A Celebratory Little Trip

 I'm back from a weekend in the Bentonville, Arkansas area. My husband, Lowell, and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary. My, that sounds like we are so old! In our defense, we were high school sweethearts and married a couple weeks after I graduated college with my teaching degree. Ah, young love!

 The Bentonville square is like walking onto a movie set! It's a hopping little area with lots of people walking, dining in street side cafes, talking with friends, walking dogs and biking. We found out that there were 500 bikers in the area for a race on Saturday. The bike trails are impressive in the area. We enjoyed good food, relaxing, and exploring the area. We even ended up in a little town called Lowell!

 Northwest Arkansas is at the edge of the Ozark Mountains. That means lots of twisting, winding roads that go up down and all around. ~smile~ We enjoyed the diversity of lakes in the area. 

It was a treat to see goslings.

 We couldn't get in the water, because I'm healing from my port removal surgery last week. One more step to putting treatments behind me!

 The next day, while toodling around the winding roads, we stopped for a break,  and the lady at the counter talked us into a lunch of delicious gyros at a roadside gas station. What was meant to be a snack ended up being the full meal deal! We didn't even eat supper that night!

 We ended our weekend back at the Bentonville square, just sitting on a bench and enjoying ourselves watching people.

 It was truly a privilege to get away for the weekend. It's not something we've done very often over the years. I am very thankful for this opportunity. We dream of a big vacation someday. Maybe it will happen, maybe not. I'm just thankful that I'm living all the years of my life with my high school sweetheart.

 I remember one anniversary, very early in our marriage, we decided to splurge on a sitter for our one child. We were living away from family, so getting out together alone was a once or twice a year thing. Just a little before it was time to go, our toddler came down with a fever. The sitter was canceled. The child was cared for and put to bed, and my husband picked up Chinese on the way home. We set a tiny table in our bedroom where we could listen for Matthew, and ate by candlelight. It was probably the most memorable of our anniversaries. 

 Going away, going out, or staying home, the important part is to celebrate the relationship and the day in some way that is meaningful to you and your husband. 

 May God bless you and keep you,

Laura