Date Weekend

Brad and I didn't just have a Date Night. We had a Date Weekend! Somehow, it worked out that Brad didn't have to work, at all, and he was home with me for the long Labor Day weekend! What a blessing!

 Our wonderful Date Weekend involved:

 - A romantic dinner for two at Red Lobster (where I'm always begging to go, but he's always rolling his eyes at, and I was able to finally talk him into by using the gift card his parents gave us for Valentine's Day. Seven months, people. It's time to use that free money!)

- Followed by a trip to the movie theater. We even semi-dressed up for our little date. You can't tell it by our self-portraits, but I'm actually wearing a dress! (And these pictures are at two different locations, if you can't tell that, either.)

- The most beautiful weather ever, allowing us to live the weekend with all the windows open in the house. There's nothing better than sleeping in, waking up next to your love, and feeling the fresh air breeze all around you.

- A seven-mile hike, with endless hours of undivided time with only my soulmate and my Savior,  that took us to the top of cliffs, overlooking miles and miles of His Creation, and provided uninterrupted opportunities for many great discussions. (A separate blog post and many more pictures to come.)

- Many notes belted out alongside Taylor Swift (2 different albums) every single time we were in the car to go anywhere.

- A couple rented Redbox movies that were a perfect excuse to cuddle with my honey on the couch.

- Frozen pizza dinner. And I'm not talking the little Totinos Party Pizzas, which are great, but not noteworthy, since they're so commonplace around our house. We splurged and baked a Freschetta with the rising crust! (Which, if you know me, definitely belongs on a list of pros for the weekend.)

- Lots of lovin from my other baby, and time to spend "as a family" playing doggy tag and puppy wrestling around the house.

- Mornings sitting out on the front porch in our rocking chairs, enjoying the nice weather and reading individually, but together.

 - Loving some more on Layla, whom Kris and Emily brought home on Saturday.

- A cookout that involved Nathan's brand hot dogs. (Most definitely always a treat, regardless of how often I get to eat them.) Followed by gooey, warm-from-the-oven brownies.

- Waking up to the smell of homemade pancakes by my hubby.

- Baking with my husband as we put some over-ripe bananas to use by adventuring out to follow an online Banana Bread Recipe to a T. The results were wonderful, and the experience was priceless.

- A dice game in which I totally dominated, and during Brad's last ditch effort to beat me, he risked too much and lost all of his points. In your face.

- An hour-long card game of War, where I came back from waaaay behind to kick Brad's butt. Again. (And I appropriately gloated about it for more hours to come.)

- Listening to Brad play the guitar and wonderfully sing songs on multiple occasions.

Overall, it was the best weekend ever. After living with our work schedules for however long, and barely crossing paths with each other, Brad and I so needed some time to reconnect and just spend together, enjoying each other's company. It's nice to be reminded of why we're best friends; why we chose each other in the first place.

The incredible weather throughout the weekend was a constant reminder of God's presence and blessings. All good things come from Him, for He alone is good. Mehaffey Labor Day weekend, 2010 was definitely from Him, because it was good. Very good. Many praises and thanks to my loving and wonderful Lord!