Blessings
I thought long and hard about sharing this information on this forum. Is this a private matter, or something I should be shouting to the world. I decided that it was something that was important to me and one of the things I like to do with important things is write about them.
As you know, from following my LJ, oneandonlymatt and I recently sold our house. It turned out to be a great situation, we were able to sell it for more than we paid for it and, as everyone tells us, that is really great in this market. We hadn't realized, but over the last few year the house had become an albatross for us. I think that really started when we bought the land up in Asheville and started putting our hearts into project up there. Projects at the house started to become obligations and they weren't fun anymore. It was the right time in our lives to sell the house, and so we did. We moved into a much smaller apartment in a high rise, and so far we really love it. We had found the 4 bedroom house way too big and since we actually enjoy spending time with one another, we found ourselves using only one or two rooms. The apartment fits our current life style much better.
After we sold the house, I could tell a huge burden had been lifted off of Matt's shoulders. And he started spreading that feeling to others. As my boss put it, "He feels blessed, so he is sharing the blessings". And yes, I suppose that is the easiest way to define it. He has been doing really nice things for the people he cares most about. I won't share those stories, because they aren't mine to tell.
Last week, though, I got a surprise day all my own. I will tell you up front - I am a simple person. There isn't much I need to make me happy. And this day went way beyond my expectations about the kind of things Matt might do for me.
He told me that we were going to a surprise dinner and that I had to wear a dress. No problem. I love restaurant experiences and all day at work I was super excited about the surprise. Then, about half way through my work day, I got flowers delivered along with a note that indicated there were 5 more surprises waiting for me. Of course, the girls in my office were having a field day speculating what I would be getting. Jewelry? A trip? And in all honestly, I had one idea that I thought was more than adequate and very realistic. I would love to have debt forgiveness on the Element so I didn't owe any more money. I told my co-worker that was what I wanted, but I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment if I didn't get it.
My boss let me leave for my super secret date night early. I got home and Matt said there was going to be a surprise an hour, starting with the smallest and he handed me an envelope. In side the envelope was a photo of a laptop computer. I really needed a new laptop but could't afford one, so I was stunned. And so excited. He said we could go shopping and see what kind I liked and go from there. And that was just the first surprise.
We went about getting ready for dinner and an hour later he gave me another surprise. Inside a small gift bag was a matchbox car - a Honda Element. The Element is now mine free and clear! I was just about out of my skin with excitement.
Then came the third surprise for the night. Matt got a call and told me we had to go downstairs. He had rented a limo to get us to dinner! I had never been in a limo. Dinner reservations weren't for a while, so we drove around town in the back and listened to music and had a couple of drinks before dinner.
Dinner was the fourth surprise. We went to Kyma - a greek seafood restaurant in Buckhead. I had never heard of it, but it was amazing. We got the tasting menu which came with three spreads including Skordalia (potato and garlic) and Tsipitsi (?) which is made from feta and roasted red pepper. It also came with four Mezze (appetizers) - we got spanikopita, tirokopita (filo stuffed with cheese), saganaki (flaming cheese) and greek meatballs. Then we got a whole fish - de-boned, de-headed and plated thank you very much. We ordered the Dover Sole which was prepared in a brown butter sauce. We also got a bottle of greek wine to go with dinner.
That just left one more surprise. A trip to Greece! I was (and am) beside myself with excitement. We're still working out details, but we'll probably go next September.
It was an incredibly magical night. I am so spoiled, or blessed. And I am so grateful for all the amazing in my life, most especially Matt. I don't want to make it sound like I am bragging in any way, but I feel so overjoyed with the amazing things in my life. I wanted to share it, at least on this journal so I coud remember how it all happened.
As you know, from following my LJ, oneandonlymatt and I recently sold our house. It turned out to be a great situation, we were able to sell it for more than we paid for it and, as everyone tells us, that is really great in this market. We hadn't realized, but over the last few year the house had become an albatross for us. I think that really started when we bought the land up in Asheville and started putting our hearts into project up there. Projects at the house started to become obligations and they weren't fun anymore. It was the right time in our lives to sell the house, and so we did. We moved into a much smaller apartment in a high rise, and so far we really love it. We had found the 4 bedroom house way too big and since we actually enjoy spending time with one another, we found ourselves using only one or two rooms. The apartment fits our current life style much better.
After we sold the house, I could tell a huge burden had been lifted off of Matt's shoulders. And he started spreading that feeling to others. As my boss put it, "He feels blessed, so he is sharing the blessings". And yes, I suppose that is the easiest way to define it. He has been doing really nice things for the people he cares most about. I won't share those stories, because they aren't mine to tell.
Last week, though, I got a surprise day all my own. I will tell you up front - I am a simple person. There isn't much I need to make me happy. And this day went way beyond my expectations about the kind of things Matt might do for me.
He told me that we were going to a surprise dinner and that I had to wear a dress. No problem. I love restaurant experiences and all day at work I was super excited about the surprise. Then, about half way through my work day, I got flowers delivered along with a note that indicated there were 5 more surprises waiting for me. Of course, the girls in my office were having a field day speculating what I would be getting. Jewelry? A trip? And in all honestly, I had one idea that I thought was more than adequate and very realistic. I would love to have debt forgiveness on the Element so I didn't owe any more money. I told my co-worker that was what I wanted, but I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment if I didn't get it.
My boss let me leave for my super secret date night early. I got home and Matt said there was going to be a surprise an hour, starting with the smallest and he handed me an envelope. In side the envelope was a photo of a laptop computer. I really needed a new laptop but could't afford one, so I was stunned. And so excited. He said we could go shopping and see what kind I liked and go from there. And that was just the first surprise.
We went about getting ready for dinner and an hour later he gave me another surprise. Inside a small gift bag was a matchbox car - a Honda Element. The Element is now mine free and clear! I was just about out of my skin with excitement.
Then came the third surprise for the night. Matt got a call and told me we had to go downstairs. He had rented a limo to get us to dinner! I had never been in a limo. Dinner reservations weren't for a while, so we drove around town in the back and listened to music and had a couple of drinks before dinner.
Dinner was the fourth surprise. We went to Kyma - a greek seafood restaurant in Buckhead. I had never heard of it, but it was amazing. We got the tasting menu which came with three spreads including Skordalia (potato and garlic) and Tsipitsi (?) which is made from feta and roasted red pepper. It also came with four Mezze (appetizers) - we got spanikopita, tirokopita (filo stuffed with cheese), saganaki (flaming cheese) and greek meatballs. Then we got a whole fish - de-boned, de-headed and plated thank you very much. We ordered the Dover Sole which was prepared in a brown butter sauce. We also got a bottle of greek wine to go with dinner.
That just left one more surprise. A trip to Greece! I was (and am) beside myself with excitement. We're still working out details, but we'll probably go next September.
It was an incredibly magical night. I am so spoiled, or blessed. And I am so grateful for all the amazing in my life, most especially Matt. I don't want to make it sound like I am bragging in any way, but I feel so overjoyed with the amazing things in my life. I wanted to share it, at least on this journal so I coud remember how it all happened.