Room #6

So we drove, drove, drove as far as we could last night...made it to Augusta, GA where we finally laid our heads on pillows at a Holiday Inn at 2 am. My favorite thing about hotel rooms is that you can close the curtains and the room stays PITCH BLACK until whenever you want to wake up...which helped our kiddos sleep a little later today, thank goodness. Anyways we loaded back up and finished our roadtrip to the soundtrack I made Rich the first summer after we met when I had moved home and he was still living in Charleston. Crazy how songs bring back emotions...and as we got closer and closer to the big C-town, we started remembering all the things we used to do, the feelings...the very beginning...of us. All 4 of us. :)


...coming into the city and seeing the bridge finished for the first time...

I asked him if, when he got that CD in the mail from me- a girl he really didn't know that well yet- if he thought it was "just another girl"...or if he felt different about me even that early on??? See, I never really dated anyone before Rich. He dated about, um...100 girls. :) But you know what?...he said he did feel different. Not in love, certainly, but different. He said that with all of his other girlfriends, he didn't really care about their feelings, but with me, from the very beginning, he felt "responsible" for my feelings. That was so honest and so intresting to me that it wasn't an emotion that he felt differently, but a "responsibility". And why am I BLOGGING about all this??? Because just like I told him today- I think we have a really sweet love story that I have never written down. And I want to. I want our kids to hear our love story and know that God destined us to be together. You see, it is no small incident that tonight me and this "boy" from my college french class are sidled up next to each other on a bed- me tick-tacking away on these keys and him- giving his thumbs a super work out with "Angry Birds"...like we've been together our whole lives. No small thing at all! He was born in ENGLAND. Me, America. He grew up in Baltimore, MD. I grew up in Dickson County. :) I was raised on a church pew...he never darkened the doors of a church- a self professed atheist, in fact, when I met him. From two entirely different paths, the most unlikely pair finally "stumbled" upon each other in the hallway of a community college here in Charleston. I have wondered many times what the conversation in heaven must have been like that day as he and I woke up, ate breakfast, got ready, drove to school...did all the things we'd always done every day of our lives...but THIS day, this day was to be the day we'd finally meet. The paths would finally cross. I like to think the angels watched with anticipation as I parked my car and walked toward that building, nervous for my first day of french class. "Gabriel, it's about to happen!!!...she's finally gonna meet the guy she's been praying for since she was a little girl...and she doesn't even know it!!!!" As Rich's mom let him out a few blocks away (so no one would know he wasn't able to drive) and he walked and smoked a cigarette (yes, indeed, folks...I married a one-time LOVER of the cigs), I wonder if they said, "Look! He doesn't have a clue that he's about to meet a girl in a few minutes that's going to help him finally find some peace...he's been running from God his whole life- and right now he's walking directly TOWARD Him!!!" I just wonder, often, if the angels really do rejoice in moments like ours, where two people come together to accomplish His purposes...where futures start changing and the world becomes even just a little bit better- just because two people meet...and fall in love. I wonder...

Anyways, more of that story later...but for now- we are HERE. We are in Room #6

of the I'ON Bed & Breakfast...


...super plush room with comfy southern charm...


...and can I just say the restaurant downstairs is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!? Rich and I split both our entrees tonight- Goat Cheese Ravioli and Pan Seared Scallops over a bed of perfectly steamed spinach...and Kobe Beef Sliders! Seriously gourmet...and don't know if we're gonna be able to handle Sunday brunch in the morning!!!


I surprised Jade by packing a bunch of her babies and toys and wouldn't you know that there was the perfect little closet in our room that I went in and set up for her...when I told her to go in and look she literally squealed with delight and danced a jig! So cute!


She's loved the big bathtub with the detachable shower nozzle (we don't have one of those at home :)...


...and she was so cute at bedtime laying her dolls out to sleep with her in her OWN big bed...

And Jude...well, tonight we finally got them both laid down to sleep (or so we thought) and were going to take advantage of the huge bathtub (seriously the longest tub I have ever seen- like it was made for Rich!!!)...you know, soak up a few relaxing moments...but just before we got our pinky toes in that warm water, our little guy let out his own squeals and was not going to calm down until he was right with us! Yes, it turned into a bubble bath for THREE! :) Funny how life changes with babies...but always for the better! He kicked and cooed and talked to us until we were all prunes---we LOVE us some Jude Warren! :)

Tommorrow we will go to that beach I mentioned before...the one where my sweetheart gave me the ring on my left hand. Now that was another good day, too...

Nite!