Better Than a Box of Chocolates

Valentines Day, 2016.  Probably one for the record books in my mind.  Sometimes, John and I can't do much more for the day besides order a heart-shaped pizza from Domino's, or head to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  This year, we each had a goal:  I wanted to do something a bit more meaningful, and John wanted to visit the Morans.  All I needed was 36 free hours in John's schedule, and a computer to make the plans, and we were set.  I didn't know just eight days before Valentine's Day how much I actually would end up needing this time.

Of course, a week before February 14, I had an absolutely miserable day at church.  No joke, I could barely get out of the chapel after sacrament meeting before breaking out in actual sobs.  I'm talking about cursing God through the tears, and my whole body shuddering at the emotional pain.  I had been shedding tears at the organ, but nothing that anyone noticed.  I just needed to get home, and get home fast, and once there, I spent a good hour doing nothing but crying.

Unfortunately, my body was also breaking down physically.  By that afternoon, I was coming down with a bad cold.  Congestion, sore throat, head ache, fever.  This isn't really anything new for me, but I felt God was just adding insult to injury.

And by Tuesday, I had contracted a highly contagious skin disease that needed to be treated at the dermatologist's office.  A disease that children usually get, but because my immune system appears to be compromised, I got it too.

I've never felt like I wanted to die....until that point.  Honestly, I can understand now why some people feel the need to kill themselves, or hope to be involved in a fatal automobile accident.  I was completely overwhelmed with misery that it didn't feel like there was really anyway out of it all.  And come Thursday night, when I developed a sinus infection (no surprise there), John gave me the merciful option to not go at all.  He started me on antibiotics, and I wrapped my very sick self up in warm pajamas and blankets and went to bed early.

By the next morning, I felt considerably better.  In fact, I was once again so very grateful that I'm married to a physician who can help me through so many health problems (he actually diagnosed my skin condition before I even went into the dermatologist's office).

At this point, I spent the morning just getting everything ready.  You wouldn't think it would take three hours to do, but moving as slowly as I was, I'm glad it didn't take longer.  I drove to Altoona to pick up John, and we were off!

I affectionately labeled our weekend "Our Valentine Tour, 2016", because that's exactly what it was; a tour of things that I love.

First off, I was glad to be taking a road trip with John.  Road trips are some of my favorite things to do, and I take plenty of them with the kids, but John rarely has time.  Between being on call at work, and being needed for his calling in the stake presidency, we usually have to plan a large vacation and arrange for time off work to get him to go anywhere with me.  I was so glad that he ended up having Friday afternoon off, and that he didn't need to be back to State College until Saturday evening.

First stop?  The temple.  So many of our Valentine's Days, and birthdays, and any other days are spent at the temple.  And you know, we might have spent our wedding day there too :-)  It seemed like a great place to remember exactly how much we love each other.

Second stop?  The Woodmont Grill.  John had wanted to take me to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, a place I've always wanted to try.  However, after looking at the reviews for the different restaurants in the Bethesda area, I found The Woodmont Grill.  Great food, live music, and great service--it sounded like a plan to me!  We got out of the temple at 6:15, and our reservation was for 6:45.  John was once again amazed at the perfect timing of it all, calling me one of my favorite names "the time wizard".

We ended our delicious dinner by splitting
a hot fudge sundae.  And yes, they brought
the hot fudge separately to pour on the
ice cream.

I love The Woodmont Grill, and I have no doubt that we will end up going again.  It just felt special in how it looked and felt.  The people there were young and old, but they were obviously wealthy across the spectrum (as they should be if they live in Bethesda).  Everything was made out of wood, and each table felt very secluded and private even if it wasn't.  Too, the service was amazing.  There is just one person who fills the water glasses!  And the food was excellent.  I hadn't eaten anything for days, and I wasn't sure that I wanted to eat anything very big, so of all things, I ordered a hamburger.  Unbelievably, it was the best hamburger I've ever had.  John did tell me that I'm not allowed to bring the kids there anytime soon seeing how expensive it is, and because he wants to keep it our special place (he was thinking of The Melting Pot, and how the kids slowly encroached on "our" place).

I had forgotten to pack a few things amidst the fog of illness, and one thing that I desperately needed was Sudafed.  Thankfully there was a drug store within walking distance of the restaurant.  John worried that we would be mugged to which I kept reminding him that Bethesda is very upscale.  He also couldn't let either of us forget how truly cold it was :-)

Third stop?  Our hotel.  In our minds, this isn't terribly romantic anymore unless it's a Westin in Grand Cayman, or the equivalent, because our house and bed at home is so crazy comfortable and cozy.  However, I took us up a step and found a hotel a bit on the nicer side in Fairfax, Virginia.  Funny enough, John knows the way to my romantic heart and let me watch my favorite show, Gold Rush, as soon as we walked in the door.  (Yes kids, this was a "Wapner at 7" kind of moment.)  And then there were fireworks, but not outside.  Yep, we're middle-aged and we love each other.  A lot.  Cue cringing.

Fourth stop was one that I was really excited about.  Call it the sickness, but when planning this trip, I had somehow remembered that First Watch is in Maryland.  And yes, I had reserved a hotel within a short drive of my favorite breakfast diner.  I never even look at the menu; it's always fresh fruit crepes and house potatoes.  I didn't eat much of it, but what I did eat was so absolutely delicious.  We were in and out of there within 30 minutes, and didn't I wish there was one close to our home for the millionth time.

I mean, c'mon.  Just LOOK at that deliciousness!

And the Floridian French Toast.  This is one of my
favorite looks that John gives <3

Did I mention that it was cold?  Today the wind had decided to join the cold.  Brrrrr.

Fifth stop was a biggie.  It was really the whole motivation for our trip.  A visit to our friends, the Morans.  I hope they appreciate how much they are loved, seeing as we basically planned our whole Valentine Tour around seeing them!  We had six short hours to spend with them, but it was once again nice to remind myself that even though I might be leaving my church meetings in tears, there are still people on planet Earth who love me.  I'm thinking that pizza might be becoming a tradition when we get together, because we had it once again.  And we played games.  And John or I won all of them...or even tied once.  I could have lost them all though and still been happy.  It always feels as if we just saw each other the day before, because we just pick up where we last left off.



We might have stayed longer, but we had Glo waiting at home for us, and Ethan, Rebecca and BABY waiting at a pitstop along the route home.  What a nice surprise though as we were coming around the beltway:

Stop number six:  ERB had travelled to Rebecca's home to see her family, and it just so happened to be on our way home.  We spent some time around the dinner table, catching up with Rebecca's parents, and John got to see Baby for a few minutes.  Lots of love there, let me tell you <3

Finally, we were home, and all of the troubles from the past week seemed to be a distant memory (well, except for the fact that I'm on numerous medications and treatments for my various ailments still).  However, I was reminded that love does indeed conquer all, thank goodness.  And that man of mine?  He's the best.