Throwing Away Memories

That isn't an entirely honest title - throwing away memories. Really, I am throwing away the things that symbolize these memories - not because I don't want to remember them. It had to be done because it involves dried flowers.

This is a picture of us the morning we got engaged. 

My mother-in-law took care of drying the roses you see next to me, as I flew back to Tucson that day in a daze. When I moved to Maryland a week later, I kept the dried bouquet in a vase in my room, and when we married nine months later and moved into our own place, the flowers moved with me. They are special to me because they were the first red roses Beau gave to me. Before our engagement the flowers he gave to me were various shades of pink and purple. 

But on this day he gave his first red roses and said our first "I love you." 

Over time, dried roses collect dust and lose their color, and eventually there is no place that you can put them without making the area look dumpy. So it was with great sadness (truly... there were tears) that I put them in the trash last week. I almost pulled them back out but there was not even one rose that was nice enough to keep. When I left the house the next morning to go to work, I walked past the garbage bag that Beau had put at the curb, our roses peeking out the top as if to say, "We're still here! You have one more chance to keep us..." Some petals had fallen off and were scattered on the sidewalk. To anyone walking by it would have been nothing out of the ordinary, but to me it was carnage. 

The happy ending to this, as Beau reminded me through my tears, is that I've got the real thing - my husband. He tells me he loves me every day, I don't need old roses to remind me. We'll keep making new memories - and we'll remember the old ones - together. 

That Time of Year.... Already?

This past weekend Beau and I celebrated our first anniversary of marriage. We've grown together and changed in so many little ways this past year... I think back to last year and can't believe where we were compared to now. I am so thankful for my husband - the highlight of my day is when he comes home from work. He is gentle, caring, funny, so smart, compassionate. He is a good provider and fosters a stable environment that balances out my "free spirit"... He loves the Lord and leads our family accordingly.

 It's hard for me to be mad about the petty things that I tend to get mad about, because before I've got the words out of my mouth he's already making a joke about it. And then I'm laughing and my anger has melted away. I think my family is pretty amazed at this talent of his.

He planned our little getaway months ago - before Christmas - and kept it a secret until I figured it out on our way... to St. Michaels, MD! We had a lovely weekend in this quaint Eastern Shore town. Beau reserved a room at Point Breeze, a St. Michaels B&B. This is what greeted us:

Joan, owner of Point Breeze, had bikes and kayaks for her guests to use. It was too cold to go kayaking, but we did take advantage of the bikes on Saturday. We enjoyed them so much that we are considering getting some for ourselves. 

We biked into the downtown area (approximately two minutes by bike) and decided to explore the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.

 This is a close-up view of Point Breeze, taken from the Maritime Museum. If it had been warmer, we could have kayaked over!

This is a pretty good rendering of us sometimes:  me taking things a little too seriously and Beau diffusing the moment with his winning smile and laid-back disposition!

Beau treated us to a lovely dinner at Ava's - an amazing gourmet pizza place in St Michaels.

Appetizer - homemade parmesan potato chips

Beau's choice - meatball pizza

My choice - salad pizza. I never thought I would eat a pizza without melted cheese on it... but this was AMAZING. My plate was clean (with the help of Beau, who ate one piece... but only because I wanted him to taste it. I didn't need any help.)

The next morning before we left we took some pictures outside on the lawn...

Thank you, Miss Joan for your gracious hospitality. And thank you, dear husband, for your thoughtful planning.

We headed back to Annapolis and ate lunch in the gazebo where we got engaged. It was chilly, but there's something to be said for sentimentality...

Dear sweet husband... you've changed my life for good.

And as Beau has said, no weekend is complete without Peanut:

Heaven is a little place I like to call "Tucson"

We have our tickets!! Our tickets to adventure, to fresh air, mountain views, hiking every day, and glorious fellowship with far-away friends and family. In other words, we have our tickets to Tucson.

We take our trip in late April and will have 4.5 days to cram in all the desert living I've missed these past two years. So far, the list of things to do includes several trips to Sabino Canyon:

Walks around my aunt's neighborhood:

Perhaps a trip up Mt. Lemmon:

Eating at Eclectic Pizza (thanks Groupon!):

Eating everywhere else (thanks husband!):

 Mmm... Nico's Taco Shop. Drool.

Shish Kebab House! Best dish is the vegetarian oozie and the falafel.                

Eegee's. It's been way too long. 

And I can't wait to see my three little darlings... they don't know it yet, but we are babysitting them that weekend! Looking forward to the happy surprise. 

...And that's just the beginning.