I have been married to my best friend for 25 years today! I could go on and on about all the wonderful, fabulous things about my hubby, but I have told you about those things already…but what I will say is I can’t imagine loving him more than I do now!

To celebrate we took a long weekend to San Antonio since our trip to Ireland isn’t till May we wanted to do something special to mark the occasion. Special it was! We had a corner suite at the River Center Marriott on the 28th floor. We had great views, the window from the dining room looked over to the Alamo dome, the another huge window in the living room looked over the Riverwalk, it was gorgeous!

The first night we went to Mi tierra, a favorite of ours! It’s a landmark in San Antonio and so there was a hour wait, which we didn’t mind…the margarita’s are fabulous there! Big D asked the los trovadores(strolling musicians) to serenade me with a love song, they sang ”Amor, amor.” He’s a big romantic!

Mi tierra also has one of the best bakery’s….we stopped by there before we left town and picked up some goodies!

Sunday we spent the day doing the tourist thing. We went to the Alamo, it’s beautiful and it’s history is rich.

We watched two girls get ready for a photo shoot for their Quinceanera…

After the Alamo, Big D surprised me with a buggy ride around the city. It was a great opportunity to get some great photos and that I did! We happened to get a really sweet driver, who decided he would take the “long” way, which was fine with us, we enjoyed chatting with him and seeing the sights. “Jesse” our horse did a wonderful job too!

Isn’t he gorgeous?!

Just one of the gargoyles on the Smith Young Tower, amazing piece of architecture!

I took a lot of photos (about 450 I think), from our carriage ride, our boat ride down the river and our walking tour, LOTS of photos! I will put some on my Flickr page, in the next day or so if you want to see more.

On Sunday night we had reservations at a place called Fig Tree. It was a delightful experience from the time we walked up to the door till the moment we left….they greeted us at the door by name, wishing us a happy anniversary, then showed us to a very quaint table on a balcony overlooking the River. It was gorgeous! Our tuxedoed waiter brought us champagne to toast the occasion, courtesy of the owner. At this point my husband surprised me with a small package out of his pocket! Now he wasn’t suppose to do that because he already gave me my gift a few months ago…but he’s a sweetheart and loves to surprise me and he did that! Inside that little package were the most beautiful 1 carat diamond earrings! It was one of the best dinners we have ever had! I had the Lobster Bisque which was so creamy and rich! We both had the Beef Wellington with grilled asparagus and roasted garlic mashed potatoes. For dessert we treated ourselves with the Bananas Foster, which was out of this world! If you are ever in San Antonio and want a meal that will knock your socks off, make reservations at Fig Tree, you will not be sorry! 

To make the dining experience even more perfect, we could hear a bagpipe being played somewhere further down the Riverwalk. Our waiter said there was a gentleman who plays every night and the music drifts down the river…it was beautiful! On our walk back to our hotel, we found the bagpiper and listened to him play for awhile…who would have thought you’d find that in San Antonio!

Monday before we headed home we drove out to Lackland Air Force Base, I wanted to see where my son was when he was in boot camp. The place is huge and I only saw the front! Then we circled by our old townhouse, Brandon wanted a picture, he couldn’t remember where we lived. We lived in San Antonio 17 years ago. This was the first time we had been back. This was a wonderful weekend getaway, and the best part….I spent it with the person I love the most.

During intermission our new friends and the two gentlemen that had the same seats as us, came over  and told us to come sit by them since no one ever sat in the seats next to them! The gentleman and his partner expressed to us how upset they were that they moved us, I was really touched by their concern that we enjoy the show from this awesome view. So, for the second half of the show, we were back in those excellent seats with our new friends who really made the show a lot of fun. Especially when the guy next to Miss Priss was trying to hook her up with one of the singers as he was singing “wanna know what love is!”

Celtic Thunder is a show not to be missed!! If you get the chance to see this show, make sure you do! Oh and I can answer if they wear anything under their kilts with the seats we had! Thanks Shelly, so glad I won the tickets, it was a wonderful night!

Saturday Big D and I left for San Antonio for a long romantic weekend to celebrate our 25th anniversary which is Wednesday. I’ll post with photos about that (well, not all of it ) tomorrow!

Later that day, D and I went to one of his colleagues home for a wonderful dinner, drinks and lots of laughs! Had a great time and enjoyed meeting some new people.

Sunday was absolutely gorgeous, while D worked on some schoolwork (he’s almost done with his Masters!! YEAH!!) I went out and watered my flowers and cleaned the pool. Brit came over, and by noon everyone was outside, playing in the pool. Brandon grilled hamburgers, which I think he did that just to impress his fiancé, but he did do a good job so he succeed! We played water volleyball and I have the proof of my superior playing, a slightly swollen eye from a direct hit!

Now I was diligent about the sunscreen, I use the “froggie” kind SPF35. I would spray everyone anytime they got out of the pool. I’d spray myself also. We use the “froggie” lip balm also, have to protect those lips! But wouldn’t you know, I’m the one that got fried! I’m sunburned enough that I am slightly miserable! I love having a pool, not sure how I am loving the effects of it! I better end up with one heck of a tan, I’m just saying!

One thing we noticed this weekend when we were out in the yard, is we seem to have a nest of hawks near us! Saturday I only saw one, with a large wing span flying over the house, pretty close too! It was quite the awesome sight! Then on Sunday I noticed it was back circling around the same area, disappeared for awhile and then came back, but then I looked and in the area I saw THREE hawks! I’ve never been a bird watcher, but living out here in the open area, it’s quite amazing at what you see!

So that was my weekend, how was yours?

“Are you a fair virgin?”

My mom almost choked, my husband roared laughing, and everyone else found it hilarious! I just gave the “priest” the look of “do I look like a virgin?” I did reply that I refused to answer that question on the grounds it would incriminate me! And that folks, is how our day in 1533 began!

Here’s just a few things we experienced….(I’m going to break this up in several posts since I ended up taking over 400 photos! )

We were surrounded by wenches and ladies but it was the knights (handsome ones at that! ) that caught my camera lens!

He proclaimed to the crowd after I shot this photo, “She shot me with a Canon!”

Dark Knights were also handsome, flashing their dangerous grins….

There was music floating in the air all around us! We caught one act that blew us away, the band ”The Rogues” was fantastic! If you like good Celtic music, check them out! Great music & sense of humor too….

The Rogues

There’s just something about a man in a kilt!!

There is a ton of food, so choosing what to eat became a huge decision! We settled on Turkey legs, which were delicious, even though you felt like a barbarian eating one!

Big D & Brit chowing down!

After our turkey legs we saw many hams, of the two legged kind…

And what Renaissance Festival would be complete without royalty, Queen Anne & King Henry VIII graced us with their presence.

Though they were the official “royalty” at the festival I have to say I think my mom made the best Queen for the day!

She was so regal sitting there even stranger’s bowed to her as they passed by!

That’s enough for now, I still have lot’s to share but that will have to wait! It was a great day, lots of wonderful memories were made and lots of laughs with the people I love.

Hope your weekend was fun filled and spent with the ones you love!

D had some digging up to do. He had actually killed three Oleander bushes (kind of hard since Oleander is quite hardy, but he managed! ). We replaced those that were dead and then he had to dig up two large bushes of Pampas Grass (they scratch you when you walk by! ), we planted the banana trees in their place.

Working hard!! He’s so sore, he’s not use to manual labor!

This little area off our patio was very crowded with Pampas Grass that actually covered up the cute fountain! D dug the Pampas Grass up (again every time you walked by it would scratch you, hate that stuff!) and we placed the potted Hibiscus in it’s place. Nice little spot now! Here’s a few photos of our work:

The bunny’s name is Theodore by the way!

More plants on the patio.

Just one of our Hibiscus blooms!!

Fern’s added by hot tub for tropical feel. See our new little friend? His name is Sebastian!

The Oleander is planted behind the hot tub, it’s hard to see in this photo. I’ll wait till it’s blooming really good and take a photo then!

So at least we got that stuff done this weekend, even though I wasn’t able to help much it feels good to have that checked off our to-do list. What did you do this weekend?

Have a great week!!

Now the game was not a nail biting drama type of game (they lost ), but I have to admit, just walking up the dang bleachers was enough drama for me! I don’t do well with heights. Especially heights when I can see down below me. I had made it up to the top and sat there but swore I wasn’t ever moving again! That was till nature called, and refused to be silent! If I wasn’t so freaked out, it would have been a great comedy act, but I literally was going down the bleachers inch by slowly inch holding on for dear life to the side rail with both hands! After what seemed like eternity, my feet landed on solid ground, which they NEVER left again!

Since the game was the very last game and it was Senior night, there is a question if this was a Senior prank, or just a fluke….but whatever it was, it was hilarious! Check out what happened during the 5th inning…

Sprinkler Delay!!

After all that, we headed to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants with the best Margaritas and enjoyed lots of laughs with family and friends! Nice way to end a day.

Saturday, I was up early as Brandon left to go play golf with his future FIL and he woke me up at 6:00 am! A bit early for a Saturday, but oh well. Lots of coffee…..lots.

We attended my little cousins 5th birthday party out at a park early in the afternoon. The last time I saw her she was still a baby when we moved to Georgia! Such a cutie! She reminds me so much of her mommy who I remember at that age. Her mommy was a flower girl in D’s and my wedding!

We were greeted by the biggest butterfly I had ever seen…

Pink Puffy Butterfly!

Was it bad that I really and I mean really wanted to sneak into the bouncy house and jump when no one was looking?

Saturday night we went to a BarB-Q at a colleagues of David’s with about 20 other couples. The chefs were Puerto Rican, and let me tell you the food, it was delicious!! I can’t remember any of the names of the dishes, (blame it on the wine) but I have requested a recipe for the rice dish they had!! It was divine!

Sunday we drove about two hours to meet D’s parents for lunch. And then when we left them we headed to the casino…..so to say the least, I never did get any of my planting done this weekend! I’ll have to work on that this week, weather permitting!

So how was your weekend?