Our stay-cation

     Hello friends! I hope you all have had a pleasant March so far. My hubby took his vacation last week. Originally we were hoping to get down to Texas, to visit with his father and family down there, but that unfortunately did not happen this year. The price of flying is a bit steep for our small budget, and also, who wants to get molested by airport staff, not us! So, maybe next year, when he can get two weeks of vacation instead of one we will be able to drive down. I LOVE road trips, and it would be fun to camp in a different state each night of our trip.
     We started the week out by just relaxing at home. Poot (the hubby) doesnt get to do that much. He really appreciate being able to sleep in, stay in his PJ's and just sit on his duff! We are homebodies anyway, so it was enjoyable. We went up to my mothers on Tuesday, she lives about an hour north of us, way up on a mountain. We are in the midst of early spring here in Maine, what we locals call mud season. Lets just say driving up her dirt (mud) road in our little car was a bit more of an adventure than I bargained on! Poot enjoyed it though, I prayed both on the way up AND down, and we (and our car) made it there and back in one piece, thank you Lord:)
     Then, this past weekend, we went on our annual Freeport trip with my older sister and her husband and two children. This is the third year in a row we have done this and its really something we look forward to every winter. Here in Maine, winters are LONG, and this winter especially so. It snowed pretty much once or twice a week from December on through. In fact, even now its snowing, a slushy dangerous late winter kind of snow. In other words, it is a bit dreary here during the winter, and cabin fever starts to get bad around February. Being of modest income and varied schedules it would be beyond us to take a trip to someplace warm and sunny, so we do the next best thing. We book a couple rooms in a nice (but affordable) hotel with indoor pool and hot tub in the coastal town of Freeport, Maine.
We relax, enjoy the complementary breakfast buffet,

     We swim in the heated pool, and soak in the hut tub,

We walk through the mall, eat lunch (sushi for me, japanese for my sister's family, and taco's and arby's for my Poot, oh and pizza, cause he's a little greedy!)



The carousel at the mall, I wanted to ride in the carriage, but Poot wouldn't go on with me, the pooper!



Poot and my brother in law, just finished eating.

 We go around and act like tourists and stop to take goofy pictures by the local landmarks,



Poot and the big Indian on route1



Me!

     We walked through downtown Freeport and went to two of my favorite shops, Crabtree and Evelyn, where Poot treated me to the rosewater body spray for which I been longing after for what seems like YEARS! He also got me a selection of floral soaps and rosewater bubble bath, Oh, I am in HEAVEN!

     We also went to the brittish imports shop and got ourselves some candy (YAY for Fry's Turkish Delight!) and Hob Nobs!
     All in all it was a VERY fun vacation. I finished a book, got some much needed exercise, and spent some wonderful quality time with family. What more could be asked for? Oh,,,and I found some "treasures" while thrifting, but that will be another post!
        

Valentines Day '11

     We had our most PERFECT Valentines day here in the Evans household last night. I am still smiling about it. I just LOVE Valentines day. To me it means SO MUCH MORE than cards and chocolates. (though those are very nice things) I posted on my facebook what it means to me:
   
Why I love V-Day,


I love Love,

I Love to Love

I Love To Be Loved

Do I only love, or get loved ONE day a year, absolutely NOT! 365 Days a year I share Love with the best Man, Family, Friends and God there is:) One day, its not too much to ask to focus a little more on LOVE than on laundry, bills, school, or work. I don't see the crime in it.
 
     Here in our little home, we LOVE to love on each other, and having a special day set aside where we both put special effort into showing our love to each other gets us excited! We stated planning for our special evening a few days ago.  Poot asked me where I would like to go out to eat, I said, HOME! I love eating out, but NOT on V-day, that is akin to going shopping on Christmas eve! Madness! So I created a special dinner menu.
   
Boneless chicken breast, stuffed with chive and onion cream cheese them wrapped in bacon,
My Yummy parmesan, garlic and herb rice,
Broccoli
With fruit and cream tartlets for desert.
 
     I spend the day, while my Poot was at work, cleaning and prepping dinner.I tried to choose foods that were elegant, but not too fussy or complicated. The only fiddly item were the tarts, and that was fiddly in a fun kind of way.
   Then Poot came home, and even before he stepped through the threshold, he handed me with a big cheeky grin on his face,,,
 

     I Loooooove roses, and for some reason I can't quite understand, chocolates always taste better when eaten from a heart shaped box. After hugs and kisses, and his saying how "gorgeous"(his words!) I looked he went off for his shower and I put the chicken in the oven. Then, he did something very special,,,
    He dressed up for me,,
 

    Usually, in the evening after his shower, he goes straight into Pj's. But, he saw I was making an effort to have a "restaurant" style dinner at home, even jokingly saying we were having dinner at Che' Shannon's Cafe, and he put his fanciest clothes on. Awwww :)
     Then we say down to dinner, (excuse blurry pics, someday soon I WILL be getting a new camera, grrrr

 

     Dinner came out better than I had hopped, the food looked beautiful and tasted delicious and Poot couldn't stop "MmmMmm"ing the whole time. He praised me highly, which I have to admit, I loved. I wont mention how he almost caught his arm on fire while going for the last bits of chicken on my plate I couldn't finish. Oh my! I happened to have a fork in my hand, and he wondered why I suddenly was trying to stab him!!!  Note to self,,,, get Taller candles, that cannot be easily reached over!

      Anyhow, after nearly killing me with fright he did manage to really surprise me (he's so sneaky)

After some nonsense about wondering who had called earlier he asked me to check the caller ID (located on the desk in the bedroom) There he had put a set of surprise gifts for me,

     In case you can't read what's on the note it says "WHO DO YOU LOVE BABY!"
On the evenings my hubby unwinds by playing PlayStation I usually like to either watch movies on netflix on the computer, or play SIMS, so these are a special treat!

    Oh, we had a lovely day! I hope you all enjoyed your day, and shared it with someone you love! Valentines doesnt have to be about romance, it just has to be about LOVE:)