Sunday, March 09, 2008

Seminary Marriage Retreat

Bobby and I had the privilege of attending the Seminary couples retreat this weekend. It ran from 6:30 pm Friday through 4 pm Saturday at a VERY NICE hotel!!! We had a wonderful time. My parents came down Thursday night to stay with the girls while we were gone.
I got out of school 2 hours early because of the impending storm. (which ending up giving us 4 inches and Columbus 20 inches, so my parents didn't leave to go home until after church today) Because of this, we were able to leave home around 3:45 pm and went out to dinner. We arrived at the hotel around 5:30 pm. Signed up for a picture slot and went up to our room to relax and change for the ballroom dancing lessons. Yep, ballroom dancing lessons at a retreat for seminary students and their spouses. It was so much fun!! When we got up to our room, we were pleasantly surprised!! A large suite with a king sized bed, a separate living room with couch, desk, another TV, refrigerator, and coffee maker, and a very large bathroom with a GIGANTIC whirlpool tub/shower combo. Wow!! This made up for the fact that the hotel only had an outdoor pool.
At 6:30 pm, we ventured down to the ballroom for the group dancing lesson. It was a lot of fun. At 7:30 we had our picture taken by a grand piano in the courtyard and then ventured into the dance. The band was amazing. A bit big for the room, in other words, very loud, but very, very good!! We danced a few times, but mostly talked, enjoyed the band, and ate the fondue.
At 8:30 we headed back upstairs to enjoy time together with no children. At 10:30 pm, I was falling asleep watching the end of "Hitch," so we turned it off and went to sleep. I later found out that Bobby took a lot longer to fall asleep. He smelled the paint fumes from the renovations that were happening in the hotel.
We woke up around 7:45 am (I got over 9 hours of sleep, can't remember the last time that happened!!) We put on work out clothes and headed to work out for a bit. Not as long as I would have liked though because it was sooooo hot in the work out room.
We came back to the room and got ready for breakfast. Breakfast was originally from 10-11, but people started trickling down around 9:40, so they started the buffet early. We ate breakfast, checked out, and then headed back inside the hotel for the first session. The wife of our pastor is the "chaplain" for Spouse and Family Ministries at the seminary, so they lead the sessions on Saturday. They are wonderful, wonderful people, and we have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of their church. Listening to them this weekend does make me look at them differently though :~).
After lunch we had another session that ending in a renewing of our vows. It was a very special time, and I am very glad that we were able to attend. The last 2 years it has been the same weekend of my Solo and Ensemble and this year they moved it back a little so we were able to go. Thanks Mom and Dad for coming and watching Bekah and Sarah!!! They had a lot of fun with you and we are very thankful that you could come!!

1 comment:

Amanda at Double Stitching said...

That's awesome! I love the room - looks very nice! And your pics are so cute, you guys look awesome! I'm glad you could have a few hours away to refresh your marriage, that is so important! Good times!