Monday 16 May 2011

Our Anniversary...


Friday was our 22nd anniversary and my husband planned a surprise night away.  I had been gone in the afternoon and when I came home he was standing at the door ready to head out.  We had already planned on going out for dinner and so I knew we were going somewhere.  Being a woman that is pretty observant of what’s happening around me I was on to him.  You see he didn’t really want me to go into our room or bathroom because he had secretly packed a bag for me and he didn’t want me to see that anything was missing.  But I needed to use the washroom before heading back out.  I saw my hair straightener sitting on the counter and thought I should grab that but didn’t.  So I got into the truck threw my purse in the back seat but didn’t really want to look back there because I didn’t want to see anything.  But of course I noticed that there seemed to be some old work clothes shoved under the seat in a little too tell sign of the fact that they were hiding something.  I kept my mouth shut smiled inside and didn’t say anything and tried not to think of what he was planning.  I’m so hard to surprise; it’s really kind of annoying ;-) 

 So we headed into town, as we’re driving my husband asked where I’d like to eat for dinner, I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go, as I’m thinking he turns into the Holiday Inn parking lot with a smile on his face and a smile on mine as he asks “you knew didn’t you?”  I said “yeah I kind of figured it out but wasn’t exactly sure.”  He had packed my bag with a little help from our daughter.  We check in and head to our room and my husband had gotten me a dozen huge roses which were there in the room when I walked in, they were so beautiful.  He had gotten them earlier in the day and had brought them to the hotel to have put in our room.  In it he had six yellow roses and then some white and pink.  He had purposely gotten six yellow roses because that’s what he had given me on our first date twenty-five years earlier. It’s not often that my husband gets me flowers but for some reason these one’s were very special to me, more special than any he had ever gotten me before.


Now it was time to check out my suitcase J  I wondered what he had thrown in there.  It was quite funny opening that suitcase; now remember it was only one night that we were away.  In it he had packed three pairs of socks, four underwear, one pair of capris (he thought they were jeans), three tank tops and two sweaters.  Actually there were some other items that he had originally picked out but my daughter switched them for different ones.  I said “honey, we’re only gone one day what’s with the four underwear?”  He said he was unsure of what colour I would like J  There was only one thing he had forgotten…my makeup, so we just picked up a couple things later in the night after dinner. 

 For dinner we headed down town and walked a bit, with my camera in hand taking some pictures.  We’re about to walk past a couple guys and I hear them saying “these people must be tourists.”  I smile to myself, knowing that’s exactly what I must look like.  So we stop and chat a bit, they ask if we’re from out of town because of the camera.  My husband says “no, we actually live in Belleville,” though just outside of town.  One of the guys says “what’s so beautiful here to take pictures of?”  I tell him there’s always something beautiful you can find.  We chat a bit more and then head to Jim’s Pizza, the best pizza in town.  Plus it’s where my husband and I had gone often during high school for lunch.  It was quiet in the restaurant and so I asked, at the encouragement of my husband, if I could take some pictures of the restaurant décor and bar area.  Of course I felt like a weirdo but I did it anyway.  My husband is always pushing me in that area to be more confident in just stepping out and taking pictures regardless of what people think.

As I’m taking pictures of the bar area, this guy comes out and grabs a beer and a glass and sits down and says “so you like bars?”  I feel a little weird and say "I’m just practicing low light shots, trying to get it right.” I then look at him and we’re both surprised because we know each other.  He says “you’re Tina,” I say yeah and you’re…"Tony" he says.  He used to go to our Church and we had taken a drama class together ten years or so ago.  So I sat and we chatted a bit.  I asked him what he was up to and then asked if was still attending a church.  He said “no, he was too lazy to get out of bed on Sunday mornings.”  I said “you should just get your butt out of bed and come to Church because it’s good to get together with other believers because we all need community.”  I told him that I believed God had set this meeting up just to encourage him to get back into community because I don’t believe in coincidence.  We chatted some more, he asked if I’d like a beer, I said my husband was just on the other side of the wall and I’d have to head back for our dinner. So we said our good byes.


My husband and I had a nice relaxing night together.  It may seem odd to get a hotel room in your own home town but it’s kind of nice, you don’t have to travel far.  And it’s good just to get away for the night, no cooking, no dishes, and just the two of you.  One of our favourite things to do is just watch T.V.  you know the Discovery channel, HGTV and TLC, we don’t have cable and can only get two channels at home so we don’t really watch T.V. so it’s a bit of a treat when we go away.  So that was our night and it went by too quickly.  Maybe another time I'll share the beginnings of our relationship.  











5 comments:

  1. That sounds like the perfect get-away! Hi Tina, I found you through Flkr because I liked your work. I just saw your blog and came to check it out. I live in Canada too, and am a Christian with a family of 4 and I love photography. It's nice to meet you!
    www.whats-going-on-here.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a sweet hubby to plan such a fun night away to celebrate! Glad you had a good time!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Way to go encouraging Tony, I would be too shy to say something like that. I would love to hear about how you guys got together. I love those kinds of stories.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We stayed in a hotel room in our town for our 20th anniversary. Not odd at all! Glad you had a wonderful time and even had a "God moment" to encourage another believer back into the fold. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds like this was a wonderful surprise!
    Happy Anniversary to you!!

    ReplyDelete