Weekend Away

As I mentioned yesterday, we went to Mentone, Alabama for a little vacation with some of our closest friends from church. We had so much fun. It was so relaxing to talk late into the night without feeling the pressure of getting to sleep so we wouldn't be grouchy in the morning.

Our friends were kind enough to plan and shop for all of the food, and we ate very well. The first night, Quenta had stuffed mushrooms waiting for us when we arrived. The next day, we enjoyed a late, leisurely breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast. That afternoon we went hiking and enjoyed a picnic of sandwiches. Saturday night, we feasted on the best steaks Marcus and I had ever had, as well as a delicious goat cheese appetizer and roasted asparagus. We truly felt like kings because we almost never take the time or money to make such delicious meals. Sunday was more bacon, eggs, and toast, followed by leftover steak for lunch and then bacon-wrapped shrimp for dinner. We were going to have scallops with the shrimp, but we were so stuffed that the scallops had to go back in the cooler for the trip home.

The cabin and the weather were both just beautiful. The temperature hovered in the upper 70's, lower 80's during the day, and 60's in the morning and evening. Just the perfect temperature to take advantage of the firepit by the front porch. Every night, we roasted smores and talked for hours. The boys (men) also found plenty of time to battle it out on Al's video game system, while Quenta and I chatted or slept. (We attempted a chick-flick once, but didn't end up watching more than about 20 minutes of it.) We also filled several hours playing Jenga, Texas Hold-em, and even spoons. Apparently, the care-free weekend really took us back to our younger days because we even got into a hilarious acorn fight while on our hike. Somebody picked up a little green acorn and chunked it at some one else, and the war was on. We were exhausted and out-of-breath after about 15 minutes of darting around trees and tossing acorns at each other, but it was FUN!

I can't believe how energized I feel from this weekend "off". I told a friend today that I feel like my cup of stress has been at least half full ever since I became a parent (often just an inch or two from overflowing), but this long weekend of being responsible for no one but myself has actually gotten me back to a practically empty cup. Knowing me, it will not take me long to begin refilling it, but I'm really enjoying how I feel right now.

On another note, I'm planning to take the rest of the week off of blogging, so don't worry about me if you don't see a post for a while. Enjoy the pictures from our weekend!