Fifth Anniversary Trip

Robert's and my fifth wedding anniversary was on May 20, and we'd been planning for months to go on a trip.  I honestly think we started thinking about our fifth anniversary about a year and a half ago. haha We knew it would take a lot of planning as Robert would need to save up vacation time, we'd have to pick a week before his summer craziness with work, and we'd have to find a week where we'd have family to watch Sarah, so we booked my parents and Robert's mom to watch Sarah months ago.  We picked the week even before we knew where we'd go.  Robert really wanted to fly somewhere, but I really wanted to be within driving distance just on the off chance that something weird happened to Sarah.  Do my mommy friends understand?  This was my first time to be gone from Sarah for more than a night or two.  We just couldn't pick a place, and then one day Robert mentioned Louisville.  It's about a seven hour drive for us, and our friends Forrest and Anna had just moved there from Wake Forest.  We hadn't seen them in two and a half years, but we had loved our time with them in North Carolina.  They just bought a house so they had space for us, and they were up for hosting.  We were so happy!

We left our house Sunday afternoon once my parents got there to start watching Sarah.  I was a little nervous.  It wasn't because I didn't think Sarah would have a good time.  I knew she'd have a blast!  It's just hard to leave your baby.  We drove to St. Louis and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.  We enjoyed Mexican and some dessert and then just watched Netflix in our hotel room.  I know that isn't luxurious, but when you have a little one this is a big deal!  The next morning we went to the St. Louis Zoo.  Robert had never been, and I hadn't been in over a decade.  It was a lot of fun, and we couldn't have asked for better weather. 

St. Louis is pretty much exactly halfway between our house and Forrest and Anna's, so after lunch we got back on the road so we could get to their house by dinner (time change from central to eastern).  We enjoyed getting pictures from my parents.  On Monday Sarah watered my flowers and took a little trip to Bolivar to see Memaw and Pepaw and go to the park.

It was so wonderful to see Anna and Forrest, get to see their new house, and meet their dog, Bruce.  Anna had a delicious dinner ready for us, and we enjoyed catching up and playing games.

On Tuesday the four of us went to the Louisville Slugger Museum.  Robert is the biggest baseball fan of the group, but it really was interesting for all of us.  We got to take a little tour of the manufacturing plant and walked around a small museum.

We went to the oldest candy shop in Indiana which was very adorable.  And then we went home for a bit.

Sarah got to do lots of coloring and painting with my parents.

Colonel Sanders and Muhammad Ali are buried in the same cemetary, and apparently this is a popular thing to visit in Louisville, so we had to do it!

We got some delicious ice cream at Comfy Cow!

We went to Churchill Downs and got a tour and looked around the museum.  I basically don't know anything about horses or racing, but it was still very impressive and interesting.

Robert and I sneaked off for a little anniversary date and went out for BBQ and walked across a huge pedestrian bridge that goes over the Ohio River.  It was beautiful!

There was some rain throughout the week, but we also had some very pleasant days which allowed for a little hike one morning.

Halfway through the trip Serina took over watching Sarah, and they had a ton of fun together!  My parents had taken Sarah to Discovery Center, and Serina took Sarah to the Zoo.  She also did finger painting, baked cookies, and tie dyed t-shirts.  So fun!

We got to play so many games with Anna and Forrest which was a lot of fun!  We watched a movie, Robert helped Forrest with a couple of little house projects, I got to nap and rest, and we just enjoyed each other's company.  We couldn't have asked for a better time!  The drive home was made in a day, and the time change back to central time helped us out.  We rain into a couple of pretty heavy rain storms with hail which slowed us down a bit.  Shortly after we got home we actually lost power for an hour.  Sarah had a great time with our parents, but she was definitely ready for us to be home.  She and Serina were out in the driveway when we pulled in and Sarah started bawling.  She just couldn't compose herself.  It was very sweet and very sad.  We had a great break, but it was also very nice to be back together.  It was the perfect way to get energized for our busy summer with student activities.  Thank you for hosting us, Anna and Forrest, and thank you to my parents and Serina for watching Sarah!

A Week of Celebrating

Robert and I had such a fun week celebrating and 1st wedding anniversary.  The official day was last Monday, May 20.  I came home for work and Robert had a delicious dinner made - pork tenderloin, carrots, potatoes, cucumber salad, chocolate cake, homemade ice cream, and sweet tea.  He was dressed up and wore the tie he wore at our wedding.  He had beautiful guitar music playing and several candles lit.  He had set up a small round table in our living room.  It was complete with a white tablecloth, cloth napkins, a pink daisy, and crystal drinking glasses.  He had three dresses of mine sitting out for me to choose from.  I changed clothes and we exchanged cards.  Then I found a pair of pearl earrings.  My parents bought me some pearl earrings a couple of years ago for Christmas, but when we moved to North Carolina that got lost somewhere and we never found them.  I was heartbroken to have lost them.  Robert knew that and surprised me with a new pair for our anniversary.  Dinner was delicious.  Robert made me promise not to talk about work at all which was really nice.  After dinner we watched Elizabethtown on Netflix and took a walk.  Robert sure is thoughtful.

Three of my lovely bridesmaids put on their dresses in honor of our one year anniversary

The deer mounts really add something special

This weekend we went to our friend Rylee's wedding.  Rylee is from Missouri, but she came to North Carolina to go to college and met her husband there so they decided to have their wedding here in NC.  It was a bit of a drive at four hours, but we decided that it's not every day that we have a MO friend get married in NC so it was definitely worth the drive.  We got to see so many of our MO friends.  It was wonderful!  The wedding was beautiful.  It was on top of a mountain and the weather was perfect - sunny, 75 degrees, a bit breezy but not too windy.

With the beautiful bride and her awesome brother/our great friends

After the wedding we drove another 45 minutes to stay in a hotel in order to go to the Biltmore the next day.  I had been there about 10 years ago, but Robert had never been before.  It was great!  It was overcast but not rainy.  The flowers were gorgeous and the house was stunning.  After that, we headed home.  Robert and I both agreed that we hate driving and riding in the car.  We love the idea of road trips but hate the whole road part.

We rounded out the weekend with a super lazy Monday.  We slept in, took a walk, watched TV, played games, and cleaned the house.  It was great!  And now we only have a four day work week.  YAY!

Happy Anniversary

Robert and I have been married for one year today.  It's kind of hard to believe that just one year ago I was about to walk down the aisle and make a lifelong commitment to remain faithful and loving to Robert Clark Varner for as long as we both shall live.  In some says it feels like we've been married forever.  It's weird to think about life without Robert as my sidekick/me being his sidekick.  I can't say that this first year has been easy.  Before we were married I would always hear people say things like, "When we first got married I was so shocked to find out that ________ left his socks on the floor."  Well, I guess Robert and I dated long enough that we knew that both of us always have and always will leave our socks on the floor.  We both hate doing the dishes and would rather do just about any other chore.  We both love spending time with friends but renew our energy with quiet time on our own.  I can talk about my day for hours when I get home.  Robert can sum up his day in about 2 minutes.  We already knew that about each other.  But when you think about those things they seem so unbelievably insignificant.  Dirty socks on the floor - sure, they're annoying.  Would it be nice if we both always put them in the dirty clothes basket the second we got home?  Yes.  But really - who cares?  I guess that's something I've learned in this first year of marriage - to try and appreciate Robert for the person God has created him to be and to decipher when it's worth the battle and when I should just appreciate our differences and quirks. I'm not going to pretend like I'm perfect at this.  After all, who hasn't had a meltdown about the way your spouse unloads the dishwasher? :)

Our pastor had a really fitting sermon at church yesterday.  He's doing a six week series on marriage.  I think this was week three.  Anyway, he was talking about how we've started looking at marriage as the only way to be completely fulfilled and satisfied.  (Think "you're the wind beneath my wings")  When we think this way we will always always ALWAYS be dissatisfied and let down.  Robert is absolutely wonderful.  He is thoughtful, smart, funny, handsome, a good cook, and a hard worker.  But Robert will never meet all of my needs, and I will never meet all of his needs.  Leaving with that kind of pressure is way too much.  If I look to Robert to meet all of my needs and he lets me down, what on earth am I supposed to do?  Get angry at him, let him know he let me down, belittle him?  That won't do.  But if I'm finding satisfaction in God it doesn't matter if Robert forgets to tell me I'm beautiful 50 times a day.  Although I will say he is a great encourager.

I have plenty more learning and growing up to do in the coming years of our marriage, but I guess my "advice" after one year would be to avoid having expectations that no human can meet.  I hate the concept of never expecting anything so you're never let down.  That has always seemed so depressing to me and seems like a bad outlook on life, but I think he has a bit of truth.  Be a grace giver - a person who gives second and third and fiftieth chances.  A person who is thankful when another person does something kind a thankful.

Now, let's reflect on some highlights from our first year as Mr. and Mrs.:

Celebrating Robert's 22nd birthday

The first big rain since our arrival in NC.  Little did we know that it would be dreary 9 days out of 10 during our first year here...

My Blackboard logo cake to celebrate my new job.  Told you Robert was a great cook!

A trip to VA for some rafting

Many many many puzzles and games

Our first Thanksgiving

Our first Christmas

Time with our BFF Jolie and her awesome parents, Ben and Allie

Three years with Robert Clark Varner

On our way to our date

Robert and I started dating on March 13, 2010.  This week we celebrated three years since we started dating.  I know we're married now, but I think we can still celebrate our dating anniversary.  I'm all about special dates - 1/2 birthdays, dating anniversary, engagement anniversary, wedding anniversary, 5/12 birthdays.  Basically anything.

Since our anniversary was on a Wednesday we decided to celebrate the weekend before.  We went out to eat at On the Border.  I'd never eater then.  It was good, but it probably won't become one of our regulars.  I did have a very unique and tasty meal:

Black beans, chicken enchilada with sour cream sauce, rice, and the most unique part - an avocado stuffed with chicken and cheese, dipped in a bit of batter, and cooked up.  It was really tasty!

Robert enjoyed his fajitas

After dinner we did some window shopping at a pet store and gardening store.  Next, we went to see Oz the Great and Powerful at Carmike's Theater.  We enjoyed it!  Our first date as official boyfriend and girlfriend was to the movie theater to see a Tim Burton movie.  It seemed fitting to celebrate our three year anniversary with a trip to the movie theater again to see another Tim Burton movie.  I would recommend the movie.  Very clean.  The only semi-scary part would be the wicked witch.  Have you seen any good movies lately?

Anniversaries and Birthdays

Last Thursday Robert took me out to eat to celebrate my 21 birthday.  He drove me to class and ran errands for me while I sat in class.  He dropped off our rings to have them engraved.  Since my engagement ring is essentially three bands that are interwoven, I'm not getting a separate wedding band.  I bought Robert's wedding band the day we got my ring insured.  Anyway, Robert picked the inscription - chesid.  It's Hebrew, and of course we'll be using the actual Hebrew symbols.  The "c" is silent, and there's a gutteral sound at the beginning.  Anyway, it means covenant loyalty or lovingkindness.  The major bummer though is that it can take up to two weeks to get the rings back.  Seven days down.  Hopefully it'll be less than seven days before we get them back.  I know it might sound weird, but I'm kind of self-conscious that people think we broke up since I'm not wearing my ring.  Plus, my finger looks so plain now.  So after class, Robert took me to a surprise restaurant for dinner.  We ended up going to The Aviary.  It was delicious, and I would highly recommend it to anyone in the area.  It's in downtown Springfield.  Of course, we failed to take pictures, but the inside is absolutely adorable.  There is a gigantic fake tree in the middle of the room that reaches to the ceiling, antique bird cages, a fireplace, beautiful artwork, and you can even watch the cooks make your dinner.  The restaurant specializes in crepes, but it does have typical main dishes as well - steak, shrimp, etc.  Robert and I had only ever had dessert crepes before, so we decided to branch out and order savory crepes.  I order the Venetian - asparagus, spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms with mascarpone cheese on the side and three cheese mashed potatoes for my side dish.  I could pick from mashed potatoes, rice pilaf, salad, or fruit.  Robert got the salmon crepe and mashed potatoes as well.  We split an Aux Nuella crepe (chocolate mousse, Nutella, whipped cream, chocolate shavings) for dessert.  Our server was great, and we loved the atmosphere.  Right after we ordered, approximately thirty ladies who were 70+ years old showed up for dessert.  I'm guessing that isn't typical, but for a second I wondered if we were crashing their party.  After we ate we enjoyed a lovely stroll downtown.
Coincidentally, our 1 1/2 year anniversary was Tuesday so we got to do some more celebrating.  Robert had a mandatory fire drill at 9:00pm so we knew we couldn't go to Springfield or do anything super big. So we decided to make our own dinner - glazed pork chops grilled on the barbie, grilled asparagus, grilled mixed vegetables (zucchini, onions, green bell pepper, Mexi-corn) {are you noticing a theme yet? GRILLED} and pasta salad (spaghetti noodles, chopped up turkey, onion, feta cheese, parmesan cheese, and Italian dressing).  I made sweet tea too.  Since Robert is a grill master I try to take advantage of it by having him cook us dinner as much as possible.  :)  We packed up our food and took it to Playter Park.  It had been about 100 in the day, but by the time we ate it was about 80, the sun was setting, and there was a bit of a breeze so it was perfect.  After we ate, we strolled around the neighborhood (Lakewood Hills) and admired the houses we can't afford.  It's fun, really.  We'll say things like, "Ooo!  That one has a big yard.  That'd be perfect for kids," "I love the brick/rock combo!" "I want a yard with a weeping willow tree," "That looks like the house I grew up in."  I like dreaming with Robert.