Love & Spontaneity

After finishing up my spring semester of school, I feel like I haven't stopped going..... Immediately after the semester ended, as I have mentioned, Brett and I moved from our north Dallas apartment into our first home in Garland, Texas. The move, packing, unpacking, starting to work at a new location have been overwhelming enough, but on top of that I have continued to take summer classes which began the Monday following our move to Garland. So, the past three weeks every day for THREE hours I have been captive in my three week long government class. I have realized over the past three weeks that I do not enjoy talking about politics, especially with people who have incredibly differing beliefs and moral standards. This class has been emotionally draining, and I am happy to have completed the course TOMORROW. All that to say... I have been in need of a break.

Brett, too, has been busy with different stuff as well over the last month, or so. I may have mentioned before that Brett became an umpire this season for baseball, and he LOVES it. I have enjoyed seeing him take to something that he likes to do and has fun doing. Umpiring, too, has been a financial blessing for us in our season of moving into and purchasing our home. Though it has been such a blessing, this spring we have found ourselves in lots of different areas of life and spread a little thin. We have been tired once we both get home and left time with each other on the back burner until life decided to slow down. 

A couple of months ago, Brett and I decided that for our (first) anniversary we would take off Friday-Monday of Memorial Day weekend, our anniversary was May 28th. I had been looking forward to taking off for those four days and just spending time with Brett and getting away from all the busyness. We were unsure, with the house expenses, if we would be able to go on a weekend trip or just have a "stay cation", but honestly I didn't care... I just wanted a break from schedules for a while. 

Brett decided the on Friday that we should go to Hot Springs, Arkansas for a spontaneous three day, two night vacation of relaxation. (I love having a husband who loves treating me.) We got up early on Saturday morning and loaded the car for our four and a half hour trip to Hot Springs. I loved this time together (even though I slept a good bit of it) because I got to hear stories about my husbands childhood vacations to Hot Springs with his family. I love when my introverted husband shares stories with me that I have never heard over our nearly seven year-long relationship. 

About an hour from Hot Springs, we decided to stop in the middle of nowhere at a gas station for a bathroom break and to stretch our legs. While parked at the station, an employee of a small tire repair shop behind the station noticed that we had a flat on the rear passenger side of our car. Now if you are like me and have never really been to Arkansas, this was the only gas station for about 30 miles both ways around us... and probably the only tire shop for an hour or so from us. The man kindly told Brett that we had a flat, which we had not (not would not have) noticed. Thought they had just closed their tire shop, he graciously offered to reopen and repair our tire until we could get to Hot Springs and buy a new tire to replace it. Needless to say, we were extremely thankful that we did not have a blow-out on the highway without civilization nearby to get it fixed. Would that have been stressful... With only about fifteen minutes lost on our road trip and a few cute pictures taken to document our adventure, we were back on the road to Hot Springs. 

I decided on this trip that I really like taking vacations with my husband. He is not one to stress out if things don't go his way and is incredibly flexible when things, like a flat tire, happen. The remainder of our trip we had a flawlessly smooth and relaxing time. Saturday evening we explored historic downtown Hot Springs, went to the tower overlooking the mountains and city, and ate some darn good pizza at Dough Boys on Central Ave. We also went to the wax museum and treated ourselves to some yummy ice cream. After sleeping in on Sunday, we went to get a massage at one of the spas in downtown. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. (Brett and I decided we should get massages at least twice a year, for our anniversary and my birthday, of course... ;) hehe.) We wrapped up our night with an anniversary dinner and a magic show, which was wonderful. Monday, after checking out of our resort, we headed to the Garvin Woodland Gardens for our last activity. We got to see beautiful views of the Ouachita Mountains and take pictures of the garden's gorgeous waterfalls. This was a perfect ending to a wonderful anniversary weekend! 

We are already thinking about where we want to go for our anniversary next year. Anyone have any ideas? Where are some of your favorite vacation spots?