22 Years and Counting...

On Friday, February 17, 1989, Tommy and I said "I do" and began our lives together. We've had good times, we've had bad times, we've had hard times and we've had fun times. Here we are 22 years later and STILL holding hands.

Take note of the part where I mentioned we've had hard times. We've had VERY hard times filled with financial impossibilities, life-threatening accidents and illnesses, terrible losses, emotional destruction and more. Those hardships have kept us from having much opportunity to celebrate our union. We've tried to focus more on our children and family than on just "us," and in some ways, that is a little sad. This year, I was feeling a little selfish and wishful and mentioned it to Tommy. Thank goodness I mentioned it during a payday period!!! I told him I hated how we never celebrated "us" and that for once, I wish we could just go somewhere to be alone. Somewhere we wouldn't have to be on edge making sure children were asleep and not listening to us. Somewhere we could watch tv...or not. Somewhere that would be OK to act like married people----whatever that means! I told him I wouldn't even care if that meant vacationing in Carrollton!

He took me seriously and booked a suite in Carrollton at the Holiday Inn Express. It isn't the fanciest hotel in America, but it just might be one of the nicest in Carroll County! He didn't get just any room...he got a luxury suite on the top floor...at the end of the hall. This room had a bed bigger than my bedroom at home! I literally could lay on it crossways and neither hands nor feet hung off the sides!! And there were pillows lined up from one side to the other....tons of them! There was a kitchenette and a lounge chair and.... no responsibilities in the form of work or kids or church callings or doctor visits or anything else. The guy that checked us in asked if we needed a wake up call. Tommy leaned over the counter to be sure he was eye-to-eye and said firmly "NO." Point was well taken HAHAHA!!

So we leave our things in the room and go across the parking lot to the Chinese restaurant. We picked out some favorites (he got Mongolian Beef and I got Singapore Mei Fun). We got BIG containers of it too! Then we stopped by Kroger and picked up some juice and strawberries and whipped cream. When we got back to the motel room, we sat together at our little table and ate. It was soooo good!

I'll stop there and leave out the really GOOD details, but I'll show you how yummy the strawberries were :)

I think the whipped cream must have been too! hehehe

The funniest thing is Tommy's obsession with the curtains. We were on the third floor, so nobody was going to be standing outside our windows peeking in. But there were street and store lights glowing, and that could be a nuisance. There was a sheer that closed completely, but the curtains only hung at the sides and couldn't meet in the middle. That bothered Tommy. He finished his food and then used his fork to remedy the situation. Take a look at this!




It was so nice. I slept totally surrounded by pillows (almost anyway. None at my feet) and curled up to them without Tommy ever being crowded. I didn't cough the whole night and no runny nose. When we went to bed, the lights were ALL OUT! Nobody needed the bathroom light turned on for them and no video games twinkled or chirped in the night. It was so quiet!

What a celebration!! Too bad I can't have that more often!!