Recently, Hubby and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. Since he was actually going to be in town this year, I decided we should splurge and celebrate with a night on the town and a swanky hotel room in downtown Nashville. (Ooh là là!) Granted it was the 4th of July weekend (our anniversary falls on the 5th...which in subsequent years we realized was not such a wise choice, if you want to go anywhere or do anything that might cost MONEY!) Anyway, we decided to do this, and I'm glad we did.I had booked us a night at the Hotel Indigo Nashville on Union Street. This put us a mere quarter mile from Riverfront Park, which is where the city holds its infamous 4th of July fireworks display. SWEET!! So we wouldn't have far to stumble home after the festivities were over. *grin* Kidding, but at least it meant we didn't have to deal with traffic or look for parking, thanks to the hotel's valet service, and we were within walking distance of the main attractions, restaurants, and other downtown conveniences.
The fireworks display itself was spectacular. I must say, we do put on a good show for Independence Day here in Music City. The entire riverfront was packed with people, so I'm glad my folks were babysitting the kids for us that night. (I forgot to mention we were sans the bambinos for a night, didn't I?) That was their anniversary gift to us, which was greatly appreciated, even though we do adore our children and love to spend time with them.
Hubby and I went to several places that evening, but after the fireworks, we stopped in at Buffalo Billiards for something to drink and to chat a while. It was one of the best conversations we've had in a long time, talking about us as a couple, who we were, who we are now, and how we got there. It was enlightening in a very wonderful way, and I think we came away from it with a deeper mutual understanding of each other's core values and, well, what makes us "tick."
The past seven years have flown by, quite honestly. I still have a picture of us from our wedding day taped to the wall by my desk at work. Sure, we have our ups and downs, but so does everybody else. It's what keeps things interesting!
I hadn't realized how much we needed that time to ourselves until we went on a short trip out of town with the kids back in April. "Never again!" I promised. It wasn't exactly relaxing, and at the end of the trip, we were both so frazzled, it's a miracle we didn't have a big blowout on the ride home!
Besides, Gabe screamed for a good portion of that ride home, which put us both on edge to say the least!
Let me stress the importance of couple time, folks. Everyone needs it, just like you need time with your kids or time by yourself. Every couple needs time to reconnect and remember why you picked this individual to be your spouse "'til death do we part." That's a long time, people. And if you're like me and take your marriage vows seriously, then you'd better give that marriage a tune up every now and then to keep things rolling smoothly and the sparks flying.
So...here's looking at the next seven years down the road. Maybe I'll blog about it then, too. :)
(By the way, the hotel room was very nice...what we saw of it anyway. *wink*)
