An a-MAZE-ing Valentine's Day

You may have noticed that I don't share a lot of the personal day-to-day details with you of my life. This isn't a personal blog (although it can get a little "personal" at times!). I think my biggest reason for choosing to write this way is to eliminate one other person that you need to keep track of or have to read about. I try to leave me and hubs out of the imagery of my posts as much as possible so that YOU, my lovely readers, can imagine you and yours in the date and romantic ideas I have created.

By not filling you in on my day-to-day marriage experiences, however, it has occurred to me that many of you think that my marriage is lovey-dovey 24/7.

Despite anyone's perception, our life is not the stage play of this blog. We have our struggles like any other couple. We have great moments and other moments we can't stand to be in the same room with one another. Our marriage is no where near perfect.

I really wanted you to know that. In times when you struggle and wish for something different, or as you read this blog and think I might have the perfect marriage or even when you wonder how your neighbors across the street really have it together.... just know this. The grass isn't always greener in someone else's marriage. You don't know what goes on behind closed doors... (and thank goodness for that!) They might actually have a great marriage...but I'll bet you anything that it isn't perfect. And even if it is great, there was something which brought it to greatness.

What's important is that you focus on making YOUR marriage the best it can be and

remember that it takes work. Really. Hard. Work. I think it's probably the hardest work in the world.

On that note, I thought I'd allow you a glimpse into my marriage...just for today. Hubs and I have been at odds for the past little while (nothing serious...but little stresses from school and work have seem to put us at odds!). I didn't want Valentine's Day to pass by without showing him how much I still loved him and still wanted to be with him!

So this is what I did.

I related our "being at odds" to being in a maze of sorts (so I put a lovey-dovey spin on a "maze" theme to introduce our Valentine's Day plans.)

(PS: The cute paper design for the back of my card is from the "Dance with Me" kit, FREE at Summertime Designs.)

I'm embarrassed to admit how corny I am, but I had "Amazed" by Lonestar playing as he read his card. (That was our wedding song...so it worked for us.)

Then, after that lovey-dovey mush, I'm sure hubs was delighted to solve this maze.

(of course, the bottom portion was covered up....)

And then, our Valentine's Day plans were revealed at last... A weekend getaway to Cape Cod!

I promise I'm not turning into the TripAdvisor Review website, but if you live in the New England area or plan to travel to Cape Cod, this is a must-stay!! I'll tell you why:

We stayed at the lovely and romantic bed and breakfast, Ashley Manor in Barnstable. What a perfect choice! We had an amazing suite complete with a 2-person jacuzzi tub and fireplace. We felt at home instantly as our innkeepers greeted us at the door. They served a 3 course breakfast each morning (my favorite menu item was a baked pear with a dab of vanilla bean ice cream and drizzled with the best caramel sauce ever. {de.li.cious.} Luckily, Vince filled me in on his caramel "recipe".

The whole stay was just perfect. They had taken care of even the smallest details for us, right down to the bottle opener which I had forgotten. A small detail...but without it, there would have been no sparkling cider as we cuddled up next to the fireplace!

Because of that, I was inspired to never again forget such a detail, and to help you {not} do the same. How?

Many thanks to Karen's Scraps and Graphics for allowing me to use elements from her Valentine Room freebie kit!

You can download the checklist HERE!

Here's an example of how to put your romance package portion of the checklist to work. Just look at these romantic little additions that made our suite complete at Ashley Manor...

Lovely. Now, back to us. :)

We did have an aMAZEing Valentine's which just allowed us to leave the little stresses that were bringing us down behind us! Everyone needs that every once in a while. We hope that you all got to spend a little quality time with your spouse and that those loving feelings will continue all throughout the year. And when they get interrupted, keep working and keep loving! You'll be aMAZEd at the results!