Chronicals of a Five Year Anniversary Trip

Five years.  I know it's not, but it seems like a really long time.

I decided after my miscarriage that we could afford to do a little something financially irresponsible since there wasn't a baby to be preparing for anymore.  Sometimes every once in a while you have remind Dave Ramsey who's really boss at your house!  So I booked a trip to Galveston, the perfect location since we took our first trip to Galveston together the weekend before we got married in 2007.  Jamaica where we honeymooned was out of the question this time, but maybe for our ten year?! 

We headed out of Lufkin as soon as I got out of school Friday around 11:30.  Tammi graciously let us leave our car at her house.  While we originally intended to leave the Escalade those plans changed Thursday.  The odometer was about to roll over to 95,000 miles and we realized we had to make a decision very soon:  were we going to commit to the 2006 and keep it till it no longer could be salvaged or get something new.  So after looking over the options of what was out there Thursday at school, I told Stephen that evening if we were to get something I would like to get a Nissan Murano and I had found a dealership on the way to Galveston.  So we made the jump and stopped on by the dealership on our way down there.  We arrived around 2:30 and left around 6:00 with a new car in hand!  Let me tell you, it has all the bells and whistles, I'm pretty sure it can drive itself.  I know this sounds silly, but in some ways I'm glad to have gotten rid of the Escalade.  Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but we originally bought it because we had just started trying to have a baby and we knew my two door Pontiac G6, now that's a car I was sad to let go of, wasn't going to work with a car seat.  In some ways the car reminded me of where we have been and almost taunted me at times just saying, look at me...I can hold five car seats and you don't even have one.  So as we drove off the lot on Friday I really wasn't upset to leave it behind at all like I had been when I left my G6.  New car, new prospective, new place in life:)

 
When we arrived in Galveston I was having a little trouble understanding what my new GPS was telling me and I turned a little too soon, but on our way to get back on the right path we noticed that my brother was running for Sheriff ;)

That night we were really tired and while I had intended for us to get all dressed up and go eat at Gaido's we were just too tuckered out so we went as we were.  The food was excellent.  We came back to the room got settled in.  We are not much for keeping secrets and waiting to give gifts, so since I had already gotten my car earlier that day I felt like I didn't have to wait till our actually anniversary to give Stephen his gift.  I'd been sitting on it for over three weeks and that was too long for me to keep a secret; I just couldn't wait another day!

Thank you Nancy Winston for making my iPad buying experience
a little less expensive!  See there was a little Dave Ramsey in our
anniversary with this New to You gift :)

Stephen got me this Willow Tree Anniversary piece.
Notice the man has a receding hairline, a sign it was actually fashioned after us ;)

 After opening our gifts we fell asleep promptly.  I'm pretty sure that makes us a couple of old people!

That next morning we woke up around 9:30 in time to get decent for our room service breakfast.

If you know about my love affair with ketchup,
you'll know how happy it made me
to see this on our tray.

Stephen was ready to dig in!

There is no way anyone could say they don't give you enough syrup for your french toast and waffles.  It was a yummy breakfast in bed that I didn't have to prepare or clean up.

At 11:00 we headed down to the spa for our couples massages.  One thing I was a little disappointed in was their definition of "couple."  We thought it would be like on our honeymoon and we would be in the same room together, but when they came to the relaxation room to get us we were taken to separate rooms.  Kinda defeated the point of couples, but the massage itself was amazing so I guess I'll have to let it slide!

After the massages we got cleaned up and ready for the day.  Our plan was to head to Kemah and spend the afternoon there and eat dinner there as well.  I have to say we were less than pleased with our experience.  We had been under the impression that the boardwalk was a bunch of stores and a few amusement rides.  What we found is it was a bunch of amusement rides and a few shops.  So we only ended up walking around for a couples of hours.  I did buy two dresses and while walking around Stephen spotted this hot mess and made the comment that no one could make fun of his crocs with socks and shorts if they saw this guys. (Might I also note Stephen has progressed to the leather crocs without socks.)  So obviously we had to take a picture which itself was probably worth the $7.00 parking!

We headed back early and strolled down the Strand in Galveston.  This is were we hit the Christmas shopping jackpot!  While I can't really share much of what we found because my family reads this, I can share the most awesome gift we found for my dad!

After walking the Strand we went back to get dressed for the evening.  While strolling down the hallway to our room I found these little gems on someones discarded room service.  Is it considered stealing if it was intended to be thrown away?

While I was getting ready, Stephen called to see about eating at the Steakhouse in the Hotel.  It is supposedly one of the best in the state and so he quickly found they had no reservation for the evening and were not taking any walk ins.  After calling several other places which all had about and hour and a half wait, we decided Gaido's was worth that long of a wait and we didn't want to be disappointed by a place we'd never tried.  So off we went for our second round.  Ironically we were seated at the exact same table.

I must say he is one HOT date!

The wait was supposed to be an hour and a half, but ended up being closer to an hour and forty five.  That was okay though because another older couple from Bryan asked if they could sit at the waiting table we were at and we were able to converse and fill the time.

It was late when when we got back from dinner so we headed to bed and slept in as long as possible.  Sunday morning after checking out we headed back to the Strand to hit up the shops we missed the day before and to eat lunch.  On the way home we made a little detour at Central Market and racked up a $189.00 bill which included random items such as mushrooms, lobster base, fresh squeezed pineapple orange juice, and stargazer lilies to name a few.  It's a good thing we don't live in Houston because I know there is no way I could live off my $60 a week food budget!

All in all it was a great weekend and I am so glad we got to get away.  While we aren't beach people and actually didn't even set foot on the beach or in the pool, we really enjoyed just being with each other with no other distractions.  I am so grateful God chose Stephen for me and I cannot wait to see what else he has in store for our future!