Seasons of Love: April 2011

I know every girl thinks their husband is the best hubby in the world, but really y'all - mine is, no doubt about it. Although I haven't really processed this milestone, I recently turned the big 3-0. In order to celebrate, K planned a weekend getaway.

Prior to having kids I was all like, "Yeah, whenever we have kids I'm gonna be like - see ya later!! - and go on lots of trips while the grandparents keep them." Well. Then I had a baby. And my husband told me we were going on a trip. And I started crying. Not tears of joy. I mean, I tried to hide them and pretend to be excited about spending some much needed quality time with him away from our sweet, precious baby. Our first born daughter. Our only child!! But it was too hard to keep them in. No sobbing - just trails gently streaming down my face as I calmly asked multiple questions like, "who's keeping B? how many days are we going to be gone? can we get back quickly if something happens?"

Needless to say, that definitely was not the reaction that K was hoping for. After hearing my emotions were "normal" from other Moms who had been in the same situation, I pulled it together and tried to focus on the fact that we'd be much better parents for having time away to recharge and strengthen our foundation as a couple. There were a few tears in my eyes as we pulled out of the driveway waving “bye bye” to B in her Christmas pj’s (yep - in April. what can I say? they fit.), but I pulled it together from that point forward. Despite some mild insomnia, I truly enjoyed the time away. K did an amazing job planning and made me feel so special and lucky and loved on my birthday...

We went to Houston - and we drove (no risk of plane crashing - another irrational travel fear that's apparently magnified now that I'm a mom.). We left Friday morning and when we got there, had a private photography lesson to learn how to use our new camera that we got for Christmas. LOVED it and learned a lot about shooting in manual. Lots of trial and error involved and practice required to master the correct exposure, but I feel like I have a much more solid foundation to work off of now. This is the picture from our session that makes me the most proud, even though the duck is frighteningly ugly. It's all about the blurry background, folks.

WAIT. I take it back. THIS is my favorite one. Except I took this before the photo session while we were waiting for the guy to arrive. You can see me and the trees in K's eye!!

After the photo lesson, K left me with my college roommate, Cathy, who took me shopping at the Galleria. I don't buy clothes for myself often, so he instructed her to spend the entire wad of cash that he gave her on new clothes or me. For once in my life I just went with it and didn't buy one thing on sale. GASP!! Loved having my own personal fashion assistant (Cath has some serious style), and was awesome to spend time with one of my best girlfriends.

After that, she took me to a restaurant called The Raven Grill where 7 other of my closest girlfriends were waiting. K left me with them for the night, and got a suite for us at Hotel ZaZa where we stayed. He had them each write me a card with their favorite memory from our friendship and a picture to go with it. My heart just about exploded and I felt so fulfilled by just being with them and reliving our most precious life experiences together. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that we went to bed at 12:30 that night and were all up the next morning by 8:15. I guess that's what happens when you turn 30...

The next morning K brought us breakfast tacos, and then the girls left and I had a massage at the spa. The rest of the trip was for me to decide what to do - just me and K spending quality time together. We grabbed lunch, relaxed at the hotel, then went to the Museum of Natural Science and saw an IMAX movie. Had a causal dinner, then went to the hotel bar and slept in the next morning. We made it back Sunday afternoon to see B. Missed her like crazy, but really needed both - time with my friends and time with K. Thank you to my sweet husband for being so thoughtful and loving while celebrating this milestone in my life!!

I know you are all dying to know how our garden is doing, specifically the green bean and squash seeds. A week and a half of anticipation has lead to pleasant results so far, although I don't want to jinx anything!!!

At the risk of sounding extremely corny, I would like to express my awe over the fact that this little tiny seed that we planted in the dirt will grow to make something that will nourish our bodies. Kind of like growing a baby, but waaayyyy different. I mean, you can't compare the birth of a human with the birth of a plant really, but the whole process in both instances reinforces the fact that our Creator is pretty dang amazing. That's all I'm trying to say.

So - here are the green beans. I love how they unfold from the ground. And it's like the seed opens up and the leaves magically appear. It's the little things that get me excited in life. :-)

And here is the squash. We planted one "hill" - a circle of 6 seeds. Once they grow a little bigger, we will clip out 2-3 of the smallest seedlings leaving behind 3-4 to grow and thrive and bear fruit.

We also have a beautiful iris in our garden that bloomed the other day. This is why I love the spring!