Remember this guy?
Before we had babies, I had dozens of photos like the one above. He endured me hounding him with my little black box for so long... I'm sure he's happy to have three other faces to distract the family photographer. But Derek deserves a little face time, this man I married seven years ago in an old summer chapel on the shore of Lake Macatawa. Derek was and continues to be more than I could ever have hoped for, and beyond my highest expectations for my mate, partner, co-parent, and friend. I decided to surprise Derek for our anniversary this year by arranging for his parents to watch the kids over night and booking a hotel room and planning meals and outings for a day and a half to ourselves. We dropped the kids off after church, then went home to decide what we wanted to do next. It was the weirdest thing... when we pulled into the driveway, we unbuckled, got out of the car, and walked in the house... just like THAT. Couldn't have taken us more than 10 seconds flat.
(We like our thrills cheap over here.)
We drove down to Saugatuck, listening to and hearing NPR on the drive. We got coffee (him) and chai (me) at Uncommon Grounds and walked around downtown. I didn't share my brownie with anyone. We browsed around Amsterdam and didn't worry about potentially expensive accidents at the hands of small explorative children, and came home with a charming little mid-century paint-by-number, frivolous and lovely. I took the kind of shower I used to take when we were dating, sparing no amount of grooming, shaving, curling, moisturizing or accessorizing. The contrast between this and the more recent status quo for bathing is, um, well... stark. Dinner was from a Hibachi, and was offset by a gift certificate saved from my birthday, (frugality can be exhilarating!) and we ended the evening visiting with my sister and brother-in-law, at one time a weekly or bi-weekly indulgence. We were excited to spend the night at City Flats. Our room has so many interesting features; nothing about it was ordinary.
However, we did not check into the hotel on our own. It's dark, but see anything in this photo you might not expect to see on an anniversary getaway?
She looks pretty proud of herself, the little chonger.
Yep, little Selah, who showed the least resistance to the bottle of all the kids, decided, TODAY, that taking a meal from anyone or anyTHING but mom was straight up OFFENSIVE. We couldn't complain, though. Of the three, Selah is by far the easiest to have along, as her age and temperament are well-suited to napping, nursing, and being cute wherever she happens to be. (Unless that has anything to do with a bottle, I guess.) She slept well, WE slept well (the bed was like sleeping on a CLOUD) and the morning light found us lazily waking up to bamboo sheets, premium cable in HD, and one another. This is just as sweet an image of the man I married as any other.
We took our time with the morning and enjoyed breakfast at deBoer's before driving to Grand Rapids to see the Dale Chihuly installations at Frederik Meijer Gardens. If you live in the area, you've got to check it out... the work is incredible. Selah liked it too, see?
The day was reminiscent of our wedding day 7 years ago: 74 degrees and sunny, with azure skies, zero humidity and the slightest breeze.
Walking alongside the sweet man who married me, and having enjoyed 24 hours of unhurried, (mostly)uninterrupted time together, I was able to not only reflect upon the blessings of the last seven years (one of which was being pushed in the stroller by aforementioned companion,) but also to be inspired and take some fun photographs. Signing out now, with a few shots from the Gardens.
Happy anniversary, Derek! I'd marry you all over again in a heartbeat.
(And let's do this again soon, okay?)
Before we had babies, I had dozens of photos like the one above. He endured me hounding him with my little black box for so long... I'm sure he's happy to have three other faces to distract the family photographer. But Derek deserves a little face time, this man I married seven years ago in an old summer chapel on the shore of Lake Macatawa. Derek was and continues to be more than I could ever have hoped for, and beyond my highest expectations for my mate, partner, co-parent, and friend. I decided to surprise Derek for our anniversary this year by arranging for his parents to watch the kids over night and booking a hotel room and planning meals and outings for a day and a half to ourselves. We dropped the kids off after church, then went home to decide what we wanted to do next. It was the weirdest thing... when we pulled into the driveway, we unbuckled, got out of the car, and walked in the house... just like THAT. Couldn't have taken us more than 10 seconds flat.(We like our thrills cheap over here.)
We drove down to Saugatuck, listening to and hearing NPR on the drive. We got coffee (him) and chai (me) at Uncommon Grounds and walked around downtown. I didn't share my brownie with anyone. We browsed around Amsterdam and didn't worry about potentially expensive accidents at the hands of small explorative children, and came home with a charming little mid-century paint-by-number, frivolous and lovely. I took the kind of shower I used to take when we were dating, sparing no amount of grooming, shaving, curling, moisturizing or accessorizing. The contrast between this and the more recent status quo for bathing is, um, well... stark. Dinner was from a Hibachi, and was offset by a gift certificate saved from my birthday, (frugality can be exhilarating!) and we ended the evening visiting with my sister and brother-in-law, at one time a weekly or bi-weekly indulgence. We were excited to spend the night at City Flats. Our room has so many interesting features; nothing about it was ordinary.
However, we did not check into the hotel on our own. It's dark, but see anything in this photo you might not expect to see on an anniversary getaway?
She looks pretty proud of herself, the little chonger.
Yep, little Selah, who showed the least resistance to the bottle of all the kids, decided, TODAY, that taking a meal from anyone or anyTHING but mom was straight up OFFENSIVE. We couldn't complain, though. Of the three, Selah is by far the easiest to have along, as her age and temperament are well-suited to napping, nursing, and being cute wherever she happens to be. (Unless that has anything to do with a bottle, I guess.) She slept well, WE slept well (the bed was like sleeping on a CLOUD) and the morning light found us lazily waking up to bamboo sheets, premium cable in HD, and one another. This is just as sweet an image of the man I married as any other.
We took our time with the morning and enjoyed breakfast at deBoer's before driving to Grand Rapids to see the Dale Chihuly installations at Frederik Meijer Gardens. If you live in the area, you've got to check it out... the work is incredible. Selah liked it too, see?
The day was reminiscent of our wedding day 7 years ago: 74 degrees and sunny, with azure skies, zero humidity and the slightest breeze.
Walking alongside the sweet man who married me, and having enjoyed 24 hours of unhurried, (mostly)uninterrupted time together, I was able to not only reflect upon the blessings of the last seven years (one of which was being pushed in the stroller by aforementioned companion,) but also to be inspired and take some fun photographs. Signing out now, with a few shots from the Gardens.
Happy anniversary, Derek! I'd marry you all over again in a heartbeat.
(And let's do this again soon, okay?)
9 comments:
WOW! Amazing photography girl! Glad you were able to get away and enjoy some almost-alone time!
Awesome post. The photos are amazing! I can't wait to see the Chihuly exhibit!
That little Selah makes me smile...you will never forget this anniversary! Awesome pictures, Beck...wow!
I feel every part of this post. Beautiful!
perfect! this is beautiful, beck! congrats to you and Derek and the wonderful life you have built together :)
happy anniversary!
there are permanent chihuly exhibits everywhere out here - he grew up in tacoma. i can't stay away on days like that. isn't it wonderful?
I love seeing the word 'chonger' in print, especially in reference to your offspring.
I've been out of the blogging loop for a while, but I had to comment on this post. Looks like a fun time, Selah and all! I LOVE Chihuly and your photos of his work, can't wait to go and take it all in sometime this summer.
Hello! I found your blog from Cjane's blog.
This post is lovely. I've taken my nursing bottle-boycotting babies on anniversary dates too, so that part of the post made me smile, especially because I was looking for a mouse or a bug in the picture.
Thanks for sharing, and nice photos!
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