Our Getaway!

Back before Brett took such a big pay cut, we had bought a Groupon for a night away at the beach. We had bought it with the intention of taking our family to the beach for the night and enjoying the kite festival in Lincoln City. However, after thinking about the logistics of that, I made an executive decision to just drive to the beach for the day with our kids and to save the night away for just Brett and I. I am SO glad I made this decision!!

Brett's parents are pretty great about taking our kids so we can go on dates and even keep them overnight every so often. Overnight dates are the best. But we don't usually get to GO someplace, usually we just go to dinner and maybe a movie. It's hard for me to enjoy date nights when we have things to do at home though. And we pretty much always have something to do. There is something to be said for getting away from home to relax....it let's me unwind in a completely different capacity that is so needed. And I think it's important for the sake of our marriage!

On Saturday we enjoyed a lazy morning. And by lazy I mean that Brett and the kids watched TV in bed and I got ready, got everyone packed and then got the kids bathed and ready to go. ;) Then we went to Starbucks for some family time before dropping the kids off at my in-laws. We got the kids dropped off and onto the road to the beach by about 12:30. We took our time driving to the beach and enjoyed being able to have a conversation in the car, listen to the music we wanted to, hold hands and just relax.

The lodge we stayed at was beautiful and we got a heck of a deal with Groupon. It was about $100 and included a $25 dining credit. We checked into our BEAUTIFUL room, sat out on our patio and enjoyed the golf course view and RELAXED. The resort had a complimentary putt putt golf course that viewed their beautiful golf course and we decided that would be a fun afternoon activity. It's fun to do things like that after being together for 10 years, almost like you're flirting and dating again. After golf we went back to our room and I read some of my book and Brett worked on homework, only to discover that we forgot the laptop cord at home and so he wasn't really able to work on it. I think that the Lord may have intended for that to happen though so we could really focus on each other.

We had dinner at our resort using the dining credit and enjoyed a beautiful view overlooking the golf course. Then we headed to the private beach to build a bonfire and watch the sun set. Brett ALWAYS wants to have a bonfire on the beach and I am not usually a big fan. It's not that it's boring to me, it just seems more like a group thing to do. Anyways, Brett was so excited to make us a bonfire and it was so nice to just be still and watch the sun go down and enjoy the ocean. There's something so humbling about watching the ocean. Such a reminder of how big our God is.

After our bonfire I had decided to indulge Brett and *let* him do something that he LOVES doing, though never gets the chance......play $20 in blackjack at the casino at the beach. I gave him this money as a gift because it was in our *fun* money jar and he works hard for his family, he deserves to have some fun. Well, this turned out to be a good investment on my part because he turned the $20 into $75 and thus paid for all the meals on our trip! We were at the casino for about an hour and I just stood by Brett and watched him get giddy when he would win. I did not enjoy the casino environment and thought it was depressing watching people flush SO much money. I watched people go through hundreds of dollars in minutes. But, Brett had his $20 to spend, no more, and he did good. :) I may choose to get a pedicure with a special $20 and Brett might think that is silly but he wouldn't object. I had the same attitude with his spending money. :)

After the casino we went back to our hotel to go swimming in the pool and hot tub. It was open 24 hours which was so great. A lot of times hotel pools close at 10pm which is lame.

The next morning we slept in until 10am (can't remember the last time that happened!!!) and then sat out on our patio for a bit before packing up and checking out. We went to Starbucks for breakfast, did a little shopping at the outlets, had lunch on the ocean and then headed home. We went to the mall to get our kids some shoes that they needed and then went back home for Brett to do some homework. We had planned to go to a movie that night but Brett ended up doing homework until about midnight. I did some laundry, ironed shirts for Brett to have for the week, cleaned Emersyn's room, and watched some Grey's Anatomy. It was a good mixture of productivity and recreation.

I picked up the kids yesterday after doing my grocery shopping for the week and reading a bit at Starbucks. Man, if I could start my day every day at Starbucks with some devotion time, I would be such a happy girl. I'd be a broke happy girl but happy nonetheless.

We had such a great weekend and decided that with the chaos of Brett's schedule in school, we need to do a night like that quarterly if possible. I've got to keep my eyes peeled for good Groupons! :) 

Though this time has been challenging with Brett's pay cut, the Lord provision never ceases to amaze me. And He's been providing beyond anything we could ask for. God is good!