"9 years...."

Yesterday, Jay and I celebrated 9 years of marriage.  9 years.  That is so hard to believe. We met and started dating 4 years prior, so really, we were kind of celebrating 13 years.  From the last several posts, you have probably been able to tell that I have been missing my husband pretty badly recently and we have not have much time together...., you know, the kind of time where you actually sit down, look into each other's eyes and really communicate. There is such a difference in, "Hey Babe, how was your day"? and, "okay, really, tell me what's going on"?  Well, Jay and my sweet Dad must have pulled some serious strings to get us 24 hours in the nicest hotel downtown and in the nicest room in the entire hotel - not kidding.  I felt kind of guilty staying there, and might have even gotten "lost" in the enormous bathroom. I am not the best person when it comes to taking care of myself, and now that I am a mom, with another one on the way, it is becoming more and more difficult to think about me and take care of me.

Yesterday, on our anniversary, I spent 3 hours at the Spa complete with 1 hour of sitting in the "quiet room" (LOVE THAT), 1 hour of a prenatal massage, and 1 hour of a pedicure. I might have gone back to the "quiet room" (that is really it's name), and spent another 30 minutes there :)  Jay asked if I wanted to take a book with me to which I replied that I did not want to read or think about anything. I wanted to turn off my brain and literally not think for 3 hours - and I did just that.

Afterwards, we had dinner at a wonderful restaurant in town and stayed there well over 2 hours just talking and catching up on life.  Had a wonderful and relaxing night of sleep, "slept in" this morning (well, to 7:15, but to me nowadays that's "sleeping in"), ate breakfast, and then spent an hour at the gym together. Before children, we were at the gym everyday together and that was always a special time for us. We haven't had a gym membership since we had Elijah Brooks (nor the time really), so we just walk/run in the neighborhood now..., but it's usually me in the early mornings pushing a stroller, and Jay in the evenings running.  It was really nice to be able to do something that we enjoy together again.  We ran out of time to sit by the pool, which we wished we had been able to do, but Jay had a meeting at church at 11:30 he had to be back for. 

I am so thankful for Jay and my parents who made this possible for us!  Lord only knows, y'all of all people know how much our batteries needed to be "recharged".  This was such a treat for us, as this kind of thing does not happen very often. Thank you so much for taking such wonderful care of Elijah Brooks for us.  He loved every second of getting to spend the night at his special Bebe and E-Daddy's house.

I am a blessed woman indeed - blessed far beyond anything I ever deserved, dreamed or imagined when God gave me the gift of Jay as my husband and companion for life.

Jay, I love you more than I could ever tell or show you. Happy Anniversary!!