Sweet Moments: Bedtime

I don't know about you, but one of my very favorite moments of the day is bedtime. There's nothing quite a sweet as crawling into a big comfy bed, snuggling in under the covers, relaying a few thoughts to my journal, and then retreating into a good book.

I don't read every night before I go to sleep; of course--it depends on how late it is. But when I have the time, I love to indulge in my bedtime rituals.



Recently, I've started making myself drink water as I sit in bed reading. Like many others, I don't drink nearly as much water as I should {too busy drinking sweet tea or coffee}, so this is one way I'm attempting to get better at that.

On a random side note, does anyone else just LOVE the Old Spaghetti Factory Restaurant?

After I slide into the sheets, I reach for my nightstand stash of lotions and lip balms. I just don't feel right falling asleep unless my lips are good and moisturized. I also use lovely-smelling lotions on my legs and hands and love how it puts a sweet aroma into the air.

Every so often, I slather on special foot cream and hand cream, then sleep with moisturizing socks and gloves. Matt really makes fun of me when he climbs into bed and sees my white-gloved hands. He says I just remind him of a mime!

I relish sinking into our big, fluffy bed pillows while I read. It's so relaxing and helps me clear my mind for a good night's sleep.

My other bedtime must? I have to sleep with my hair pulled up on top of my head. I don't know why, but I just cannot stand to sleep with my hair touching my face or neck. It's just a thing I have.



Maybe another reason I love my relaxing-in-bed-time at the end of the day is because it's a delicious little prelude to falling asleep. I love sleeping, partly because I have such vivid and adventurous dreams, which I'm always able to recall quite clearly the next day, or even years later. There's been moments after I turn off the lamp and close my eyes where I think to myself, "I wonder what adventures I'll have tonight?"

Is bedtime one of your favorite times of the day, too? What are some of your bedtime rituals?

We Heart St. Joseph

Matt and I had a lovely time on our mini-getaway to St. Joseph on Tuesday and Wednesday! Our time there was short, but sweet, and just what we needed. The weather wasn't what we had hoped for...we arrived to rain, which thankfully stopped about two hours after our arrival. The rest of the time, the skies were overcast, but they provided a very cosy, romantic feel.

We began our trip with one of our favorite past times--leisurely strolling through charming downtown St. Joseph. We dodged the rain from shop to shop, stopping at some of our favorites: Forever Books, the old five and dime store, FuzzyButz Pet Bakery, the Toy Company, Urban Home, Days of Yore antiques {where I was sooo tempted to buy a pair of adorable 1940's grey peep toe heels--in my size!}, etc. We stopped in the Chocolate Cafe to warm from the chill and the rain. Matt enjoyed a LaSalle hot chocolate {with mint} and I a Kaffe Wien {coffee with hot chocolate and cream} while we browsed the history books of the St. Joe/Stevensville area. I love to look at the pictures, seeing how things have changed, and as much how things have stayed the same.
We checked into the Boulevard Inn in downtown St. Joe and settled into our room. Then we headed off for an incredibly delicious dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants: Villa Santaniello. It's the Italian restaurant where we had our wedding rehearsal dinner. We had a great time savoring our meals and enjoying "us" time, as we were seated in a cozy corner of the restaurant.
We loved watching our favorite weeknight shows {Lost, V} on the big flat screen TVs in our hotel room! Wednesday morning, we slept in a bit and enjoyed an impressive breakfast at our hotel's bistro.

After checking out of our hotel, we walked on Silver Beach for awhile. Then we headed out toward another favorite local restaurant for lunch: Tabor Hill. Tabor Hill is located pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and they are a famous winery in southwestern Michigan. They're also famous for their gourmet restaurant. We were the first lunch guests to arrive and were seated at a corner table with beautiful views of the vineyards! Although it was cloudy, everything looked so lush and green! I ordered my favorite dish there: pecan-crusted raspberry chicken. So delectable! We took our time and enjoyed every moment there...we even managed to save room for dessert!
We had to head back home after lunch as Matt has had many preparations to make this week. But we had such an enchanting time in a place so dear to both of our hearts--St. Joseph.

The Boulevard Inn.

The view from our room. You can see the white dome of

the heritage center where we had our wedding reception.

Room #2, which we obviously didn't use!
Kitchen/breakfast bar...
Another view of kitchen and of the entry way.
Matt's checking out the flat screen TV!
The view of Lake Michigan from our suite.

Cloudy, but no less beautiful...

View of Silver Beach and the lighthouse from the front of the Boulevard.

One of the best things you'll ever put into your mouth:

the focaccia bread at Santaniello's!

My savory dinner.

Sometimes I miss St. Joseph so much, my heart hurts.

Loving every minute of our getaway.

The view from our table at Tabor Hill.

Matt is excited for lunch!

Another view of the vineyards from our table.

My delicious salad.

Matt's open-faced buffalo taco.

My pecan-crusted raspberry chicken.

The raspberry sauce is the secret!

Matt's latte came with two gourmet truffles.

We thought about buying some truffles from the gift shop,

but it was $17 for five truffles. Nah.

I ordered the "kiddie" dessert, but the size was just-right.

It was delicious dark chocolate hazelnut gelato rolled in sprinkles.

I love anything with sprinkles!

We stayed in a suite on the top floor. This is our king bed in room #1.

Creating Calm amidst Chaos

Life feels utterly chaotic. And I am not a person who deals well with chaos.

Let me explain why life feels this way. As I mentioned in a previous post, Matt will deploy to Afghanistan for a year this May and I am beginning graduate school in June, the first part taking place in Israel for six months. The preparations alone for both of these events make my head spin.

However, the most recent happenings have me feeling as if all is spinning out of control. Let me back up slightly....in November, Matt interviewed for a new job in the northern Detroit area with border patrol. Two weeks later, he was conditionally offered the position. It was conditional because Matt had to receive very extensive security clearances before he would officially be given the position. Based upon examples of others who were waiting to receive their final clearances, we were expecting for Matt to possibly begin in late March or April.

Last Friday, Matt found out all of his clearances have gone through and he can begin as soon as January 31st. This is great in that Matt is excited to start this new job, but it will make our lives much more complicated for a longer period of time prior to our both leaving the country.

We currently live in DeWitt {a suburb of Lansing} and where Matt works is two hours away, one direction. This leaves commuting out of the option. Matt could find somewhere, like a hotel room, to stay during the week and come home on the weekends, but this does not satisfy either of us because of the upcoming 14-month separation we'll have to endure in a few month's time.

So--it looks as if we'll be moving shortly. Our current apartment's lease isn't up until the end of June, so we'll have to pay extra to get out of that early. We'll most likely get another apartment temporarily in the northern Detroit area and if we sign a six-month lease agreement, we'll be able to get out of it early because of Matt's military orders for deployment. But we'll leave much of our belongings packed up since we'll be putting everything into storage once we both are gone.

Matt will begin the new job on February 16th, so now we have to decide how soon to move me and our things over to Detroit along with him. Matt leaves for a three-week training in Florida at the end of February until mid March, so it will most likely be either before or after that. Since that training also takes away from our time left together before Matt's deployment, I'd prefer to move before {which will be in a mere 3-4 weeks!}. I've become quite comfortable in our current apartment. It's our "first home" together since being married and we've been here 2 and 1/2 years, so it's a bit upsetting to think about leaving it. {I'm known for being over-sentimental, ask anyone}.

I've now been having a lot of trouble sleeping. I cannot make my mind shut off as I'm lying in bed trying to fall asleep. All that is coming, all that needs to be done, all the unanswered questions---it all overwhelms me. My internal world feels like chaos.

In an attempt to retain a level of sanity, I've been trying to relax and pamper myself in as many ways as possible, as often as possible. Candle-lit bubble baths soothe me almost every-other day. I'm drinking may cups of tea out of the bone china teacup and saucer I inherited from my grandma Dorsey. I'm taking lots of time to pamper my body with creamy lotions, body scrubs, rejuvenating face masques, and in-home manicures/pedicures. I've been climbing into bed each night with moisturizing socks and gloves as I try {in vain} to fall asleep to soothing songs on my iPod. I've been curling up to watch all my favorite movies and to immerse myself in inspirational books.

I know I'll need to keep this up as life will become increasingly more chaotic in the coming months. I do have a positive outlook on things, I just know myself, and dealing with change and lots of stress has never been a strength of mine. As ever, I will be looking to my Savior for that strength.

I'm growing more excited for the trip to Trinidad and Tobago, and I know it will be a fantastic time that will be a great distraction from my stressful thoughts. I'll just need to brace myself for the beginning of the moving process once I get back.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11