Lew and I celebrated our fifth anniversary on December 15th. I cannot believe we have been married for 5 years. Just last night Lew was wondering what he did for his 26th birthday and he said “Were we even together?” and I said “Of course we were together! We met when you were 24!”. He crazy to think we have met almost seven years ago. Anyhow, this year we had a very low key anniversary celebration. My mom, stepdad and sister (Or Mimi, Boppa, and KiKi according to LB and Daisy) came up to spend a couple nights and watch LB and Daisy for us so we could celebrate our five years of being married. Our past few anniversaries have been huge trips but this year with our new job situation we were very low key.
I always like to look back at what we have done past years for our anniversary. Our first anniversary we had dinner at an amazing restaurant in Chattanooga called Table 2 and spent the night at the Marriott in downtown where we stayed on our wedding night.
For our second anniversary we went to Park City, Utah where Lew snowboarded and I stayed in bed reading the Twilight Saga because I was pregnant with the twins and did not get around very easily at 24 weeks pregnant.
Our third anniversary is documented very well on the blog! We spent a week in Whistler snowboarding and eating amazing food.
Last year we went on a 7 day Carnival Cruise!
So even though this year seems kind of low key, we had a great date and it was nice to come home with our kiddos. It is crazy to think that in five years we have lived in three different houses, bought our first house, are on our second mini van and have two kids!
Our first stop for our date day was to Hot Springs, NC where I had a gift card to a massage (from my last birthday) that I needed to use. So I had a one hour deep tissue massage. I was a little nervous because my hamstrings were super sore but it really wasn’t that bad. I have only had two great massages in my life and both of those were in the spa at the Sandals resorts on our honey moon. Next time I get the chance to have a massage I think I am going to try the hot stone.
We were a couple hours early so we decided to grab some lunch at a place we have seen a few times but never had the chance to try.
If you have never been to Hot Springs it is a tiny, but really awesome town with a cool atmosphere. The Appalachian Trail goes right through town. Actually the first time we were in Hot Springs it was just Lew, Millie (our dog) and me and we were sitting at a table outside of this building with our backpacks (we had been camping) and people kept asking us if we were hiking the trail and I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or if I was just really dirty 
Anyway…back to the food.
The restaurant had a pretty good selection of locally brewed beer. (Asheville is very close) I wasn’t going to drink anything sense I was about to have a massage but we wanted to order something and I was in the mood to help decide. So we asked our VERY nice and helpful waitress for some recommendations. She kept reminding us that she wasn’t old enough to drink but told us everything she could to answer our questions. We ended up trying three different stouts, the first I can’t remember anything about other than is was like 11% alcohol and she said a pint was $16.00, that one was out, although it tasted great. It was the perfect blend of chocolate and coffee in a beer. (My favorite)
The other two we tried were the Ninja Stout and an Oyster Stout that I don’t know the exact name of.
I have not always enjoyed beer but over the last year have really developed a taste for dark beer. Stouts and porters are my personal favorites. These two did not disappoint. I love that dark and creamy taste both of these had.
For an appetizer we ordered the most amazing garlic parmesan fries I have ever had. Now I have only eaten them at a couple of places but these were by far better than any others.
So good!
I had a salad with our fries to balance out my lunch a little. Then we were off to the spa. I had a massage and Lew napped on a couch in the lobby. The perfect afternoon! ha!
After I was finished we got in the car and drove to Asheville where we visited the Brew Supply store (more on our beer brewing adventures soon!) and then just walked around downtown. I forgot how different it is to just be Lew and me. Things are so much easier and quieter with the twins.
We couldn’t decide what we wanted to do for dinner so we got in the car and headed to Weaverville (which the best I can tell seemed like a suburb of Asheville) and had dinner at Stoney Knob Café.
The lighting was terrible so I didn’t get any good photos but the food was no short of amazing. Lew and I shared the shrimp and grits and then we were treated to a peanut butter chocolate cheesecake for our anniversary. I will definitely be back to this restaurant next time we are celebrating something special! I loved it!
Fast forward to this past weekend….
Because I want to make sure and blog all of my long training runs I want to add a little about my run last weekend. On Saturday Brian (my running buddy) and I met at a trail about thirty minutes from each of us and ran our planned 10 miles. Although it was cold and terribly hilly we survived. When we started it was 24 degrees!! However, the sun was out and it really wasn’t all that bad. The important part is that we did it and even though parts of it sucked we finished!
Hopefully I will have another post in the works this afternoon to fill you in on Christmas!!!
Have a happy Wednesday!
I'm Ashlee and I am a stay at home mom of of twins (LB and Daisy). My husband, Lew, is a Chaplain resident at the VA hospital in Johnson City, TN. We are constantly striving to find the balance between family, fun, health and fitness. I blog to share, keep myself motivated and hopefully inspire.
