I am a very blessed woman. Some might even say a tad bit spoiled.
I have wonderful children, a job I love and a great husband. Although my husband is awesome, he has never been the romantic, or shower you with gifts kind of guy. He usually likes to show me he loves me by fixing something around the house, or watching the kids so I can go off and have fun with friends. Even when we were dating, he never took me to fancy restaurants, brought me bouquets of flowers, no boxes of chocolates or surprise jewelery hidden in appropriate foods. Somewhere along the course of our almost 18 year marriage, we even stopped giving each other token birthday presents or Christmas gifts, unless it was something we bought for the family, like a new TV. We always chose to forego giving gifts to each other, since we felt so blessed already, and give them to others instead. This used to bother me a little, I always thought if you loved someone, you gave them gifts on important holidays. Like Christmas, Anniversaries, Birthdays, Mother’s Day, etc. In fact, I, myself, subscribe to a big gift giving belief, I don’t even need to wait for a holiday to give something to someone. He has never really denied me something I have wanted (within reason, I have pined over some pretty ridiculous stuff before) but it’s not the same when you go out and get it yourself with your spouse’s blessing. But over the years, I have learned to recognize his gestures of love, taking unconventional forms like fixed washing machines, washed cars, or hanging a chandelier for me in the chicken coop.
So this year, as Mother’s Day was fast approaching, I thought we would be celebrating in our typical manor. I would get the beautiful and thoughtful handmade cards from the kids, a potted plant, and someone else would do the dishes. I have grown to love these rituals. So imagine my shock when this year, my husband took me on a trip for Mother’s Day, AND if that wasn’t enough, he bought me a gift!! (it was not a potted plant, in case you were wondering, but more on that in a subsequent post.) So, being that it has almost been 18 years since I have gotten an actual gift from my husband, (please only judge him a little bit, I did tell you after all he is an amazing husband in almost every other respect) he made up big time. Actually, I believe his thinking might have been, “If I give her this, I ought to be good for another 18 years!”
Yeah…..he won some Brownie Points………
Here’s where he took me…..
This is the beautiful Isle of Providenciales, in Turks and Caicos. In case you originally have no idea where this is, like I did, it is an island chain about an hour and a half flight south of Miami, sandwiched in between Cuba and Haiti.
And it is truly Heaven on Earth.
So, without going into all the intimate details of the trip ( and there were some intimate details, if you know what I mean) I will tell you more about this amazing place.
Some of you don’ t know about my nomadic background, and why I love so much living on my little farm. So here’s the quick version……
I have lived on three continents, and I had traveled to over 25 different countries by the time I was twenty one. Since this was ingrained into me at such a young age, I have since always had the NEED to travel and see the world. In fact, I would gladly eat Top Ramen for a month if it meant I could save the money to go on a trip somewhere new instead. Although I love to travel, I needed someplace to grow roots for myself and family when not exploring, hence, the love for the farm. (you can read more about it here ) The reason I am telling you this background, is because I consider myself very knowledgeable on travel destinations, so when I tell you this place is Heaven on Earth, it is not just Cabo that I am comparing it to.
This place is one of those rare gems, that someone needs to tell you about. The colors in these photos are not photoshopped, except in two photos, where I actually toned the color down.
We decided to go onto VRBO , a fabulous website if you have never heard of it, and found a beautiful and very reasonable priced villa to rent. and when I say reasonable, I mean it. This place cost less than $175 a night. This view is worth ten times that. Again, ocean color……. not photoshopped!
This is the only intimate detail I will share…..
the gorgeous bedroom…
Notice any thing in this beach photo?? Besides the gorgeous starfish?? (yeah, I’ll admit, these were purchased at the local souvenir shop, but that didn’t stop us from finding starfish on the beach, I just didn’t want to kill any)
The sand is pristine…………
This conch shell? Well, not purchased from the local gift shop. They are all over the beaches, strewn in hoards. Notice something else unusual about this photo? Or go back to my first photo and take a look.
See any people in the photo??? Well, that’s not photoshopped either. The beaches were so unpopulated, it was almost eerie. Like we were Christopher Columbus discovering a new world.
Heaven….
My hubbie was in such a good mood while we were there, he even obliged my photo requests. Both of him to take one of me,
And to wait while I set up the tripod and repeatedly clicked the shutter…..
Good thing he obliged, or we wouldn’t have gotten this adorable photo since there was no one to ask on the beach to take it!
So this year, I still got the wonderful handmade cards and potted plants from the kids, but I sent everyone else this card…..
Yeah, he earned some brownie points alright. And you haven’t even seen the gift yet…….
Better than diamonds, more rare than pearls.
I”ll leave you hanging just a little bit longer…..
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