Finding Serenity...

If it is possible to have a whirlwind romance, when you've been married for 14 years and have known each other for total of 17 years, then I think I just had one last weekend. And, while it was amazing beyond words, I have found myself having trouble knowing where to start to tell you about it.

If you read here before, you know that my husband surprised me last week on our 14th wedding anniversary with flowers and a card promising a mystery weekend date without the kids somewhere special--no questions asked. If you know me at all, you'll know how hard that last part was for me, but I tried not to force it out of him until we got into the car. Then, we played a quick guessing game with a Texas roadmap and I got him to fess up.

My husband had gone online and looked up tons of bed and breakfast retreats in the Texas Hill Country and decided up on this incredible gem. To say he picked well would be an understatment.

After driving up winding hills to what seemed like the middle of nowhere, we pulled up to see this spectacular place called Serenity Farmhouse.

The place looked almost like a quaint little movie set, plopped down in the middle of the rugged Hill country. On just the drive up the path to the bed and breakfast, we saw a couple of deer, a jackrabbit, and the owner's goats and pigs. Later, we'd discover she had donkeys, four cats, several dogs, and a few friendly roadrunners skittering about this amazing place.

Our room was lovely. You can see more photos here. Every detail seemed to have been thought out by the owner, from the heart-shaped tub, to the antiques and the cheery colors in the room.

As the weekend went by, I discovered that my husband had a lot of surprises up his sleeve. I felt so unworthy of it all at first, letting guilt take over for not doing as much for our anniversary. But, then I decided to let that all go and just relax and enjoy all the wonderful things he'd planned out. We arrived by nightfall and just relaxed and enjoyed the incredibly romantic room and its' heart-shaped tub(hubba, hubba!).

The first morning we were greeted by a wonderful French breakfast brought to our balcony door. Then, we went on a tour of a local winery, followed by a trip into downtown Wimberley where there are tons of antique and gift shops. After a quick lunch at one of these businesses, we drove to a huge outlet mall and did some shopping. The day was capped off by a quick jaunt to my beloved Austin, where we ate at our favorite romantic restaurant from our days living there many years ago. (To my Austin friends, had we had more time I most definitely would have called, but we were literally there for dinner and drove immediately back.)

And, then, there was even more, if you can believe it. That evening, we had a special couples massage followed by chocolate decadence with dessert brought to our room with champagne.

It was my husband's first massage and I think he's now a believer. It was truly wonderful.

The next morning we woke up and enjoyed another wonderful breakfast delivered to our door and explored a little around the grounds. (Again, check the pictures out here.)By the time it was time to head home we were both thoroughly exhausted, but quite happy with our little getaway.

If you are looking for a very romantic getaway for you and your significant other, I highly recommend this bed and breakfast. The price was incredible, compared to other places in the same area and of the same size. The owner really goes out of her way to make your stay special. And, we definitely plan to go back again. If you end up checking it out, let me know what you think!



Tomorrow, I will try to write more about the emotional journey this short trip was for me and for my husband. That was the best part about the whole trip, even better than the gorgeous scenery. Stay tuned for more...