Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Two Wonderful Years

Today marks two wonderful years of dating Christopher. We celebrated this past weekend with a little getaway roughly halfway between New York City and Albany :)  We had an amazing weekend!  Friday afternoon, I took the train up to Poughkeepsie where Chris picked me up and our adventure began!  Much to his surprise, I had a little treat waiting for us when we checked into our very nice room with a little balcony at the Kingston Courtyard Marriott (which I would like to thank for being so kind in helping me coordinate the surprise!!).

So yummy!!  Highly recommend Sheri's Berries...

On Friday night, we went to Skytop Steakhouse up in the mountains for a nice dinner.



Saturday began with a big breakfast before we headed out to hike Kaaterskill Falls.  We initially drove to the top of the trail where we took a short walk to what would eventually be our final destination for the hike from the bottom.

The very tip top of the falls...very tip top!!
 


After a few pictures there, we drove down to the bottom to begin our hike.  Neither of us had ever been on a hike so it was a new adventure for both of us.  We ended up having a lot of fun, but I don't think we realized how intense it would be in certain places.  In the end, we made it to the final viewing spot before turning around and heading back down to the car.  I really enjoyed having Chris lead me through the trail to the beautiful falls.

Bottom of the trail...




We made it!!


On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at Poet's Walk for a little less strenuous tour of nature.  The walk was very relaxing and we enjoyed seeing some really nice scenery.

These benches were scattered throughout the trail where we walked.
 




We made it back to our hotel with some time to spare before getting ready for our evening activities so we took advantage of our balcony and used the time to enjoy some of our anniversary treats and reflect on our past couple of years together.  Some of our favorites from year one were our second date, when Chris made his first trip to KY, when we went to Pittsburgh for me to meet all Chris' friends there, the first time we said "I love you", and our trip to Vermont.  From year two, some of our favorites were all the weddings we attended, our Glen Cove adventure, the Super Bowl, our visit to KY for my 28th birthday, and Caucus weekend.  Since we had three cake pops, we decided to discuss the things we were most looking forward to in the coming year as well.  We are looking forward to meeting my niece, his godson, and a whole slew of other babies that our friends are welcoming into their lives, going to several (pre-determined) Broadway shows in NYC, taking a "real" vacation together, more regular date nights, and, of course and most importantly, Chris finding a job and moving to NYC.  We had a nice time reminiscing about the past and thinking about the future on our balcony for an hour or so before we got ready for the improv show.

View from the balcony...
Zoomed in view from balcony - gorgeous!



We quickly got ready and headed over to an amazing BBQ restaurant before the show.  I should have taken pictures of the portions because they were enormous!  The food was spectacular!  We started with some delicious hush puppies before we dug into our BBQ platters. We decided very easily that we would have to make a return trip to this restaurant at some point.  After dinner, we headed to the Ulster Performing Arts Center for the improv show.  It was FABULOUS!!  It was a two man show with Brad Sherwood and Colin Mochrie from Who's Line Is It Anyway? fame.  They were great, but what made the show so funny was the audience participation.  Chris and I actually got to participate in the sound effect skit.  They passed around a microphone in our section to do Brad's sound effects.  We both ended up having to make a sound of a drill.  It was really cool to get to be a part of the show!




On Sunday, we spent a little time around the hotel shopping before we headed to Keegan Ales Brewery.  It was an interesting place.  Definitely was a different atmosphere that what we anticipated, but the food was good. 


Next, we headed out to Woodstock, NY to check out some interesting shops.  Chris was even able to find a smooth grooves record for his collection :)



As most of the shops were closing up for the day, we made our way back to Poughkeepsie for one last adventure before dinner and my train ride back to NYC.  We walked across the Hudson on a pedestrian bridge.  It was a nice night for a walk especially when the sun began to set.






After dinner, Chris and I exchanged cards and talked for awhile before time for my train to leave.  I had a really hard time telling him goodbye this time. We had such a great weekend.  We are both ready to be in the same city and be able to spend more time with one another, but we know that in God's timing everything will work out according to His plan.  Chris reminded me that we just have to be patient and continue to pray!  While it has been two of the best years of our lives as Chris very sweetly mentioned in his facebook post this morning, it has been two of the hardest in terms of having to be long distance.  Two years is a long time to be in a long distance relationship, but with a lot of effort and love, we have made it work.  It hasn't always been easy, but it has always been worth it.  I think we are both excited to see what the next year together brings our way. 

Thank you for sharing two wonderful years with me, Christopher!  I love you very much!!

Andrea :)

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