Two Years

On May 3rd Jason and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary. We had talked about going to a Bed and Breakfast a few months beforehand and decided we would wait and do it for our anniversary. Jason took it and ran with it--he researched dozens of B&Bs in the KC area and chose one. He wanted it to be a surprise, so all I knew is that we were going to a Bed and Breakfast out past Liberty, Missouri. 

Side note: it was a long winter. Not only was it cold and dark and really cold (I'm such a wimp when it comes to cold weather and wind haha!), but working nights started to take a toll on my emotions and well-being. I was also called to be in Young Womens, which eliminated the Wednesday night shift option because of Mutual. I like to work three shifts in a row most of the time, which then gives me several days off to recover and have a normal sleeping schedule. Not being able to work on Wednesday night, however, eliminates the Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday, and Wednesday-Thursday-Friday options if I want to work three shifts in a row. So then I'm left with Sunday-Monday-Tuesday, which isn't too bad (but is always in high demand because people like to work at the beginning of the week), and Thursday-Friday-Saturday. I hate working those three days, because then I have to go straight from work to church until noon and if I have any meetings after church I feel completely dead. And when I wake up from my two hour nap after church, I feel like I've been hit by a truck. 

Sorry for ranting, but it sets the stage for how ready and sooooo excited I was for a getaway with Jason. And a surprise getaway to boot!

We grabbed some Mexican food for dinner and then drove to the bed and breakfast. It took us about 40 minutes to get there and the drive was beautiful! I haven't driven north into Missouri much, so it was fun to see new scenery. When we pulled in, this is what I saw:

I couldn't believe how classic and beautiful it was. We got a personalized tour of the house from the bed and breakfast owner. She moved here from France with her husband several years ago, looking for the perfect bed and breakfast and found it in Excelsior Springs, Missouri (imagine that!). They bought it, did some renovating and transformed it into a beautiful getaway. A few years after they moved to the U.S., her husband passed away, and several years later she met and married a new man that agreed to help her continue to run the B&B in her late husband's memory. They were such nice, warm people. It was amazing to get a tour from the owner herself, too. The customer service definitely didn't disappoint! At the end of the tour she took us to our beautiful bedroom.

Jason went all out. He got the anniversary package, complete with chocolate covered strawberries, sparkling cider, and a bouquet of flowers in our room when we got there. It makes me tear up to think of him planning all of this, wanting to make it special and memorable. He is so, so sweet. 

Look at that beautiful bed! Doesn't it make you want to just hunker and never leave?! That's how I felt while we were there. I never wanted it to be over. I never wanted to go back to real life, work, school, church responsibilities etc etc etc. 

After we ooh-ed and ahh-ed at our bedroom, we explored the grounds.

The paddle boats and rowboats were calling our names, so we hopped in and took a ride in each of them.

Jason was really good at rowing. Me, not so much. He rowed and I sang "Kiss the Girl." It couldn't have been more perfect. We make a good team.

After we sailed around the moat surrounding the house, we remembered the owner telling us about a walk to kissing point and headed for the meadow.

We found it! And, well, kissed.

It was the perfect way to spend our anniversary weekend. We felt happy and in love. Later that evening when we were laying in bed talking, Jason pulled out a letter he had written me. My heart! It basically exploded with love for him. I opened it and started reading out loud. It was so tender and dear. And so funny, too. Here are some snippets

"Dear Mrs. Brase,

Well, it has officially been two years since we were married in the Manti Temple. I think you and I can both agree that we were a little nervous about whether we were really making the right decision and whether we were ready to commit our lives to each other for the rest of eternity. I'm glad we followed our hearts and the answers to prayers we had received to go through with it that day. I sit here now, two years later, and think of all the reasons why I am glad I married you, why I love you even more, and why I can't wait to go through the rest of my life with you.

I'll start with a few silly things first. I had no idea when I married you that you like to rock out while you clean the house! You may not know this, but when I study at home and you're cleaning the house, sometimes I take a five minute break to just sit and listen to you singing your heart our to your favorite jams. You are so cute.

That brings me to the next thing I love about you. If I had to rate your butt on a scale from bland to so-smoking-hott-I-can't-keep-my-hands-off-of-it, I think you know that I would choose the "can't keep my hands off of it" one!

Now I will tell you more about the qualities that I see in you that I have come to appreciate.

You are a natural homemaker. You love to plant flowers and find joy in the beauty of the earth. You take pride in a clean house that smells fresh and feels clean. 

 I see in you a future mother. Whether children come now or later for us, you have the tender mother heart. Those are rare to come by. You are blessed with a gift to love wholeheartedly and the gift of desire to bring God's children into the world. I am grateful that I found a woman like you that is willing to make sacrifices to have children in order to bless our family with happiness. I look at you at times and just imagine how I will see you when you are the mother of our first child. You will be even more beautiful to me then than you are now. 

You bring sunshine into my life every day. I am so lucky to have been married to you for these two years and even luckier that you will stand by my side forever as we grow old and experience life together. I love you more than I ever have and hope you can feel that I love you with all my heart. You inspire me to be a better man so I am worthy of your love and devotion. I have never been surer than I am today that I made the right decision marrying you two years ago. I love you to the moon and back, Mrs. Brase."

By the end of the letter, I was bawling my eye balls out. Working nights and being sleep deprived has made me more emotional, but that letter was so tender and meaningful to me. I love Jason so much. He is the best man I've ever known. In my patriarchal blessing I was promised that my life would be blessed more by my husband than by anything I can have in this life. The longer we love and grow together, the more I realize how true that is of Jason. As I observe other marriages, I more clearly understand how rare mine and Jason's marriage is. My life would be dark, empty, cold, boring, and sad with out him. He is brightness, light, happiness, love, faith, and kindness. I couldn't be luckier to have him.