Mark and I celebrated our 11th anniversary this year. Last year, on the big
#10, we did absolutely NADA. Didn't have the money. This year we made a point to do something to celebrate all the years we have been together in wedded bliss.
Even though it is closer to his birthday than to our anniversary, this year
we made arrangements for our kids to be taken care of by Mema, and we went to Cleburne, TX. "Where?", you say...yes, Cleburne, TX. just south of Ft. Worth, and we spent one of the most incredible nights of our married life at Forest Retreat Cabins there. We didn't know what to expect except that we would be staying in a cabin and it was secluded.
Were we in for the surprise of our life!
When we arrived at our reserved cabin, The Texan, we had seen the pictures of the outside of our cabin, and it looked just as pictured. Pale green painted cabin with cream colored trim around the door and windows. Cute, quaint.
Once we opened the door, we were amazed at the inside. I don't know if we were expecting to see something from "The Little House on the Prairie" or what, but calling it a cabin did not do it any justice at all. We walked into a little mini paradise. Basically a one bedroom house, with a small kitchen (refrigerator, sink, stove, oven, microwave), a small den area (love seat, chair, tv, vcr/dvd player, fireplace), a small breakfast nook (table and two chairs, a small box of chocolates and a bottle of sparkling peach apple juice), a small cozy bathroom, and a the best king sized bed we have ever slept on in our entire life. Funny thing, propped on
the pillows of the bed was a picture book with devotionals from the Bible...by Mark Finley! Outside the back door of the cabin was a cozy little patio area with a bench to sit on, a small garden along the fenced in yard and a Jacuzzi. Oh, boy, we thought we were in paradise.
We had to our disposal a golf cart to explore the grounds on. They had a little ampitheater/chapel area, a small picnic area, and a gazebo..but I am getting ahead of myself here. We didn't really explore all that until Monday morning.
We were so impressed that the owners of this place had thought of everything. In the fridge was 2 bags of popcorn, bottled water and a breakfast basket that consisted of 2 large muffins, 2 containers of yogurt, two breakfast bars, 2 bananas, 2 cups of applesauce, and two containers of orange juice. The kitchen was stocked with cooking items that we could have made our dinner there, but we chose to go out to a place that was recommended by the host family called La Fiesta. Can you believe they had an all you can eat fajita bar for only $7.85??? Oh my goodness, we stuffed ourselves silly there and the food was SO GOOD.
When we got back from dinner, we popped in the movie "Hitch" and watched it. The jacuzzi was really nice, too. The evening was just right. We had the best night sleep ever!!
The next morning, after breakfast and showering, we took a ride in the cart to explore the pathways we had been told of. The gazebo was beautiful. It was also a prayer garden. They had wooden cross-sections of a tree to use as a writing tablet, a sharpie, and twine that you could write a praise or prayer on, so of course, we added our praise for our marriage of 11 years to the prayer garden. We drove on to the little ampitheater. First thing I thought was, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today." and Mark said, "You're right. That would be so cool!" We enjoyed riding around the trails, both of us taking turns driving the cart (I had never driven a golf cart before.man, am I sheltered! ;) ) We got back, sat in the cabin and thought it was the best experience we have ever had as a married couple. We plan on trying to making it a yearly event for us. It was good to get away, just the two of us, and we really don't get to do that very much at all.
So if you are ever in the DFW metroplex and want a very nice, secluded,
private, romantic place to spend with your spouse, we highly recommend it.
www.forestretreatcabins.com The website doesn't do it justice. It is so
much more awesome than it looks online. Highly recommended by the Finleys.
1 comment:
Teresa, I've been meaning to tell you that every time I get an e-mail and the sender is Mark Finley, I get confused because I am very familiar with Mark Finley the preacher/author. Did you keep the devotionals? He is a phenomenal writer and speaker. I highly recommend him.
It sounds like you had a wonderful time in a gorgeous setting. It would be wonderful for Mike and I to be able to go to a place like that. Maybe next year for OUR 11th anniversary!
Tammy
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