Seventh "Copper" Anniversary

Chris and I celebrated seven years of marriage on Saturday. Well, we celebrated on Friday, too.

Years ago I decided I wanted a Glacier National Park Pendleton blanket for our seventh anniversary, since the gifts for seven are copper/wool. Back when I decided this they sold crib sized blankets. But not anymore. And spending that much money for a blanket seemed ridiculous, so I told Chris he could scrap the idea, despite it being a sentimental reminder of our honeymoon to Glacier.

Chris changed his route and decided to go for the copper. A week before he told me we needed to gather up all the pennies in the house. And I started wondering what he had up his sleeve.

Kanien had been willing to babysit and I knew we'd get to enjoy our Friday evening together. But then I was told that we'd be leaving about 2:00 in the afternoon. I was intrigued.

Earlier last week we drove past the Copper Dog Cafe downtown and I was so proud of myself for figuring out that element of our date.

Friday afternoon we packed Millie's bag, dropper her off and the Wallins and we were on our way. Chris pulled out the GPS and selected destination #1. It directed us toward Indy. I was really intrigued.

As we got into Indy I told Chris that I needed to use the bathroom and asked if this destination had a bathroom. He replied it did, I had used it before and he was pretty sure it was a nice bathroom. What?! I racked my brain. Finally I realized we were headed toward the Shane Co, our jeweler, to drop off our rings for their annual cleaning. He couldn't fool me.

After dropping off our rings Chris trusted me enough to man the GPS and pull up destination #2. As we were driving through Indy, near the airport exit, I told Chris, "It would be awesome if you had our bags packed, our passports at the ready and we were going somewhere awesome for the weekend.  Sigh ...One day, right?"

I remarked how Indy was bigger than I thought, because we just kept driving. Then I looked at the arrival time on the GPS and it said 5:58. Almost two hours later? That couldn't be right!

Chris confirmed that it was, indeed, right.

What?!

He decided since I was captive and we were well on our way, it would be alright to share the plans. Millie was staying with the Wallins overnight. Our bags were packed in the trunk. We were headed toward the Copper Kettle in Charlestown for dinner. Then we'd head to New Albany to the Mansion Row Inn to stay the night. The next morning we'd go to the Louisville temple, do a session. After that we'd hit Copper Cupcakes on our way home, and he might have programmed a Hardy's into the GPS as our last stop, for my anniversary present to him. (East of the Mississippi we have Hardy's instead of Carl's Jr, and Chris misses Carl's Jr. We don't have a Hardy's in town.)

After the craziest, twistiest, make you sick to your stomach road I've ever ridden on, we made it to Charlestown. Southern Indiana is really pretty, but it was weird to still see blue tarps on roofs from the tornadoes this spring.

Dinner at the Copper Kettle, meh. It was decent, but it was just a little mom & pop and nothing special. Decent, for sure. And there were lots of locals eating there. It was just the beginning to a weekend where we were called, "honey, darling, sweetie, etc" more than the past seven years combined. Welcome to the south!

A nice patron saw us trying to take our self portrait and came out to help us.

From the Copper Kettle to Mansion Row Inn. After dinner, I was a little bit worried about what we might find in small town southern Indiana. But there was no need to fear. We were impressed with beautiful Mansion Row in New Albany and with the bed & breakfast. We read on the patio, walked around the neighborhood and enjoyed the gorgeous, cool evening weather.

Chris did really well packing. Except he forgot my makeup bag. I'm not the most high maintenance girl, so whatever. Except with no makeup in pictures. Eeep. Oh well, this was the only picture we took of us at the inn.

The 12' ceilings, 8' doors, and all the original trim work made my heart go pitter-patter. It was really a pretty place. Breakfast was a bit of a disappointment in the morning, sadly.

No, the Mansion Row Inn has nothing to do with copper. And the Abraham Lincoln room (Abe -> pennies -> copper) was booked. It just happened to be in the right vicinity.

I really like the Louisville temple. The layout isn't as confusing to me as Chicago. BUT! It's always freezing. This was our second time going there and the second time an older woman near me told me, "I always wear my long underwear and a sweater when I come here." I was debating whether or not to grab my cardigan or not, but that answered that. So, for future reference, dress warm when you're in the Louisville temple!

The last official stop was at Copper Cupcakes. It is in Norton Commons, this adorable little neighborhood. I was in love. I love mixed use neighborhoods. And it seemed like it really was a tight-knit community. We had lunch at the market just up the street from Copper Cupcakes and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. 

Chris said that it was a very climatic weekend. Copper Kettle was alright. The bed and breakfast was good, but lunch and cupcakes were awesome and such a good way to end it.

Despite Kanien's offers to keep Millie Saturday night and return her at church yesterday, after a stop at Trader Joe's we came home and resumed responsibilities as parents. Millie seemed so much bigger and chatty. I think spending lots of time with older kids will do that.

Yesterday at church a friend asked Chris if I did alright without Millie. Chris responded, "I think I had a harder time than Deidra did!" What can I say, I was too busy enjoying the surprise weekend to spend much time worrying. And I knew she was in good hands.

(As for the pennies and the Copper Dog Cafe? Pennies were a red heron. And the Copper Dog Cafe hadn't crossed Chris's radar. If it had, the weekend would have probably stayed closer to home. But it worked out that we headed south near the temple.)

This weekend reminded me so much why I love being married to Chris. He's great at planning surprises (and I'm really good at being unsuspecting). He makes things happen and he always has our marriage at the top of his priority list.

Seven years, no itch. I love my husband!