Here is how it worked:
- He had a set of "directions" as well as an explanation of the symbolism
- I had FOUR envelopes, which I called PATHS; these were sort of the "genre" of each activity (i.e. dinner, dessert, entertainment, etc. although he did not do that)
- Each PATH we took had a few DOORS he could choose from; he was NOT allowed to see the options he just had to pick DOOR 1, 2, 3 etc. I tried to make the DOORS have fun little rhymes and stuff.
- After the evening was over, he was allowed to review ALL the DOORS from all the PATHS just for fun.
My original plan was to surprise Matthew and show up at work around the time he usually leaves, but he really wanted to leave work early that day (he did not get home from work until after 7 the day prior). After stalling him as much as I could, I finally had to tell him to stay put so I could meet up with him. Below are the paths and doors he opened (doors selected are indicated by BOLD and **)
PATH ONE (site seeing):
- **Door One: National Archives (where the constitution and bill of rights is kept)**
- Door Two: Jefferson Memorial
- We only had time to see the bill of rights and constitution! People sit at those displays and try to read every faint word on EVERY page. We were just interested in seeing the signatures on some of the pages; it was neat. The rest of the museum was not as interesting and we were moving slow that day due to my siatic nerve diagnosis that day....so we were ready to move on to the next path!
PATH TWO (dinner in Chinatown):
- Door One: Matchbox 369
- Door Two: Wok and Roll Chinese Restaurant
- **Door Three: Fuddruckers**
- I was secretly hoping he would pick this door because I have been telling him how much I LOVED Fuddruckers growing up!! It does not seem very fitting to eat non-Chinese food in Chinatown, but hey----you never know where the paths and doorways will lead you!!
PATH THREE (dessert in Chinatown)
- **Door One: Dunkin Donuts**
- Door Two: Red Velvet Cupcake
- Although he picked Dunkin Donuts, we (like every time we visit THIS dunkin donunts) walked in there, stood silent for several minutes then decided we did not want anything. This is the third of fourth time we have done that exact same thing at the exact same location! It was quite fitting for the analogy we decided not to partake in any dessert...sometimes we have to know when to not even venture down a path! We listened to our full tummies and did not have dessert--just as we should listen to the Holy Spirit guiding us away from some paths and inevitably saving us from temptation or destruction!
PATH FOUR (final adventure):
- Door One: Mini Golf
- **Door Two: Target Surprise Game**
- We love playing the Target Surprise Game!!! This is where we each have a $10 limit and we have 10 minutes to separately find the other person a random surprise. After 10 minutes, we meet back up at the entrance to the mall to exchange surprises. The lil token gifts are intended to be fun and silly yet thoughtful. This time I got Matthew cinnamon toast crunch (he loves that stuff), a mini etch a sketch and a mini nurf gun; all things I thought would bring a lil life to his lab at work :) He got me a shirt to wear while I am pregnant (and shortly thereafter) that said "Kicking it with My Peeps". It had four marshmellow PEEPS on it. At first, I thought he got it because it had FOUR little chicken peeps on it to symbolize our family of four!! But he really got it because these are my favorite SUPER soft and COMFY shirts from target that I love to wear----and steal from Matthew since he has several :) Either way, it was sweet.
We had a fabulous evening and are so thankful for our friends Sheila and JohnHenri who watched Addison most of the afternoon and all night! Matthew and I are also thankful that God is in control of our lives and guiding OUR paths and opening/closing doors in order to fulfill His plan for our lives.
PS---I love you Matthew! Always, Always :)
The Set Up
Dinner
Self Portrait, of course
Can you tell we were in Chinatown??
That sounds like so much fun! I am definitely copying this :). Also Isla is saying "Manna" now!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am so jealous over Fudruckers. Nick and I were just talking about how much we missed it!