9 Years in the Bag

Jamie and I celebrated our 9th anniversary with a fun weekend-long getaway to Atlanta!  Jamie's mom was kind enough to watch the boys Friday afternoon until my mom got of work to pick them up, so we were able to get an early start to our weekend.  We arrived at the Ritz Carlton around 4 and were treated like royalty! We've never stayed at a RC before so I was blown away by their hospitality and service.  We were met with champagne upon check in, treated with mini ice cream cones, that they make in-house, and everyone was so helpful with advice for us out-of-towners.  It was truly a TREAT!  And in true Jamie fashion, he surprised me with an anniversary gift, even though it was HIS 33rd birthday that very day.  Since it was his birthday, he chose our activity for the evening and we went to the Braves-Astros game.  We had a fun time watching America's favorite past time and sampling all the typical stadium foods: nachos, pizza and burgers.  We had a great view since we were just 19 rows back and almost directly behind home plate! To top it off, the Braves beat the Astros 4-1.



The next morning we got up to do what I had chosen for our 2nd day... SIX FLAGS!  It had been a good 6 years since I rode a roller coaster so I was thrilled to spend the day doing just that.  To our disappointment, as soon as we approached the Six Flags entrance, the bottom fell out and it began raining.  We weren't going to let a little rain ruin our day so we went to IHOP for breakfast with hopes that the rain would have passed by the time we finished our meal.  Unfortunately, it had not, so we ran into a mall for me to make an exchange, still trying to kill time and not giving up on our plans.  Finally around 1:30 the rain stopped so we hurried back to the park.  However, it just didn't seem to be in the cards for us to ride roller coasters because the wait at each ride was at least 2 hours.... and we had dinner reservations in just a few hours! I convinced Jamie that we needed to buy Flash Passes to bypass the lines however, the line for that was another 45 minutes!  It was crazy and I was getting frustrated.  Finally as we are just a few people away from the front of the line (and about to spend another $100) someone mentioned that more rain was headed our way.  We both agreed it would be ridiculous to spend that much more and then get rained out so we left (and I will admit, I may or may not have pouted for awhile).  I practically RAN to the closest roller coaster to get in line, very determined, but the lines were even longer and I'll be quite honest, time with my husband is few and far between and so valuable that the thought of standing there, just WAITING for 2 hours to ride one single solitary ride, didn't seem appealing.  Instead, we walked around the park, bought the boys some goodies, and split a funnel cake before we headed back to our hotel.  I was a bit disappointed by our misfortunes.  We might just be the only couple to drive 4 hours to Six Flags, pay $70 to get in the park and then never even ride a single ride!  And of course, wouldn't you know that as SOON as we got to our hotel, the sky cleared up and was beautiful and sunny. 

That evening we had our anniversary dinner at Morton's Steakhouse and it was nothing short of delicious.  In fact, we loved their chopped salad so much that I googled the recipe for the vinaigrette dressing, made it and have been eating that exact salad for 5 days straight (some days 2 a day)! As an anniversary treat, they surprised us with a delicious Lemon Souffle on the house.  I'm not even a Lemon Souffle kind of girl, but it was GOOD.  After our dinner, we went 73 stories high to the Sun Dial restaurant to enjoy the GORGEOUS view of the city and a yummy Blueberry Mojito (their specialty).



I can't believe that it has already been 9 years since I married my best friend.  I couldn't imagine going through life with anyone else.  Oh, how he frustrates me at times (I've been reminding him for at least 3 years to put the toilet seat down) and I drive him crazy with my spending habits but I'm much better with him than without him.  We began dating when I was 19 years old so in a sense we have grown up together.  I'm grateful that our relationship hasn't dulled during the past 11 years and that we can still laugh with one another, have things to talk about, and enjoy each other's company.  He's a pretty cool dude (not to mention that I think he's incredibly handsome!) and I'm lucky to have him by my side!