Sweetness

Next week, as impossible as this is for me to believe, Brad and will celebrate our 20 year anniversary.  I just can't believe that.  20 years??  That's 2 decades.  Wow.  Yeah, we got married young.  But still.  TWENTY years?

Last year we started talking about what to do for this big milestone.  We had a lot of very grand ideas, but none that matched our budget.  Then, as I talked about in an earlier post, time became a huge frustration as we realized that our calendar was ridiculously full this fall.

But, with a little juggling and shuffling and releasing, we found a way to clear Labor Day weekend.  Brad is the one who juggled and shuffled and released.  And then he arranged.  Everything.  With the help of some kind gals at work, he found an amazing place in Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast.  One of my very, very favorite places.  Then he made arrangements for the kids.  Then he told me about it a couple weeks ago.  Then I helped smooth out the crazy kid schedules so it wouldn't be too crazy.  And then Friday came and we were off for what would prove to be something better than we could have ever planned for...

I even have conflicted feelings about putting all this on here, because that involves some kind of acceptance that it's over.  And I'm notoriously slow to accept things I don't like.

I went to this place with zero expectations.  Zero.  Just so happy to get away with Brad...I didn't give a single thought to the weather or uncontrollable things that I wanted it to be.  There is no bad weather at the beach.  A storm on the Oregon Coast is fabulous...no weather would have made it a bad trip.  But, let me tell you...the Lord graced us with some weather that blew us away.  I still cannot believe how perfect it was.  Bright blue skies.  Warm sun.  NO wind!  I am not a fan of wind.  Especially when there is sand.  I have never seen so little wind at the beach as we did this weekend.  Except for our last morning there, there was really no wind.  Obviously, I cannot even believe it myself.  It was simply glorious.

The room?  Amazing.

The view of Haystack Rock?  Beautiful.

The sunsets?  Breathtaking.

This place provides "an endless supply of cookies" in the lobby.  That's my kind of place.  One of the gals at the front desk knew all that about me from talking to Brad before we arrived, so she put together this little box of cookies for us to take to our room one evening. 

One morning at breakfast, I was dishing up some oatmeal and complimented one of the chefs on the amazing smell coming from the kitchen.  "Coconut?"  I asked.  "Yes, we just baked coconut/golden raisin cookies."  Literally before I finished dressing my oatmeal, he appeared with a small plate with three warm cookies for me.  (And, for the record, I'm not a "raisin in my cookie" kind of girl.  But these were soooo good.  I'm going to try to replicate them.)

Every afternoon, they host a complimentary wine/cheese hour in their "library room" that overlooks the ocean.  We were never there during the time, choosing to instead be out walking the beach in the glorious (no wind) sun.

Then in the evening they have night caps available in that same room.  Brad brought those up to our room...because I wasn't remotely interested in being social with anyone other than Brad.  And the chef.  But mostly Brad.

I took many baths.  One of them in particular?  Best.  Bath.  Ever. 

We slept to the sound of the ocean.  We woke to the sound of seagulls.  We ate when we were hungry.  Very little thinking involved.  Lots of conversation.  Lots of reminiscing.  He even took me shopping for my early birthday present.  And we walked the beach.  For miles and miles each day.

On Sunday, we walked for an hour and a half and came upon this little gem near Hug Point.  We were completely alone for almost 2 hours, with the brief exception of one couple that walked through.  Totally alone on the beach in beautiful weather for almost two hours?  You can't plan something like that.  It was not lost on us that we were having a day that we would remember forever.  Felt like a little kiss from heaven...

this is our little private beach.  the dot is me.  Brad took this with his cell phone because we didn't even bring our camera that day!!

Sweet memories added to a very sweet life.  Interesting insight into an interesting life.  Overwhelming appreciation for that life and the man I'm blessed to share it with.

I will never forget it...