Our 2 Year Anniversary Stay-cation at the Gaylord Texan!

 Nick completely overdid himself by planning an afternoon/night stay for us at the Gaylord Texan resort to celebrate our 2 year anniversary and my adoption day. The brand has resorts in a few other big cities, and it is an incredible place to explore. I've posted about day visits to check it out with my family here and here. I was SO excited when I cracked the case (Nick had given me a few hints since I was so antsy to know our plans...). 

Here we go!

 Double sinks, and a cute stool to do my makeup. Yes please!

 The view outside our window! That's Lake Grapevine in the background. All of the cars are people valet parking their vehicles ;)

 I'm SO SO SO excited to be here and check this place out!

 One of our first stops: the water park (I didn't take my camera there with the fear it would be ruined). They just finished it earlier this summer and it was wonderful - a few rounds on the lazy river, Nick tried out the water slide and I lounged in the water and sun. A wonderful afternoon activity.

 Our anniversary dinner at the Riverwalk Cantina (inside the Gaylord - they have many restaurants on site) - the food was SO good and the atmosphere was wonderful and romantic.

 Seriously good. Their salsa was amazing too.

 

 This clip/broach is the one I wore in my hair on my wedding day - photo below - I thought it would be neat to wear it on our anniversaries! 

 Here's the "regular" pool that was there prior to the waterpark

 The ceiling of the atrium - proud of Texas!

 View outside our window the next morning - much more calm and peaceful without everyone checking into the hotel (which took an hour to check in by the way with the manymanymany families checking in right at 3pm to get to the waterpark.)

 I also brought the perfume I used on our honeymoon cruise. It always brings back memories of the warm tropics.

 The atrium in the daylight - so massive!

 The next morning, we had breakfast under a palm tree - it was dreamy and I loved it :) I also realized I like Cafe Americanos!

 There is so much attention to detail here, it was wonderfully made.

 My love! We took our coffees on a morning walk before we had to check out.

 There are also many stores and boutiques on site

 I love these trees!

 People enjoying breakfast at the Riverwalk Cantina - they made it to resemble the San Antonio riverwalk!

Here's a photo of the Riverwalk with Nick and I visited San An back in 2009...

 Huuuge cookies in the 24 hour shop. Of course we had to eat one and it was sooo good.

 Isn't this flower amazing?!

 Nooo.....

But I don't wanna leave yet....

The good news though was that my parents were just hours away with their U-Hauls and all of their belongings in tow moving here! They had to tow their vehicles behind - talk about a scary drive across the country! We were all so thankful they made it safely.

Thanks to my wonderful hubby for making this anniversary/adoption day celebration so wonderful. We've lived in 2 states in these 2 years (on opposite ends of the country), started a few new jobs, seen many best friends get married and have babies, and have learned more than we ever wanted to about pain management, and much more (those details are in previous blog posts! :)). You are such a wonderfully encouraging husband; I love you Nick!!

Here and There

A few weeks ago, my mom and dad came for a visit! It was so great to see them and introduce my mom to our new stomping grounds :)

We checked out the Gaylord Texan (like last time my dad visited with family) - we love that place. This photo is without flash to see the features of the facility - the backdrop is made to resemble The Alamo.

I jumped in with them on this one; the flash makes the background disappear though. Still a good family photo!

And we checked out downtown Dallas! My dad liked this angle of the buildings and suggested I take this photo - good call, dad :)

These next 3 are basically the same but I couldn't choose just one! We made the trip to see the Rangers ballpark the day after they clenched the American League Championship Series. They were AMAZING - we Texans ;) are very proud of them!

At the Forth Worth Stockyards! You can't see them well in the background, but those are real cowboys practicing riding horses for the competition that night.

Eating dinner at Risky's BBQ at the Stockyards. Main reason for this photo: check out my mom's sweet light-up glasses!! Haha they were great! I used them reading directions in the car that night - they were perfect! Had to get a picture though, would've been funny to see what people around us thought!

Risky's 10 Commandments

Fresh preserves bought at a local farmer's market this morning! This huge container for $6, I'm excited to try it out, we were told this particular flavor was the best.

And some seriously amazing (maybe the best I've EVER had?!) homemade chips. Check out the ingredients list - doesn't get much better than that! We may have to splurge for her homemade salsa we sampled sometime soon too. It tasted garden fresh and made me want more after I left the market.



http://www.drkracker.com/
I just had to post about these because I haven't had them in MONTHS and found them at our grocery store today. These are SO good and if they're at a grocery store near you, you've got to try them! Ours were on sale for $3.50 and I was so excited! It's the simple things in life ;)


I'll leave you with a photo of my wonderful husband glued to the TV with his "stats" sheet on election night this week - gotta love him :)

By the way, we're one week into "No Poo" and so far so good... Enjoy your weekend!