Tell Me Something Good – Our 7th Honeymoon
last friday, my husband and i awoke in the charming mountain town of estes park, colorado. there were truly birds chirping and i felt like a knocked-up snow white. it was almost 6 years ago that we woke for the first time together as “wife and husband!” our actual anniversary is on september 3 but our baby’s “guess date” is at the very end of august. we thought it would be smart to plan a near-ish getaway while time is still on our side – hence the early celebrating
some of the best marriage advice we have received is from my grandparents (who celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last month). they said to take a honeymoon every year! we adore this notion and have done it every year since we have been married.
estes park is our 7th honeymoon (our first one, we were lucky to venture to egypt!)
yes, that is the stanley hotel – where stephen king spent one night and it inspired ‘the shining!’ my husband hates all spooky things so if anyone wants to go on the ghost tour there – count me in!
so today i share with you the goodness that we carved out last week to celebrate it being the two of us and the work we do to maintain a satisfying and healthy marriage as partners!
we visited the location where we got married and noticed their massive new addition. we both agreed we were glad that didn’t exist when we made our promises to each other 6 years ago. really, it’s more about that view though!
circa september 3, 2010
we spent time talking about some of the biggest challenges we have overcome individually and together and what we have loved about being married. it felt amazing to get away and connect in such a meaningful place together, though some of us ‘cheers’d’ with more exciting things than others…
we played tourists and marveled at how literally 5 ice cream/candy shops within a .25 mile stretch can stay in business. we played our cards right and benefitted from the local farmer’s market too!
i am also getting larger by the day…
oh and on our way to dinner we saw this guy enjoying a flower buffet! i love the mountains.
i am grateful that we were able to take time off to head up to a special place we haven’t visited in 6 years to celebrate our 7th honeymoon. it is so important as human beings that we take the time to acknowledge the growth and development as time passes. this is even better to do when you have someone to process this with, particularly when this someone knows and loves the deepest you.
while you are on your early honeymoon – this is a perfect time to ask your yearly anniversary questions to each other!
with that, please share goodness that is happening in your world – big or small!
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Courtney {Alkeks Abroad}
July 15, 2016 at 1:52 am
Aw I love the idea of taking a honeymoon every year! Colorado is so gorgeous. My best friend got married in Aspen a couple of years ago and it was my first time back there as an adult and I fell in love! Cheers to the a new and exciting year of marriage. I will clink my glass of unalcoholic wine to yours (I really am drinking some).
chelsea
July 18, 2016 at 9:45 am
do itttt especially since you two love to travel anyway, courtney! it’s fun to call one of those a trips ‘a honeymoon’ 🙂 oh wow a wedding in aspen sounds gorgeous! colorado really is a beautiful state – it’s fun to be back here as an adult and appreciate the beauty. i hope you found a good version of unalcoholic wine because the ones i’ve tried – basically just $10 juice.
Jennifer Haston
July 15, 2016 at 6:58 am
Ooooh, honeymoon every year? I love it! My tell “you something good” is that this weekend is our wedding anniversary 7/17– Hard to believe it has been 5 years married! WOW! We are returning to the place it all started, but this time, I won’t be getting up at the crack of dawn to come start a brand new job, (man that was insane) glad to not repeat that process and really excited about our next chapter together heading into parenthood, and will be sure we ask the 4 questions at some point during this anniversary weekend. I am so excited about your last babymoon! I LOVE that teal and black dress, I am getting bigger too, it happens sooooo fast. I am starting to have some trouble sleeping but overall doing okay. Happy Anniversary Averys!
chelsea
July 18, 2016 at 9:47 am
i would highly recommend to start implementing the ‘yearly honeymoon’ – it’s pretty great! YAY happy anniversary to the two of you jennifer – wow 5 years! woohoo! so fun that you are going back to where you got married and able to share in the excitement of next chapters!
you think you are growing now – just wait until you hit around 32 weeks – i swear i wake up each morning with my belly growing an inch! it’s nutso.
Nina @ Hugs and Lattes
July 15, 2016 at 8:18 am
Hmmm I will definitely have to see if we can institute this “honeymoon every year” concept. I’m so in! We are hoping to be able to go to an exotic/out of the country place for our first anniversary since we are staying in the US for a honeymoon (but it’s not like we can pass up a free vacation package.) This sounds like a great honeymoon!
chelsea
July 18, 2016 at 9:30 am
yes you TOTALLY should! it could be near or far but it’s really fun to talk about and plan for the upcoming year. um – free vacation package for your first honeymoon?! well done – that’s amazing!
Jo Burns
July 15, 2016 at 9:38 am
Chelsea, Here’s a Camp Paha related something good. Last week my grandmother had to have surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm. We had been to the ER and the moved to Presby/St. Luke’s for the surgery. There had been a barrage of medical staff caring for my grandmother and helping us through this journey. When I got to the hospital and they were getting my grandmother situated in her morphined state…the face I saw helping her was familiar. It was Kelly from Camp Paha. I immediately felt more calm. She has been a surgery nurse for 4 years at Presby/St. Lukes. I’m so proud of all the Paha staff as they have grown into amazing adults and professionals….That includes you.
chelsea
July 18, 2016 at 9:33 am
oh jo – thank you so much for sharing that! very happy to hear that you got your grandmother in to get all fixed up and you saw none other than kelly! what a fun surprise and i am so sure that helped you feel calm instantly. camp paha absolutely set my life on a certain and powerful path and it sounds like it did the same for kelly (and so many others)!
Elyse
July 15, 2016 at 11:01 am
I love the idea of taking a honeymoon every year…I guess though we’d have to take our first honeymoon before I get ahead of myself. Such is life as a wife of a Storyboard Artist. One day, I will implement this…maybe? Lol
So happy you got to relax, since I’m sure you need it, growing a baby and all!
Elyse recently posted…Awkward and Awesome: Vancouver Edition
chelsea
July 18, 2016 at 9:53 am
ha! yes take your first honeymoon and then do something every year to celebrate elyse! sounds like being married to a storyboard artist is a busy one! glad you are in a new city that you get to explore together though – so fun!
growing a baby is getting more exhausting by the day come this third trimester. woooof.
Audrey
July 16, 2016 at 6:05 am
It’s so special that you guys were able to visit your marriage site for a pre-anniversary trip! It sounds like heaven with all those ice cream stands in one place 😉 I also love that little moose visitor! That view is so stunning. I am totally a mountains girl!
Audrey recently posted…The Best 80s Movies
chelsea
July 18, 2016 at 9:52 am
it really was a special thing to be back there and in such a different but amazing place! that elk was masssssive and so crazy that it was just walking down the street! i feel you – i am mountain girl too (but give me the beach too). i want it alllll. 🙂 can’t wait to hear about your trip!
Claire
July 16, 2016 at 10:05 am
This is so much fun (a 7th honeymoon), I love it! This post really highlights how special and important it is to make that special time for you and your husband/significant other.
I also for sure thought the moose wasn’t real hAha
As for my something good…I am spending time with my BFF from 3 years of age this weekend. It’s an official “girls weekend”, sleepover and everything! #yayforfriends
chelsea
July 18, 2016 at 9:55 am
it really is important to take that time to celebrate your marriage and each other, claire 🙂 i agree!
mr. elk was for sure real but we definitely did a double take because it was MASSIVE!
i hope you had such a fun weekend with your BFF this weekend – sounds like a perfect weekend. also it’s making me think i need to start finding our daughter a bff soon – friends since 3?! amazing!
Claire
July 21, 2016 at 6:52 pm
you never know…you may find your daughters BFF sooner than you know! (We met in good old pre-school…I like to imagine our first conversation was fun and outrageous for 3 year olds haha).
Amberly
July 18, 2016 at 8:03 am
Joe and I always go on some sort of weekend retreat each year, but I love the idea of a “honeymoon” every year. Since having Bensen, we’ve been able to get away three times. When he was six weeks old (our anniversary weekend), my mom offered to take him overnight so we could get some sleep. She’d been offering for weeks and how can you say no if someone offers to get up in the night with your newborn so you can get some good sleep? It was only a night and we just stayed at home and then had a day date, but it was fabulous. We escaped a few months later for a weekend in between our birthdays and those two nights away were SO nice. And then we just took our surprise weekend getaway after graduation, and it’s one of my favorite memories ever! I’m not sure how many times we’ll get away in the next year, but we’ve set a goal to go back to the place where we went on our honeymoon next summer for our anniversary and I’m going to see if I can squeeze three nights away in!!!
Amberly recently posted…Four Boundaries to Set to Save Your Marriage from Your Smartphone
chelsea
July 18, 2016 at 9:57 am
i love that you are already doing a weekend retreat yearly with joe, amberly! now dub it ‘another honeymoon’ and you’re good to go! it’s been really fun to celebrate and plan each year this way. i love that you finally took your mom up on the offer of watching bensen – i can only imagine how amazing you both felt after a full night’s sleep!
i can (for now) only imagine how important it is to spend time with just the two of you, way to make that a priority!
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