Just Another Year in Paradise

Alan and I were lucky enough to have a night away for our 8th anniversary on Monday. Darwin and Debbie (Alan's parents) let us stay at their beach house in Lincoln City and Debbie sacrificed her day off work to keep Spencer for us. (Thank you a million times Darwin and Debbie!) Spencer was thrilled to get to stay with Grandma and had the time of his life I think. He cried when we came to pick him up.

The weather was rainy, windy and cool so we didn't spend much time on the beach. But, it was so relaxing not having to worry about anything and just getting to have fun together. We haven't had a night away from Spencer ever, so it was a much-needed vacation.

I had packed a picnic lunch, but it was way too cold to eat outside so we drove to a cool look-out point and ate in the car. Neither of us had ever been to the Devil's Punchbowl or Cape Foulweather before and they are both appropriately named. We decided 10 minutes of walking around in the foul weather was plenty.





I was only wearing my sunglasses to keep dirt from blowing into my contacts. It wasn't sunny.




Here I am demonstrating how cold it is. You shouldn't have to wear your winter coat on Memorial Day.




This picture doesn't do any justice to how beautiful the Oregon Coast is. It's nicknamed the Emerald Coast because the vegetation is almost shockingly green this time of year.




We spent the rest of the day shopping at the outlet mall, having dinner at the casino buffet (the only bad part of the trip for me), and relaxing at the beach house. The best part was probably getting to go on a run together in the morning. Running together is how Alan and I first became friends so it's always special when we get to do that. The rain had stopped for a few minutes and the beach was almost deserted since it was a Tuesday morning. The sunrise and the color of the ocean were gorgeous. I was really wishing that we didn't have to get home so we could have just ran all morning. Not that my knee injury would have allowed that anyway, though. It was lovely.

It was so great to remind myself what good friends Alan and I are. We didn't talk about all of the little things we have going on - we just enjoyed out time together and it's been way too long since we've done that. I recently read the journal entry I wrote about our wedding and it reminded me how excited and in-love I was 8 year ago. Both the excitement and the love are still there, but they have evolved into much deeper emotions. The experiences we have had together and the memories we share have created a much stronger bond than we had when we were first married. I'm so blessed to have found the perfect guy for me and I can't wait to spend another year in paradise with him. I love you Alan!