7 years and not a bit itchy!

On November 11th, Adam and I celebrated 7 years of marriage. We have been together for 8 years now. That is hard to believe! We always try to do something special for our anniversary and this year was no different.
We actually had plans to go to a castle in Mingus, Texas, which is about 45 minutes West of Fort Worth. It is a hunting castle, but very nice, so was a place that I would not mind going to. I found it about a year and a half ago and booked it back in April. Of course, we didn't know Adam's school schedule at that time and it never occurred to us that he would wind up having class Monday morning at 8 am. He is currently in Physics 2, so it is not the kind of class you miss. The manager was nice enough to let us reschedule, although we don't know when we will go.
At this point, we had already booked a plane ticket for my mom to come babysit, so we decided to ask our Aunt Amy and Kim if we could use their lake house. They were kind enough to let us stay at their place for a night. It is located on Lake Granbury, which is about 45 minutes South of Fort Worth, so about a 3 hour drive from our house.
Adam went hunting Saturday morning, so we got a later start than planned, but that was ok.
We arrived at their place around 4 and got settled in and checked out what was currently the "lake."

 

After getting settled we called a local winery to see how late they would be open. They stated that they would be closing in 10 minutes. The winemaker, Tiberia, overheard and invited us to still come on out. First of all, he is one of the nicest people we've met in our travels, and the wine he makes is fabulous! We tasted a couple whites, then a rose, followed by some specialty reds. They had a private birthday party going on that evening for a friend of the winemaker, and ironically a large majority of the people at the party were from the Tyler area. Every person there kept inviting us to stay at the party. We actualy wish we would have! They seemed like a fun group and the food probably would have been better than where we ate (more on that in a bit)!

Here are a few photos from the winery.

 

Following the visit to the winery, we looked up the steakhouse that everyone recommended and that had overall good reviews on Trip Advisor, and made a reservation for 8:15. We headed to the town square to walk around. I love having an anniversary near the holidays since it means lights and decorations.:)

We learned that the clock tower in the photo above is the sister clock to Big Ben. How cool is that?! There are only two like them in the world, and one is right here in Texas. 

As we walked around Adam saw a sign for a "Ghost and Legend Tour," so we asked how long it lasted. It was starting at 7pm and would last one hour. This was the perfect thing for us to do while we waited for our reservation. We learned a lot of really neat history and learned about some possible ghosts that hang around. (We find that stuff pretty interesting so it was fun for us). As you can see from the photos above and below, I opted to shoot without flash, as I felt like it made it a lot cooler. During the tour we walked all over the town square and saw an old house where they have seen a little girl in the window-crazy! I took a photo of the house, but no such luck. :)

 

They also took us by the old jail that was still active until 1976, I believe! That seems pretty recent!

 

After our tour we headed over to dinner. We each just ordered a glass of wine and both decided on steak. It was not up to par at all with Maestro's, Fleming's or Ruth Chris, but their prices reflect that they are. Adam says he's had better steak at Texas Roadhouse, so you can imagine our disappointment. But, oh well huh? At least we got a free dessert out of it! :)

This photo below is why I need a good point and shoot to carry around! Only the dessert is in focus, haha! I can't expect a server to know what to do with a 5k piece of equipment though. Lol!

  The next morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast on the square and then toured the inside of the jail.

 Following touring the jail we walked around the shops, and bought Sadie some candy and popcorn from a very cute shop in town. (Again, opted to shoot these without flash as well, this time because I didn't want to be that annoying person in the tiny shop with the giant flash!)

After that we decided it was probably time to head back and get packed up. We had one last look at the clock before heading out.

We headed back and got packed up and made a quick stop at a lunch place that Aunt Amy recommended. It was super yummy. We got on the road and arrived home to a pretty table with hand picked flowers and a sweet card from our Sadie girl! It was a quick weekend away but very fun and relaxing!

Happy 7 years, Adam!

2013-the year of travel!

It's always fascinating to me how in December when you think about the year ahead, you may or may not have any plans set in stone. I had no idea what fun 2013 would bring as 2012 came to a close! January was kind of low key, then in February I had an impromptu one night trip out to Arizona, spending the afternoon with my best friend from forever, and then surprising my family for dinner that evening! So fun!
I'd been messaging back and forth with my cousins in Norway for months about trying to get out there, when one of my other closest friends suggested we go to Italy over Easter. We had been trying to do a girls trip for the past 2 years so of course I jumped on the idea! She has met my cousins so it also made perfect sense for us to spend a few days in Norway. I got back about 3 weeks ago, and what an amazing trip it was! (I plan to blog this in another post all by itself!)
Now I'm back and looking at the months ahead and still have so much fun in store for the rest of the year! Right now we are busy planting our garden and doing some improvements around the house.
In June in addition to weddings here in Texas, I'll be heading to Jamaica to photograph the sweetest couple ever! I can't wait! Then in July, my cousin Viggo and his girlfriend are coming from Norway to Texas! We are so excited to have them and show them where we live. In August Adam will fish the Texas International Fishing Tournament and we will all head down for that! I'll probably fly and Sadie and Adam can drive. Come September we celebrate my birthday on the 7th, and then Sadie will turn 4 on the 29th. I already have her party set for the 28th! My parents will hopefully come this year as well. October will be another busy wedding month for me, as well as Adam's birthday. November 11th we will celebrate 7 years of marriage. We will be going to Greystone Castle for 2 nights, where Adam can hunt and I can workout and lay by the pool if the weather is nice. :)
For thanksgiving my good friend Dory will be coming from Costa Rica! Then of course, Christmas is right around the corner from that! I'm excited to say that we are staying home for Christmas this year. It will be really nice to have Christmas morning in our own home.
I truly can't believe how many fun things are in store the rest of this year, and how quickly time is flying! :)

6th anniversary trip

Ok, so I am totally going out of order, but thought I'd post about our anniversary weekend: Here is the review I wrote on the place and it pretty much sums up the trip! :)

I'd been looking at staying at Travaasa Austin for our anniversary for MONTHS and luckily travelzoo ran a promotion that we could not pass up. :) From the moment you pull up to the gate, you feel like you have entered an oasis. You drive up this huge winding hill to the welcome center and are greeted by a very warm staff. We were shown to our room that was situated all the way at the back of the property. It was so peaceful. We had a canyon view room, and I believe it is smaller than the trail view, but we didn't really mind. The view from the balcony was breathtaking. We arrived late in the afternoon so most of the activities were over for the day but we decided to head out to the hiking trail. It's 2.5 miles if you do the whole thing, and not only a great workout, but very pretty as well. Such a peaceful way to start the trip! We opted to eat dinner on the property that evening and were amazed at how incredible it was! I loved how the nutrition information was listed on the menu as well. We had been told to make a reservation so we did, and there were only maybe 3 other tables in use. The next morning we had another incredible meal, this time out on the terrace. I took a Pilates class with Heather. What a workout!!! I think often times people think of Pilates as just a lot of stretching, but it really challenged me. It was great. Lunch was again fabulous and so fresh. I also spent some time at the spa, and opted to get the honey massage treatment with Amalie (sp?). It was beyond relaxing, and a great combo for someone looking for a massage and not necessarily a full facial, but something that incorporates it. The mask left my skin so clean and healthy feeling. She even sent me with the leftover and told me how to use it! Another great thing about this resort is that yes, it is 4 stars, but you see people mainly dressed in workout clothes and even spa robes. There is no expectation of needing to be dressed up. This part was especially appealing to my husband. Ladies, especially those with a "Texas boy" type like mine, will appreciate this. :) The second night, they once again recommended reservations, but we didn't take them too seriously, as the night before there were so few people. Well, we should have listened that night! There was a farm to table dinner with several chefs fom the area coming to prepare meals. We really wish we would have listened as I'm sure it would have been incredible! We wound up going into downtown Austin that evening, as it was not too far (maybe 30 minutes). The next morning we had to leave and we were so sad to go. We both agree we can't wait to return! The ONLY negative was that the first night the wind was so bad that because of my husband's allergies we were forced to use the AC and it was beyond loud (like something I'd expect in a 2-3 star hotel) that we woke up every time it kicked on. Luckily the 2nd night we were able to open the windows and get some sleep. If you go during the summer, bring earplugs. In the winter, hopefully you will be fine. All in all, can't wait to return. We left feeling sore from the workouts (love this!) relaxed, and like we'd had a true vacation! You won't regret going!

 

                                                             View from our room

                                       Adam with his "why are you taking my picture" face

                                                                       Hiking trail

                                                             A rare photo of me!

                                                                  Sunset on the trail

                                                                       Our building

 

Path to the main area of the resort, felt like camp!

Marine Corps Ball

Adam and I had the honor of attending the Marine Core Ball last night. It was a really cool experience! We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on 11-11-11 so we made it our anniversary dinner. We somehow wound up at table 2, right in the front! When we gave them our name, it took them a moment to find us, and when they did they said, "Oh wow, you are at table 2! You guys must be pretty important!" The man, Larry, that invited us helps put on the ball so I guess that is how we were seated there. Pretty cool. The ceremony was great, watching them come in with the flags and bring the cake in. The band was wonderful as well. What a fun night!