23rd Anniversary Getaway

Last year, when I posted about our anniversary getaway

to the mountains on Facebook, a friend messaged me and said,

"Hey, we have a cabin in the mountains if you ever want to use it."

Um... yes, please!

We took them up on their offer a year later

and for our 23rd anniversary, we took off to the 

mountains of southern Virginia for a two-night getaway.

It was SO great!

Usually, I don't like to leave our kids home alone unless

at least one of them is of driving age. For some reason,

that makes me feel better. But we had spent SO much

time at home over the last two months, that I felt

like surely the girls could handle two nights

at home by themselves. (I did reach out to a couple of

adult friends who knew the girls were at home by 

themselves and were willing to help if needed.)

Our friends' cabin is ADORABLE!

 I wish I would've taken more pics, but it is nice,

feels very new, well-decorated.

We LOVED spending time there.

There is no wifi and my phone didn't get reception,

so it very much felt secluded.

Luckily, Andrew's phone did get a little

reception, so the girls could text us when they needed us.

The view from the back deck.

The weather was so nice.

We ate most of our meals outside.

We went on a walk, exploring the neighborhood.

Then drove down to Fairystone State Park.

Saw this mama deer with her two babies crossing the road.

Pretty!

There are some hiking trails there.

We started out on one,

but it has been so rainy recently, that the trail

was really muddy. We decided to turn around.

Instead we drove to a different part of the park that had a lake.

It looked really cute, with a beach area and boat rentals.

But everything was shut down because of stupid COVID.

We just enjoyed the view and visited for a while.

Saw another deer on our way out.

Unpictured: Andrew's ideal vacations involve lots of time to just RELAX.

We read books, played Pandemic: Legacy, and watched a couple of movies.

It was definitely the relaxation that he needed. Yay!

The next day we went for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. 

Stopped at the Puckett house.

We learned from the historical marker that a

midwife named Orlean Puckett lived here.

She helped deliver over 1000 babies and never

lost a mother or baby.

Went on a little hike to this cute stream.

Then it started raining, so we ran back to the van.

Did some geocaching the next day before heading home. 

Found some cool ones!

The girls did fine at home. They heard a noise outside on one of the nights that scared them and kept them awake for a while. I hate when that happens! But overall, they did great.

On our drive home (the cabin is only an hour away), we came up with a list of some of the things that have helped us keep a happy marriage for the last 23 years. :)

*Weekly date night--We heard this advice when we first got married. We didn't have kids and we didn't see the importance. We were together ALL THE TIME. But once we had kids, this advice was invaluable. Even when the kids were LITTLE we tried to have at least a monthly date night. Now that they're older, we try to have a date every week. It helps keep us close and gives us something to look forward to every week. It doesn't have to be expensive or take that long, but still strengthens us.

*Have some hobbies in common--For us: tennis, geocaching, video games, some TV shows (Survivor, Jeopardy, MasterChef), football

*Living within our means. We were poor married students for the first SIX years of our marriage. We started doing a budget early on to track our expenses. Even when income was LOW throughout those years, we were very happy to entertain ourselves cheaply and only took on debt for education, a house, and cars. For us, living within our means brings peace.

*Plan at least one family vacation a year so you can all look forward to it. Even when our income was small, I would use our tax refund to take us on a vacation. I LOVE the memories that we've created over the years. We've taken turns choosing where to go and what to do.

*Have at least one overnight getaway as a couple every year. This was TRICKY for us since we lived on the other side of the country from grandparents. But luckily, we had church family who were willing to be surrogate grandparents for our kids. (Thank you!) Even though I LOVE being a mom, it is very rejuvenating to have a break from parenting at least once a year.

*Happily establish gospel traditions as a couple and as a family. I'm so happy we started studying the scriptures, praying and having FHE early on in our marriage. They became part of the fabric of our home and was always part of life. They helped us learn and grow together and teach our kids and helped us have the Spirit in our home.

*Speak kindly to and about each other. We've been taught that one since we were little and were first learning how to talk. But it doesn't always happen in marriages. And it's so helpful when you use courtesy and kindness with your spouse.

*Have similar financial goals. This on goes along with living within our means, but I think it's a little different. Andrew and I are both savers. We have dreams of retiring early and serving missions together, so we're working now toward those goals.

*Pay attention to your spouse's needs and look for ways to serve them. When the kids were young, I felt like I was the one that needed the service. Andrew could tell when it had been hard day. He would come home from work and offer to put the kids to bed so I could go walk around Target eating popcorn and browsing the aisles ALL BY MYSELF. As Andrew has served in church callings that have really stretched him, I've tried to look for ways to serve him and help lift his burden.

*Have fun together. Life is fun. Marriage is fun. Share that fun!

*Prioritize time with family. There are many demands on our time outside our home. It would be easy to get pulled in too many directions. Making our home and family a priority has helped us stay close, too.

Those are some of the things that have worked for us.
What would you include in your list?