Posts Tagged ‘love’

Day 365… What a Year! Is This The End Or Just Another Beginning?

Posted: September 10, 2013 in Love and Marriage
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Friday, August 5, 2011

So, all good things must come to an end and our second honeymoon is no exception.  Wait!  Did I call it good?  Sorry.  Make that great!

It was so amazing to share this time with someone who I’ve known and loved for years, and yet in the context of a “new” relationship.  It was truly some of the most blessed days imaginable.

Our room was terrific, as always.  All the rooms have kitchens and we always bring a lot of groceries and do a lot of cooking and relaxing while we’re there.  They also have several great restaurants on site, so we took advantage of that as well.

It was extremely hot all week, so when we weren’t indoors, we were usually either in the lazy river or in one of the several swimming pools.  We also went canoeing in the early morning on the lake and took walks in the evening around the resort.

Tonight we drive home and tomorrow morning, we get up early for our 62 mile Tour De Cox.  Today is 365 days – exactly one year from the day we woke up after our separation and started over on the day we had planned to ride our first Tour in 2010.

Tomorrow, after the Tour, we will welcome family and friends from near and far who will come to share our vow renewal ceremony.  After that?  Well, it will officially be the end of the Restoration Tour, but it will only be the beginning of the rest of our lives.

Day 361 and Counting… Our Second Honeymoon begins!

Posted: September 3, 2013 in Love and Marriage
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Monday, August 1, 2011

We woke up this morning and Ceecee realized that she needed to get her bike adjusted today, before we leave for our honeymoon!  We’ll come back Friday evening and Saturday morning is the Tour de Cox.  She needs a tune up, so we hurried down to the bike shop, explained the situation, and they were very good about taking care of her.

After that, we swung by Mothers, our local craft brewery.  We wanted to get a growler (which is a gallon jug with a sealed lid that you can fill with tap beer, so you get the fresh taste) to take with us to Big Cedar.

They have this tradition where they want you to take pictures with their growlers at different events or places you travel to and they sometimes give away prizes for them and we wanted to do that.  When we got there, they weren’t open, but we found an employee and when we told him what was going on, he took us around to the tasting room and got us one.

We drove down this afternoon and our room is just fantastic.  Big Cedar Lodge is amazingly beautiful and they have tremendous amenities.  It’s supposed to be really hot this week, so I’m sure when we’re not in the room, we’ll be spending lots of time in the water!

Day 360 and Counting… One Year After “The Phone Call”

Posted: August 28, 2013 in Love and Marriage
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Sunday, July 31, 2011

One year since “the phone call!”

One year ago today, after completing the mock triathlon with my training group prior to my first triathlon, Ceecee called me and asked me to move back in with her.  Why I had it so firmly in my mind that when I completed the triathlon, somehow we would be reconciled, I don’t know.  I just had an incredible amount of faith for that.  Of course, I thought it would be when I completed the actual triathlon; I never imagined the mock tri having any significance.

Anyway, that was exactly a year ago and two days later, I moved into the loft with my wonderful wife and a week later, the restoration tour began.  Now it’s nearly finished and it seems that it’s only been a few days and that it’s been forever, both at the same time.

Two days from now, one year to the day that I moved back in, we leave on our second honeymoon!  We’re going to Big Cedar Lodge, a world class resort south of Branson.  My wife used to work there and we have quite a history with the place.

Just go to the search bar on this blog and search “Big Cedar” and you’ll find numerous posts related to it.  From the tornado, to the ice storm, to shortly before we split up, Big Cedar Lodge has been a part of our lives.  Now, we will restore that beautiful place in a way that I’m sure neither of us will ever forget!

Day 357 and Counting… An Extra Night On The Airline’s Tab

Posted: August 27, 2013 in Love and Marriage
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
0

Thursday, July 28, 2011

One more little adventure cropped up before we could we could get back home.  We flew from San Francisco to Denver, where we were supposed to connect with our flight to Springfield, but there had been a delay and we couldn’t make our connecting flight.

While this was causing quite a bit of grumbling from people on schedules, we were quite happy to accept the vouchers for a free meal and a free night at a nice hotel in Denver.  It just extended our vacation by another day, and we didn’t mind in the least.

This morning, we flew back home, and the restoration tour is nearly complete.  We have a few loose ends to tie up, but nothing stressful.  All the work has pretty much been done and we are ready for our honeymoon, the Tour De Cox and our vow ceremony!

Day 353 and counting… Last Day in California

Posted: August 26, 2013 in Love and Marriage
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

We made a quick stop into Quady winery, which happened to be on the way to San Francisco.  We really love their sweet wines and we got to actually meet and talk to Andrew Quady, the owner, while we were there.

We also had our first ever In-N-Out Burger, which turned out not to be a significant event in our lives.  It just seemed the thing to do, so we could at least say that we did.

Tonight we’re staying with Ceecee’s aunt and uncle just outside San Francisco and they are taking us to the airport in the morning.  We’ll be back home for just a few days before we head out on our second honeymoon!

Day 352 and Counting… Fun in the California sun

Posted: August 25, 2013 in Love and Marriage
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Monday, July 25, 2011

There’s so much we’ve seen and done in so little time.  This trip has been a bit of a blur.

When we got finished in wine country, we drove down to San Francisco, where we met my brother and his family.  He had gotten us great tickets to a giants game, and after that, we headed to Morro Bay, where they have a vacation home that is shared among various relatives.

We spent a day there, then over the next two days, we visited San Luis Obispo and stayed at my brother’s home just outside of Fresno.  Yesterday, we spent the day exploring Yosemite National Park, which was incredibly beautiful.  We’ve had so much fun, laughed so much, and truly enjoyed each other’s company and the wonderful love we now share.

Day 348 and Counting… Living the Dream In Wine Country!

Posted: August 18, 2013 in Love and Marriage
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Wow!  Our first two days in California have been a blast!

Well, almost.  Our first day was nearly a disaster, thanks to a problem with our bank.

We landed in San Francisco, took a shuttle to the rental car location, and had our bank card declined for no apparent reason.  Turns out, there was “fraud activity in the area” where we were and they had put a temporary stop on all transactions being conducted there on their cards.

We were to meet our PR connections at MacMurray Ranch for lunch and a tour of the vineyards and we couldn’t figure out how to pay for our rental car to be able to get there.  After a number of increasingly unpleasant telephone conversations with our bank, we finally got something worked out and were nearly on time to our first appointment.

Lunch was family style and Kate MacMurray was the perfect host.  The property was magnificent and the highlight was when they drove us to a point high on a ridge, where we drank Pinot Noir overlooking the entire estate.

Our hotel has a nice pool that we enjoyed in the afternoon and we ate at a really cool place in downtown Healdsburg called Spoon Bar where the outside walls are actually accordion doors that they had opened all the way up, giving us the feeling of dining outdoors.  Healdsburg is a great little town with all kinds of great places to eat and drink, especially down around the square.

Today was super busy and fun.  We started off by taking a run down and through Healdsburg.  The early morning temperature in the mid fifties was a very welcome change!

We had lunch at Louis Martini Winery, then visited the CIA – that’s the Culinary Institute of America – in St. Helena.  That and driving past Alcatraz have been the highlights for Ceecee, so far.

After that, it was back to Healdsburg for a tasting at J. Vineyards and winery, and we actually reached the wine saturation point, so we went to a little Brat place called The Wurst and tried a local brew with our dinner.  It all ended with a drive to Sonoma for dessert at a place on their square that I really love called El Dorado Kitchen.  Whew!

Day 342 and Counting… Restoring the “Girls Just Wanna Run 5K

Posted: August 11, 2013 in Love and Marriage
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Today was the annual “Girls Just Wanna Run” 5K, the largest women’s only 5K in the state of Missouri.  Since I’m obviously not running, but Ceecee is, I volunteer to be one of the traffic control people out on the course.

This year, there were expected to be close to 1000 participants.  I didn’t count them as they came by, of course, but it was pretty impressive to watch that sea of women flooding out of the park and onto the streets.

Last year, we were separated during the race, but Ceecee still gave me a high five as she came by, although it was very awkward after the race.  This year is as different as night is from day and we were extremely glad to be a couple throughout the entire event.

For me, there was no hoping that she would spend any time with me afterward, or having to say goodbye again when it was over.  I didn’t have to worry about our future because we are as committed to each other as any two newlyweds.

Tonight is date night and then we only have a few days to make preparations before flying out to California!

Day 340 and Counting… A Dog Bite Cuts Our Ride Short

Posted: August 7, 2013 in Love and Marriage
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Awfully unexpected turn of events during our training ride this morning.  We were intending to try to ride the entire route of 62 miles, a metric century for those of you who are familiar with the term.

Around 20 miles out, we turned down a farm road with a few houses on one side and a Bassett Hound came running out into the street.  There’s always a worry of dogs getting tangled up with your bike and causing a crash, so that was where my focus was, on avoiding hitting the dog.

It had other ideas.  It bit me as I came up alongside it.

I kind of kicked it off and kept riding to put a little distance between us before I stopped to take a look.  It was bleeding, but not badly.  We usually carry some minor first aid items with us, so I cleaned it up and put on some neosporin.  It was pretty sore, so we decided to just head back toward the house.

Later, I went back in the car and tried to find the house it had come from by asking some neighbors.  I wasn’t sure what my plan was, but I definitely wanted to at least confront the owners if I could find them.

A neighbor knew of the dog and said it had been known to bite before.  I kept thinking it was a good thing it was me that it bit and not my wife, because I wouldn’t have handled that well.  As it was, i made a police report, but declined to take any action against the family.

Day 336 and Counting… Invitations Done, Getting Close

Posted: August 6, 2013 in Love and Marriage
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Things are definitely coming together.  Today, we got the invitations all done.  We’re doing a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party theme loosely based on the recent version of Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp.

Ceecee created them herself on the computer and they turned out really neat.  There are several outdoor patios and pavilions at the park and we just decided that we will have our ceremony outdoors and the weather will just have to cooperate.

I’ve picked up most of the stuff for my costume at thrift stores and we ordered a Mad Hatter’s hat on Amazon.  Ceecee found a dress at a store downtown.  It’s going to be really silly and that’s the way we want it.

We’re planning two training rides this week and we leave for California in a week and a half.  When we get back, it will only be a few days until we leave for our second honeymoon! Hard to believe everything is this close.

Older Entries