Hobnobbing With The Rich Folk

I totally felt like a poser this weekend.  I am not good at pretending to be something that I am not.  And let's just clear this up right now.  I am not rich.  I am a kindergarten teacher and my husband is an electrician.  We aren't rich.  But this weekend....we went hobnobbing with them.

 The boys were gone on a little trip this weekend...Tucker was with our church youth group and my parents took the little two on a trip to the mountains.  Having the boys all away from home at the same time.....for even a night.....is a very, very rare occurance.  So...we seized the opportunity and planned a little trip for ourselves.  Our own little "couple's retreat".

  One of the benefits of teaching in Alabama is that we are allowed to stay at the Robert Trent Golf Course Resorts at a very discounted price.  The resorts are a part of our teacher retirement system, so staying for a discount is one of our perks.  (Alert to my Bama teacher friends.....if you aren't using this discount...you are missing a treat!)

 So anyway....we decided to head toward the bay area of Alabama to The Grand Marriot Resort in Point Clear.  This resort is listed in the top 100 resorts in the Nation...and that ranking doesn't surprise me one bit.

Oh.

My.

Word.

It was gorgeous! 

We would never be able to afford to stay in this luxury resort if it weren't for our discount.  The rest of the folks staying there seemed right at home in such luxury and probably didn't even think twice about the price tag attached to the resort.  Our first clue that we may be out of our league was when we pulled our dirty, black 2005 Ford Freestyle into the parking lot.  There was a Mercedes BMW on one side and a Lexus on the other.

While I was there, I learned some things about these rich folks. 

I learned that their food isn't spiced with McCormick seasonings.  They use fresh herbs from the Chef's herb garden.  The price of the food on the menu indicates that freshly grown herbs are pricey.

I learned that a meal is served with lots of silverware, lots of glasses, and cloth tablecloths and napkins.  And that all the ladies sitting around me looked way more high falootin than me.  I tried to determine what it was about them that made them look richer than me. The jewelry?  The fancier clothes?  The doodied up hair?  Their overall aire? I never quite pinpointed it...but there was an obvious separation. 

I learned that resorts don't really have 'yards' and regular grass.  They have 'gardens' and pathways and pools.

And for a pool to be acceptable...it should have waterfalls and landscaping and fountains.

I also realized that no one else carried a camera around.  I never saw another camera during the whole weekend.  Bradley and I walked around amazed at how lovely everything was....taking pictures of everything, but it was nothing out of the ordinary for the rich folks.  They walked by these lush grounds and hardly gave them any notice, because it wasn't unusal for them.

I took pictures of every stinkin' corner of the property because I was so dumbfounded by the beauty of it.  That made me stick out like a sore thumb, I am sure.

Rich people don't take pictures of forks, and plates and glasses.

They don't gawk at the gardens.

They don't stand at stare at the amazing pools.

They don't balk at the prices on the menus.

But.......

Rich people also don't chase seagulls on the beach like this.......

Or pretend that they have been arrested and are locked up in the little jail cell in the museum........

Rich ladies certainly do not swim in their sundress in the hot tub because they forgot their swimsuit but couldn't bear the thought of passing up a hot tub with a waterfall.  They are too 'uppity' to do this......

Rich folks would never take a photo of themselves kissing on the beach at sunset because they never want to forget the moment.......

Rich people wouldn't do those things.  It wouldn't be proper.

But I'm not rich.....or proper.

I'm just plain ole me.

I spent the weekend rubbing elbows with the rich folks.  I slept in the same place they slept.  I ate in the same restaurant they ate in.  I walked in the gardens they walked in. 

But I guarantee you.....

I am the one that had the most fun.

All That Mushy Stuff

I was listening to my Ipod yesterday when I went out for my afternoon jog.  I had the Ipod set on "shuffle".  I have everything from Disney songs, to country to hard rock to classical on my Ipod.  I never know what will pop up when I run.

Just as I was finishing up my first mile, the song "You're Still the One" by Shania Twain came up on the playlist.  I was not yet incoherent from the lack of oxygen, so my mind focused on the lyrics. I remembered our wedding day and how I was so, so young, but totally in love. As I listened to the lyrics of the song, I swear to you, I could see a slideshow of images run across my brain.   

It went kinda like this.....

Looks like we made it

Look how far we've come my baby

We mighta took the long way

We knew we'd get there someday

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"

But just look at us holding on

We're still together still going strong

You're still the one I run to

The one that I belong to

You're still the one I want for life

You're still the one that I love

The only one I dream of

You're still the one I kiss good night

Ain't nothin' better

We beat the odds together

I'm glad we didn't listen

Look at what we would be missin'

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"

But just look at us holding on

We're still together still going strong

You're still the one.

 

  Typically during my jogs, I don't get all lovey dovey.  But during this particular jog, with the slideshow playing in my brain and the song playing in my earbuds, I did.  Sometimes, you just have to get mushy and appreciate what you have.  It was my day for mushy stuff.

15 years together and still in love!

   I am just now getting back to blogging trying to catch up on some major events. On July 2, 2009, Bradley and I celebrated 15 years of marriage together. Thinking back to 15 years ago, we started our marriage on less than promising circumstances. I was 18 years old and he was 20. I was just out of high school and way too young to know what I was doing. All I knew was that I loved Bradley and I didn't understand the point in prolonging the inevitable. I was going to marry him and I didn't want to wait. Our meager income was enough to place us in the "poverty" level on any government chart. We lived in a trailer next door to my parents and I was in school full time. Bradley worked as a counter clerk in a parts store and we barely made enough money to get by. But we were in love!

I look back on those days with fond memories. Although those days were the rocky days of our marriage, we defied the odds and made it through. I believe that our marriage is stronger and blooms beautifully today and that is largely due to the fact that we have built our lives together from such a young age. In 15 years we have overcome any obstacles and delighted in many more joys. We bought our first house together, lovingly referred to as "the little house".

The 900 square foot house in downdown Blountsville was a labor of love and made a great home.  We lived here for 4 years. 

We built our current house together, our personal dream house. Almost the entire house was built overseen by me and most of it completed with our own hands.


We have experienced the greatest joy any person could experience by seeing the birth of our 3 sons, Tucker, Sawyer, and Carter. We also grieved the loss of a child together, lost to miscarriage in 2001. We have celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, taken trips, watched school plays, and grown in love. Our life over the last 15 years together as a couple has been a wonderful ride.

To celebrate the life we live together and to cherish each other even more as a couple, we decided that we would take a trip together for just the two of us. This was not a decision we made lightly, since taking a trip with just the two of us meant that we would have to leave our boys behind. We enjoy traveling together as a family, but on this occasion, we decided to invest in our marriage and celebrate US.

We journeyed together to the Dominican Republic on July 1-6. We made memories together that we will recall for the rest of our lives. We truly enjoyed each other's company. We felt like we were in a tropical paradise being pampered. We loved every minute of it. Highlights of the trip were laying on the beach, watching the ocean, eating at the awesome restaurants, taking a boat trip, getting a couple massage and snorkling. We loved it so much and hope that maybe in 15 more years, we can do it again.