A Romantic Surprise for Two

 

Cody surprised me in July with a trip back to our honeymoon spot, St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

He handed me an envelop with my name on it 48 hours prior to departure.  I opened the envelop to find a typed letter to me telling me, "This is not a joke or a trick.  You have 48 hours to pack what you need.  Enclosed is $200 to purchase any last minute items you may need before departure."  And the itinerary was attached.  Destination Paradise.

 

I was completely surprised and couldn't believe he had planned all of this!  He had even organized my days off with work and reschedule my hair appointment.  I didn't have anything to worry about!  Just go, enjoy each other and relax!  And we did.

 

We landed in the afternoon the first day, so we just hung out on the beach right outside our hotel room.  Cody had arranged for us to have a beach front view.  The first full day we were there we hopped a fiery to the British Virgin Islands to spend a day at Virgin Gorda.  It is a beautiful island with huge boulders everywhere!  These boulders have created caves that you can "tour".  We snorkled out pretty far.  We love to snorkle together.  It's one of "our things".  Mid-afternoon it rained while we were snorkling, but we didn't care.  Getting out of the water and climbing on to wet slippery rocks from the rain was a little difficult!  We had lunch on top of a mountain at this sweet little cafe.  It was perfect.

 

This was pretty much our view for every breakfast and dinner meal except a few.  Our balcony was a perfect spot to be alone together and share a sandwich or two.  Since we had been before, we already knew it was smart to shop at one of the local grocery stores, stock up and eat most of our meals that way.  It's just cheaper.  We enjoyed meals together at this spot.  Plus my favorite restaurant, Cafe Roma's, burned last year.  They are currently rebuilding which means we have to go back!

 

Our second full day, we rented a Jeep, like last time.  The island is about 10 miles long give or take a few, but all the winding makes it seem like more!  Instead of relying on taxis to take us to every beach, renting a Jeep was just a smarter option.

 

We decided to watch the sun set on the water one night.  We watched the gorgeous view from a secluded beach.  It was just us.  Perfect.  The world faded away and we were together.

 

Isn't St. John just gorgeous?  This is Trunk Bay, one of the popular tourist spots.  We didn't stop here.  Too many people.  We just wanted to be alone together.  So we drove to the more secluded beaches.

 

Our first time in St. John we only saw iguanas.  This time we saw a lot of wild life!  Our favorites were the wild donkeys.  They weren't so wild though.  They came right up to our Jeep to say hello!

 

Just another breathtaking view.  This is the highest point of the island.

 

Our breakfast spot.  What a way to start the day!

 

 

We headed out early on our last full day to snorkle as this specific spot.  Cody read if you arrived early in the morning, you could snorkle with stingray and sea turtles who come in early to feed off the grass at the bottom of the ocean.  And did we?!  It was so awesome to swim over stingray as they nibbled on the grass and literally swim next to sea turtles.  We got so close that we could touch the turtles!!  Cody found a perfect conch shell for me too!  It was as if God planted that shell right there for him to find for me.  We can't believe someone hadn't already picked it up.  It is a perfectly pink, shiny sea shell.

 

The last night we got all gussied up and spent the evening at a very posh restaurant there at the resort.  We had a blissful time with each other.  And the food was so good!

 

We had a miraculously time together.  It was so wonderful to get away from all things in Norman and reconnect as a couple.  We are eager for the Lord to continue to renew our love for each other and show us how deeper our love can grow for each other as we go along in the years. 

 

We long to be able to get away to our spot in the Caribbean every year or two.  It is so important for our marriage. 

 

Thank you, Cody, for the one of the best surprises of my life!  I love you to pieces.  Here's to the next 50 years and many more trips to our honeymoon spot.