We Finally Took Time for Ourselves

I believe it was Kristjana at the Mommy Blog who wrote about how she and her husband took time out, just the 2 of them, and had a date night/mini vacation.

I knew the time would come that my husband and I would need to do that also. I just thought I'd give in to it.....well......maybe in the next 2-3 years because I hated the thought of leaving Joshua overnight with someone else. I could tell that my husband was tired from just "stuff," and I'm emotionally tired. Physically, I'm doing well. But so emotionally tired that it's causing nightmares.

You know how sometimes you just get stuff on your mind, you're getting hit with one thing or another and it causes stress? It's not that anyONE wants me to do anyTHING, but there are things that I want (like to be a stay-at-home mom), then there are issues with people where I work. (You know when all of a sudden you get stabbed in the back and you were not expecting it.) We're tightening up with our money a bit to make sure we keep our bills paid.

Such and such, and on and on. Blah, blah.

I gave in because I knew we need to "just hang out!" Even if it was just an overnight trip to the next state down which is only 20 minutes from our house! We needed some time to recuperate and then go back home to our son refreshed!

We asked my in-laws to keep Joshua at our house. They were tickled to be able to stay at our house because it's mostly quiet there! Yeah, we have neighbors and sometimes they are noisy......VERY! But, for the most part it's quiet. I found out when we called home the next day that for the first time my father-in-law was able to sleep soundly all night long. He never does where they live.

Ok, back to our date. Yes, I keep drifting......

We went to Books-a-Million and Steinmart. By the time I finished Steinmart, I was feeling the affects of a apple turnover from Arby's. It was delicious, but it had way too much sugar in it and the sugar floored me! Knocked me on my behind! I got too sleepy! So, we went to our hotel.

We had already booked a room online. And we didn't pay for it!! YAY! I had ChoiceHotel Priviledge Points that we'd earned for a while, so I paid with points and not money.

Now, I realize that SleepInn may not be fancy. BUT it was so nice and cozy and OH.THAT.SHOWER!!

I love their shower! It's been a long time since I've had a walk-in shower, not to mention OVERSIZED! You could fit 3 people in it. Not that I want to, mind you. I really never would want that! ugh.... Nope. BUT you could fit a few in there.

I fell asleep for just about 30 minutes to help me get back on my feet again. We got ready and went to Bonefish grill. It was the first time we'd ever been there so it took a little time to figure what we wanted to eat. And I did a triple take on the waiter and waitresses when they came out because they were in Chef's coats. Oooh. Fancy, smansy!

Now. It was VERY VERY tasty. But we'll probably only do that twice a year because they are a bit pricey.

To walk off that food, we went shopping again. And not to buy, but just walk around and see what they had.

We did the hotel's continental breakfast the next morning and then went to the mall. My husband loves to shop. :o)

I asked him what time he'd told his parents we'd be back home and he said about 4pm. We ended up back at home at 3pm. When we returned, we found his dad had left for a while.

Then in about 45 minutes, he (and my hubby who'd gone out to the car to meet him) walked in with a balloon and a birthday cake and food!! They GOT me! My birthday was the last thing on my mind. Actually it was August 8.

I thought it was so sweet!

It was good special time away. We didn't do anything fancy really, but we just spent time together. A great way to bring in #35!

That Went by Waaaay too Fast!

Wow....It's amazing how quickly our vacation came and went. But talk about nice.......... We reserved a chalet in the mountains for the family. When you think about chalet in the mountains, you may think about traveling this little pig-path road up a very steep mountain for about 2-3 or maybe 4 miles. Actually, this chalet was right in town in the heart of Pigeon Forge. If I'd a had to walk to Hardees, I coulda.

Anyway, we traveled the long way around this time instead of hitting the Interstates. The Interstates we normally take are pretty rough (and I mean pretty fast!) and it doesn't take us as long to get to the mountains that way. We went the long way and we never had to get on an interstate. Driving over one of the last mountains, we noticed it - SNOW/ICE! Now where I live, it's spring and has already got up to 80 degrees. But we looked on the sides of the mountains and there it was. I've never seen icicles that big. There were people pulled off to the side of the road (you know the little "pull-offs" that make room for everyone to travel?) The adults were out there taking pictures and the kiddies were playing. I tried to put pictures on here, but it didn't take. I'll try again later.

After 7 hours, we arrived at our little chalet. It was really nice and I got to see how it'd feel living in a TN neighborhood. Pretty good! (Cause I always talk about moving there.....)

We didn't try to pack our days full of stuff like we used to do. We didn't even plan anything like we normally do. We went to the mall, went over to Townsend to Cades Cove. For those of you who don't know about Cade's Cove, it's an 11 mile one-way loop around some GORGEOUS country. And you never know what animals you may see out there. There were plenty of deer. They are so accustomed to people always being around that someone can walk up pretty close to them and take pictures. Every now and then, you may spot bears.

We took time out during our trip to go to their zoo. Normally we wouldn't really plan to go to a zoo, but when you have a little boy, you want to show him things like that! We went to their rainforest (reptiles). It was nice, but I can't stay in a place like that too long because I don't like to see 400 pound snakes! ugh... Maybe I exaggerated, maybe not. Those things were HUGE!! Of course, there are the alligators, and they even added into the mix something that looks like monkeys, but NOT monkeys.

Joshua slept pretty good most nights. The very last night tho (the day we were planning to leave), he woke up from a nightmare. It took a couple of hours to get him back to sleep. That was from about 2am - 4am.

Well, to make this story short, we left Friday to go back over the mountain. As soon as we got going up the mountain, we noticed traffic backing up. Ok......what could it be.....a wreck? A car that's having problems? hmmm. But there was a "pull-off" and they didn't pull off. Finally we got to the source of it. Everyone was pulling off the side of the road looking down into the mountain looking at a mama bear and her cubs. Now, I can fully understand people wanting to see a bear, or BEARS, but I can safely say, I'm more comfortable in my car when it comes to a mama and her babies......... Although everyone was up on the road and SHE was DOWN the hill a few yards, you never really know when she is going to decide enough is enough and make all the sight see-ers scatter. So we went on our way............

It was great! But now back to the daily........

Ma'am?

I've been noticing something interesting lately. And I'm trying to figure out how to take this....... But uh....and I'm trying to figure out how to say this. But here's the scenario: I go through the drive-thru at Hardees and the little lady at the window tells me how much my #1 Combo is. I hand her my card and she returns it. I ask her some odd question and she says "Yes, Ma'am." Then I ask her another question and it's "Yes, Ma'am." That happened today. Well, I've noticed that ALOT of times people are replying "Yes, Ma'am, No Ma'am." To me. My new status in life. It's now ma'am. Hey, don't get me wrong. I say Yes, Ma'am and No Ma'am, but for some reason it seems different when people say that to me. Just don't seem quiiitte right! I think about saying, "You don't have to call me Ma'am. I'm not that much older than you." Really, I'm not. I want to tell them I haven't been out of highschool that long. Oh maybe......uh........17 yrs.....hmmm. But I just got out of college......ummmm.......13 yrs ago. And it hasn't been that long since I got my first "professional" job. Um.....14 yrs ago? Uh-oh.......... And I'm still there...............at the same place....... Oh, well. I just shot my own explanation. Yes, ma'am, I did.........................

Time for Family Vacation in the Smoky Mountains!

Well, when we get our tax return money, we'll be using just a small part for a vacation! *YES!!* We normally take a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, Pigeon Forge, TN. (This will be our little man's 4th or 5th time going there! If you love to shop, this is THE place! Everytime we go, there is a new shopping center. So just park your car and shop til your hearts content or til you drop, or whatever! There's anything and everything you'd want!

If you want a family-oriented music show, Smoky Mountain Jubilee will give it to you. It's a great mix of bluegrass, country, gospel, clogging, comedy! We also love Country Tonight and BlackBear Jamboree. Black Bear has some great food and service is wonderful!

Whispering Pines, Cabins USA, and Mainstay Suites are 3 of my favorite places to stay.

Last but not least is FOOD!!! There's alot of it any which way you turn. There are several Crack Barrels just within a few miles of each other. From all the fast foods to country atmosphere to romantic atmosphere.

Last time we went, my family and my in-laws went and stayed in a cabin part of the time and Whispering Pines part of the time. Talk about a peaceful stay! Alot of the time, my father-in-law fixed breakfast for us and in the evenings we mostly ate inside (brought back food from town). It was a great trip!