream on the balcony and enjoying each other. I fell alseep at nine and slept in till nine the next morning. I can't remember the last time that I did that. It was the best!
The view from our porch...
Me eating ice cream on our porch...
When I woke up the next morning, Joey had a card for me...
If you can read the words you will know that it is a total Joey card. Which is exactly why I loved it so much! (The picture in the background is us on our wedding day, nearly 9 years ago:)
We went to a cute little breakfast joint and shared some eggs benedict for breakfast... came back and got ready for the day, watched a little "Nija Warriors: on TV (Which I will confess that I think is totally hilareous!)... then checked out of our hotel.
We rented a super fast golf cart that went maybe 8 MPH MAX!. We made a little video for your enjoyment below... It's silly of course... :)
We took some pictures too...
Everyone on the island drives golf carts... I think we saw a total of twenty actual cars...
Then we rented a tandem bike and rode it to this little beach club that was right on the water in it's own private cove. I had the most delicious virgin pina colada that I have ever had, we ate nachos and sat quietly for a little while and watched the waves... and a couple of drunk guys that were there for a bachelor party. :) Lovely isn't it?
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At this point in our lives, twenty four hours is the perfect amount of time for us to get away... anything less doesn't give us much needed refreshment... anything more and I get homesick for my treasures.
I'm not really sure how to express what I feel towards my Joey for blessing me this weekend. Thank you is hardly sufficient. I am so grateful for the way that he makes me feel so cherished. There are moments in marriage that feel so challenging. Then there are moments in marriage that feel so overwhelmingly intimate, & pure, deeply rooted, wishful, and romantic. I felt so close to Joey this weekend. I felt indescribably loved by him. And the crazy part about the way my heart feels right now towards Joey, gives me only a tiny glimpse of the way the Lord feels about me. The romance, I felt this weekend, the Words that Joey shared with me at dinner that made my heart skip a beat and joyful tears stream down my face, doesn't even begin to touch the surface of God's romance toward me. How can that be?
It's not the money spent that mattered to me. It's was his thoughtful heart towards me, his humble, and tender words that he spoke, his soft & patient touch that brought me great assurance of his love for me. Thank you My Love for letting the Lord use you to show me a tangible glimpse of His great love for me through the way that you love me.
Thank you My love, for truly one of the best weekends of my life.
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I'm also super grateful for my precious roommate and our wonderful Granny for watching our treasures while we were gone.
When we arrived home last night Tara had made my absolute favorite dinner. The house was sparkling clean and full of happy children welcoming us home. Our sweet friends Jim and Mo came over and we all ate some delicious brownies that Tara had made for my birthday. T__ You really are one amazing friend. You're full of wisdom and generosity. You are always doing little things to bless me and make my life with my MSC a little bit easier. I am so so grateful for you. Thank you for being my friend. :) And thanks for making my birthday so special. I can't wait till wednesday to see you in you eighties attire and cruising the rink on those roller skates!!!!
What a wonderful birthday...
