Our Anniversary Getaway

Thanks for all of the sweet anniversary wishes! We had a fantastic weekend away and I can't wait to tell you all about it and share some pictures.

When we were discussing where to spend the weekend, we knew that we wanted it to be someplace fairly close, within a short drive from home. The very next weekend we will be traveling six hours away to my husband's hometown, so we didn't want two long trips back-to-back. Truthfully, we haven't done much traveling within the state of Texas since moving here nine years ago. We decided to go less than two hours away to Brenham, Texas for the weekend. It seemed like a good choice: it's close, there are a few things to do but it can still be a lazy weekend, and we found this adorable place to stay (Tara Farms).

It turned out to be perfect for what we wanted our anniversary weekend to be! We left on Friday afternoon just before lunch and were in Brenham by 1 PM. We started out by touring the Blue Bell factory, something we've talked about doing since moving here. (Have people outside of the southern United States heard of Blue Bell ice cream?) It was a special treat for sure. The tour lasted about 45 minutes and ended with free ice cream! Can't beat that. :)


From there we headed out of town and into the country to Tara Farms. Let me tell you, we were pretty sure from the website that we would love the little cottage, but when we got there it just felt perfect. How adorable is this place?



The cottage is right next to the main house, but the B&B owners let you have complete privacy. The keys were waiting for us and the cottage was stocked with everything we could possibly need for the weekend, including muffins for breakfast and fresh fruit, juice, milk, coffee, snacks and then some. We absolutely loved the decor inside the cottage. It was a great place for a nice, quiet retreat.


We enjoyed our breakfasts in this little nook.


Besides the cozy bedroom and sitting areas, the cottage had a lovely bathroom with a nice, big tub for relaxing baths. Outside was just as cozy with beautiful landscaping and acres and acres of land all around.



We enjoyed sitting out on the porch rocking chairs and on the swings beneath the trees, and were visited frequently by birds, butterflies, and dragonflies.





Of course, among the many beautiful flowers we particularly enjoyed the lilies, which reminded us of our precious little Lily who is growing more and more each day.



Each day we enjoyed heading back into Brenham for food, antiquing, and shopping, but every evening we were happy to return to such a beautiful and welcoming spot in the country. We thoroughly enjoyed the many shops in town, the wonderful southern-style home cooking we found in various restaurants, and the time spent outdoors enjoying nature and indoors napping or catching up on some reading. In the evenings we loved soaking in a nice bubble bath and then settling in under the covers to watch a movie.

Saturday was the day we set aside to celebrate our anniversary. We exchanged cards and gifts over breakfast at the cottage. I included the letter that I wrote to Chuck here on the blog in his card. I'd kept it secret from him and we were both a little teary-eyed as he read it. I was surprised and delighted to receive my gift from him. I'm happy to report that the ring finger on my left hand is no longer naked! (You may remember that I haven't been able to wear my wedding/engagement set for a few months now.) He gave me a beautiful three-stone anniversary ring, which I love. That night we got dressed up and enjoyed a nice dinner at a local Italian restaurant. It was truly a perfect day all around!

During our shopping on Saturday we visited a furniture store for the sole purpose of "window shopping" but we found a lovely little dining table with four chairs and a bench that we just loved! Our dilemma was that we live two hours away and had not brought a delivery truck with us. :) The price was excellent, though, and we just couldn't pass it up. We asked an employee about delivery and were happy to hear that they deliver to Houston and beyond "all the time," and even happier to hear that the delivery is FREE! It was music to our ears, so we purchased it and can't wait to get it here. I think the new table will serve as a nice memory of our trip as well!

The cottage provided a wonderful weekend getaway for us to go and relax and enjoy being with each other. We had much to celebrate this weekend, including 12 years of marriage, reaching six months in this pregnancy, and answered prayer from a loving and faithful Lord.