[ The Rest of our Anniversary ]*

Can I just tell you that I married a guy with a heart bigger than Texas?

He's just plain sweet.

I came home from work on our anniversary to beautiful sunflowers and yellow roses.

And the silliest/romantic "us" card you can imagine.

Then he whisked (what a great word-whisk!), he whisked me off to a surprise getaway in the mountains. (Right near where we were married. See, I told you he was sweet.)

Okay, I have never used this blog as an advertisement, but I'm about to give a ruthless plug for the next 5 minutes (or 10 if you are a slow reader/ picture looker) :).

We stayed at the Glen-Ella Springs Inn--and, if I am lying, I am dying--this is the CA-YOU-TEST place we will ever find.

Charming out the wazoo. Here's our room:

HUGE porches dotted with rocking chairs looking out at the mountains. No TVs or computers or phones. Instrumental music in the background. Delicious, gourmet Southern meals. Beautiful and aromatic flower gardens. Twinkle lights in all the trees. Homemade apple butter and granola. Drying hydrangeas on every table. Cute as a button innkeeper who loves the Lord and enjoys talking about life over the morning's cheese and wine casserole.

CA-YUTE.

We spent all day Friday doing nothing.  Not a dag-um thing.  That was a first in our entire four years. We have NEVER just relaxed together for 24 hours.  And ummm....it was fabulous.

Picnic on the huge lawn overlooking the inn's 16 acres of mountains? Yes, please.

Cokes in glass bottles? Now we are talking.

Handsome fellow reading beside me? I can handle that.

(Handsome husband reading did not last long.  Shortly after this photo was taken, he passed out for a four hour nap while I continued to devour my book.  The nap was complete with numerous violent snorts which provided unlimited entertainment.)

Like usual, we went exploring and passed by my favorite church in Sautee-Nacoochee.  (This is where I really wanted to get married but it was too small.  It is in the middle of a pasture and when we went to look at it during our engagement, there were cows right up against the windows looking into the sanctuary at us.  How great is that?) This is the beautiful front door and stained glass:

And our anniversary dinner was celebrated at Bernie's Restaurant, also in Sautee.  This is such a sweet place for us.  It is where we had our rehearsal dinner AND Bernie catered our wedding.  She is an angel.  Last time we came in (which was about 3 years after our wedding) one of the waitresses recognized us and immediately ran up to hug us and gushed about how our wedding was her favorite that she has ever been too--which was hilarious since she didn't even know us!

Like Glen-Ella Springs Inn, if you can ever make it to Bernie's, you MUST! These picts were taken with just candlelight, so they don't do the food justice, but it is the best!

Roasted red pepper bisque

With caramelized onions and bacon

Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon Raifort

Accompanied by a horseradish compound butter

New Zealand Rack of Lamb

Seared and roasted with cherry tomatoes accented by a balsamic vinegar reduction

We can't even remember the name of the cake.  David called it Cuss Cake because, as he told the waitress, it was so good it made you want to cuss.

I, on the other hand, took one bite and closed my eyes. David thought I was just really enjoying it but the truth was (and I am actually very embarrassed that I am even admitting this) I took one bite and my eyes IMMEDIATELY welled up with tears.  WELLED UP.  To the point where I knew that if I opened them that tears would STREAM down my cheeks.  I'm still not sure why I had such a strong reaction.  Yes, it was the most delicious taste that I had ever experienced, but really?!? Am I going to cry about it??  It took me a good 2 minutes before I felt comfortable opening my eyes again.  So, David then explained to the waitress that Cuss Cake was now called Cry Cake.

When we were packing up our room, I wrote in the guest book, "We came to celebrate 4 years of marriage, but now we are wondering if we could just move in with you?"

If I hear from the innkeeper, I will let you know.

And here are a few photos from the self-timer: