Monday, June 28, 2010

a SURPRISINGLY fun weekend


this past weekend was just what the doctor ordered!! it was filled with lots of good rest, laughter, quality time with ryan, and a chance to hang out with a few of my hilarious friends :) here's a little synopsis...

for starters, i got to get out of town for a couple of nights with my wonderful husband and no one else! we headed up to the cincinnati, ohio area because he was exhibiting at a trade show there for work. when he first told me about the weekend plans, i was under the impression that we'd be staying in downtown cincy. i had visions of shopping and exploring the city by day and us going to some swanky restaurants at night. however, the day before we left, those visions were pretty much dashed when i looked up our hotel and realized that we were actually staying in west chester, ohio, a small suburb of cincy. at first i was a little bratty and debating on whether or not i was still going to go. i was worried about being stranded all day while he was working and having no method of transportation or activities to keep me busy. however, boy am i glad i went!!!

the weekend getaway was perfect! we stayed in a very nice hotel {and didn't have to pay for it!} and i spent most of the weekend catching up on sleep, reading, and relaxing. i'm so thankful for my sweet mother-in-law who graciously kept R & P so we could get away!! friday night, the conference was hosting a social so we headed into downtown cincinnati for that and i got to see ryan in his element. he is truly a salesman at heart and loves interacting with people, so it was fun to watch him network and be the extrovert that God made him to be. also, for a few of you locals, you may know that west chester, ohio is home to our closest ikea store! i could literally walk out of our hotel and see ikea, so i did a little shopping while i was there too. i love all the great deals and would have definitely spent more money if we weren't saving for our sweet ethiopian joy! *speaking of which, whenever our little man {or little girl} gets a bit older, i'm hitting up ikea for all my toddler furniture and bedding neeeds!!* west chester is also home to one of ryan's favorite restaurants, the original pancake house. we got up early on saturday to make it in time for ryan to enjoy his favorite food - the dutch baby pancake. here's a photo of him enjoying his breakfast:


so after a weekend of relaxation, the fun was definitely not over yet. we spent sunday afternoon celebrating miss mikayla, my oldest niece, for her 8th birthday with a pool party and jumbo, blow-up slip and slide thingy at my parents' house. if you've been reading here long, you'll know that we had one of these things last year for mikayla's b-day too. ryan enjoyed it so much but was hurting for several days from the scrapes and bruises. this year, he decided to wise up and pull out his under armor shirt from his college days for smoother sliding. my little brother, stuart, appreciated the idea so much that he decided to join in on the fun too. here's a picture of R, his friend he brought to the party, ryan and stuey as they were about to make another run down the slip and slide:

{*i left the block off of R's entire face b/c i wanted you to see the giant he smile he has on his face!!}
*i hope ryan doesn't choose this week to be the week he starts reading my blog :) haha.

anyways, after mikayla's party, ryan informed me that he made plans for us to go out to dinner with our dear friends josh and cheryl. i was so excited because we love hanging out with them but we've really not gotten to spend much time together the last several months. when we got to buca di beppo, i noticed that the hostess was guiding us towards a room full of people with menus over their faces. i couldn't quite put things together fast enough but i remember thinking that they were taking me into a surprise party for someone else. all the sudden, several of my dear friends pulled their menus down and shouted, "surprise"! in mild shock, i kept thinking, "surprise for what??". i was temporarily scared and confused until they started singing happy birthday to me. my sweet husband, and friends, lindsay and cheryl, had planned the surprise party for my birthday without me having any clue! it was a couple weeks late, but was definitely not a dollar short! it was a great party and i felt so loved and encouraged. i think i sat in shock for the first half an hour. i always tease ryan that he'll never be able to surprise me about anything, but obviously he did!! we had a great dinner laughing and chatting, and then got to go back to craig and denise's house for more fun. we had cake, ice cream, coffee and a ton of laughs!!! i think someone in our group...who shall remain nameless...laughed so hard that she almost peed herself :) i seriously think i smiled the whole rest of the night.

what a blessing this weekend was for me!! ryan, if you're reading this {and i bet you aren't :)} THANK YOU!!!

0 comments: