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2.16.2011

An a-MAZE-ing Valentine's Day

You may have noticed that I don't share a lot of the personal day-to-day details with you of my life. This isn't a personal blog (although it can get a little "personal" at times!). I think my biggest reason for choosing to write this way is to eliminate one other person that you need to keep track of or have to read about. I try to leave me and hubs out of the imagery of my posts as much as possible so that YOU, my lovely readers, can imagine you and yours in the date and romantic ideas I have created.

By not filling you in on my day-to-day marriage experiences, however, it has occurred to me that many of you think that my marriage is lovey-dovey 24/7.

Despite anyone's perception, our life is not the stage play of this blog. We have our struggles like any other couple. We have great moments and other moments we can't stand to be in the same room with one another. Our marriage is no where near perfect.

I really wanted you to know that. In times when you struggle and wish for something different, or as you read this blog and think I might have the perfect marriage or even when you wonder how your neighbors across the street really have it together.... just know this. The grass isn't always greener in someone else's marriage. You don't know what goes on behind closed doors... (and thank goodness for that!) They might actually have a great marriage...but I'll bet you anything that it isn't perfect. And even if it is great, there was something which brought it to greatness.

What's important is that you focus on making YOUR marriage the best it can be and
remember that it takes work. Really. Hard. Work. I think it's probably the hardest work in the world.

On that note, I thought I'd allow you a glimpse into my marriage...just for today. Hubs and I have been at odds for the past little while (nothing serious...but little stresses from school and work have seem to put us at odds!). I didn't want Valentine's Day to pass by without showing him how much I still loved him and still wanted to be with him!

So this is what I did.

I related our "being at odds" to being in a maze of sorts (so I put a lovey-dovey spin on a "maze" theme to introduce our Valentine's Day plans.)

(PS: The cute paper design for the back of my card is from the "Dance with Me" kit, FREE at Summertime Designs.)

I'm embarrassed to admit how corny I am, but I had "Amazed" by Lonestar playing as he read his card. (That was our wedding song...so it worked for us.)

Then, after that lovey-dovey mush, I'm sure hubs was delighted to solve this maze.


(of course, the bottom portion was covered up....)


And then, our Valentine's Day plans were revealed at last... A weekend getaway to Cape Cod!

I promise I'm not turning into the TripAdvisor Review website, but if you live in the New England area or plan to travel to Cape Cod, this is a must-stay!! I'll tell you why:

We stayed at the lovely and romantic bed and breakfast, Ashley Manor in Barnstable. What a perfect choice! We had an amazing suite complete with a 2-person jacuzzi tub and fireplace. We felt at home instantly as our innkeepers greeted us at the door. They served a 3 course breakfast each morning (my favorite menu item was a baked pear with a dab of vanilla bean ice cream and drizzled with the best caramel sauce ever. {de.li.cious.} Luckily, Vince filled me in on his caramel "recipe".

The whole stay was just perfect. They had taken care of even the smallest details for us, right down to the bottle opener which I had forgotten. A small detail...but without it, there would have been no sparkling cider as we cuddled up next to the fireplace!

Because of that, I was inspired to never again forget such a detail, and to help you {not} do the same. How?

Many thanks to Karen's Scraps and Graphics for allowing me to use elements from her Valentine Room freebie kit!


You can download the checklist HERE!


Here's an example of how to put your romance package portion of the checklist to work. Just look at these romantic little additions that made our suite complete at Ashley Manor...


Lovely. Now, back to us. :)

We did have an aMAZEing Valentine's which just allowed us to leave the little stresses that were bringing us down behind us! Everyone needs that every once in a while. We hope that you all got to spend a little quality time with your spouse and that those loving feelings will continue all throughout the year. And when they get interrupted, keep working and keep loving! You'll be aMAZEd at the results!

28 comments:

Unknown said...

I LOVE Cape Cod! I'm glad you guys were able to get away and have a wonderful time:)

Stephanie Tobler said...

You are so creative! I love seeing what ideas you come up with! Thanks for posting!

jeanne @ Inspiring Ideas said...

Oh - Cape Cod! How I miss New England! What a wonderful weekend!

The Allen Family said...

That is just way too cute! And thanks for sharing what you did in the beginning, sometimes it is very hard to not think everyone else has the perfect marriage/husband. And I loved the saying "Even if it is great, there was something that brought it to greatness." SO TRUE!!!

James Clifton said...

Very cool idea. I am always envious of people who come up with great ideas like this! Are you always this creative? Just found your blog today so I guess I'll find out! www.myrealbirthstory.com

Stacey said...

I gave you a Stylish Blogger Award, http://madeofsnails.blogspot.com/2011/02/stylish-blogger-award.html

Closer to Lucy said...

So envious! Thanks for sharing!

Lucy is out hopping, following you now. Come on by when you get a chance Closer to Lucy

Rebecca said...

Your blog is amazing. Full of such cute ideas. I love this one! You are totally creative. I'm a new follower now
http://to-calm-insanity.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Wow I think you're the cutest wife ever! I hope I can be that inventive once I'm a wifey!

Kelli said...

K, this is the cutest blog! I'm so glad I found it! I actually came across this through sugardoodle. I love your flight plan lesson idea and I want to copy it, but I can't seem to get either the word or pdf files for the lesson outline to work. Would you mind sending it to me? My email address is kellicherry@gmail.com. Thanks!!!!!

Jordan RYM said...

Great Valentines! I attempted a challenge for Valentines that was awesome! It's The Rock Your Marriage Challenge. Keep growing together!!

Severino Myers said...

Impressive...

Mommyto3andahusky said...

I just found your blog and I love it! :) I am your newest follower! :)

Carolyn said...

You are super creative!
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shah said...

Amazing
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Mackenzie said...

I love your blog! I love this post! So cute! I only hope that we can come up with dates as cute and fun as yours. Will you send me your secrets? :)
I'm following you now and can't wait to see what you come up with next. Stop by my blog www.fridaynightdatenight.blogspot.com when you get a chance. We try to do a date together every Friday too!

Anonymous said...

I like your posted valentine day are because of its designing....
Promotional Cards
plastic Cards

Muznah said...

I've been visiting this blog for quite some time but this is probably the first time I have truly respected your courage. Thank you for talking about your struggles and the ups and downs. This was a hopeful read

Nishat Shama said...

your ideas were really cute. i totally loved them. truly, a romantic gift can change a valentine's day. i personally love to give and receive romantic gifts. this site helped me a lot. check it out : http://messageonanecklace.com/articles/romantic_gift.html

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Brook said...

I love reading this because Husband and I had hit a rough patch where school and everything else were taking up our time together. It was then I realized that we needed to work to make it work. We started doing something I like to call 50 free dates (even though my list has WAY more than 50) and it has totally changed things around. We post about our dates and everyone thinks our marriage is this perfect sunshine and roses type romance but I always have to tell them it's because we needed to make it something more so we actually did something about it. I love your blog and we are totally going to do your free dates!!

Nicole said...

Loving this blog! Can you tell me what fonts you used in your "sending love from Cape Cod"?

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