Idyllwild + 5 Years!

Nate and I do this terribly corny thing (which we LOVE. Because we are THAT kind of people), where we use the traditional wedding anniversary themes for gifts and festivities. In case you have no idea what I am talking about, there is a theme (such as wood, paper, pearl, silver, etc.) for each year, and you use it as a guide in purchasing gifts for your spouse.

First anniversary ~ Paper: I bought Nate a journal, and Nate bought me an oragami kit.
Second anniversary ~ Cotton: We bought new clothes for vacation, except Nate used his clothes money to buy me a ring.
Third Anniversary ~ Leather: Nate bought me a new purse, and I bought him a new wallet.
Fourth Anniversary ~ Fruits and Flowers: I got a Meyer lemon tree, and Nate got a Crepe Myrtle tree.

As you can see, this is nice because you don't end up getting chocolates or cufflinks every year (who really needs a lot of those?)

June 17th was our 5th anniversary, and as the 5th anniversary theme is wood, we went to the woods! We spent a weekend in Idyllwild, which is a little mountain town about 100 miles outside of Orange County. It was our first time away alone together without the baby, which was a little bittersweet. It was so nice to have so much time to ourselves, but we also missed him a lot.

Nate was, of course, smitten. Nate LOVES camping, LOVES cabins, LOVES rustic, LOVES the scent of pine trees and wood smoke, so he was in heaven. When we walked into our hotel room, he just about died when he saw the wood paneling and the flannel sheets. Died! That man loves the woods. And the hot buttered scones delivered to our front door every morning sealed the deal. Best. Anniversary. EVER!

It didn't help that there were real estate listings all over the place with (what seemed to us, give SoCal prices) dirt cheap cabins and cottages. Nate definitely came home with cabin fever, a malady that has made the fortune of many an Idyllwild real estate agent.

Here's to another 5 years (and beyond!) with the love of my life :) (and OMG, how am I old enough to have been married 5 years already?? And have a 2 year old??)