7 Years: A Reminder of God's Faithfulness

About a month and a half ago (yea I'm a little behind in blogging ;) - Tim and I went into the city for a day and a night (without Maddy) to celebrate our 7 year anniversary. It was a quick trip, but so nice to get some time together.

We walked around the city a bit and then headed to The Art Institute of Chicago and spent a few hours there. It was perfect because it was one of their free nights!

We spent our time in the Impressionism wing. This is an era of art that Tim and I both enjoy. They were even giving free tours, so we got to learn a bit extra. It was so interesting!

After we were finished, we ate dinner at the Terzo Piano, the restaurant in the new modern wing of the museum. It boasts "Italian with a Modern Perspective". We ate out on the patio because it was such a nice night. Below was our view!

Tim had the pork tenderloin

we both shared some cheeses: Clothbound Cheddar and  Gorgonzola Dolce Latte. They were served with light crips and raspberry jam. Fantastic!

I had the cold crab and asparagus salad. It was  light and refreshing

Afterwards, we walked through the city to the other end of town to our hotel.

 It was such a beautiful night. We enjoyed soaking in the city together ;)

We stayed at the Tremont Hotel. It's an old hotel right downtown. I got the night for free with our Citibank Thank You points!

The next morning we had brunch at the Tempo Cafe down the road from our hotel.

Yummy cappuccino

Great food!

I mean...really great!

All in all, we had a fabulous day together! We had to laugh though because even though we were so excited to get away alone, we did talk about Madison more than we thought we would. Every dog we would see  or fountain we would walk by - "oh Maddy would just LOVE that!" Haha! 

It's amazing how the years have changed things. 

Yes, we are more in love than we ever have been but I think that's because we have gone through good times, bad times, no-kid-times, all-night-up-with-kid-times, carefree times, dark times and more... we have walked through these days together as we have trusted the Lord for grace and wisdom. 

It's good to reflect on the source of our love, especially as things are really going to change around the Baylor household in about 6 weeks when Rose breaks onto the scene. God has evidenced His faithfulness to Tim and I in our marriage over the past 7 years and we trust in His continued faithfulness to us for our future days together here on earth. 

God's faithfulness to us (when we clearly don't deserve it)  gives us such a wonderful example of what our faithfulness as a married couple ought to look like toward one another. And most importantly, God's continued faithfulness to us, gives us hope that our marriage truly can stand the test of time by His grace. 

Celebration in the downtown Chicago!

So Tim planned a trip into the city for our 5 year anniversary. Here is a shot of our hotel.


It was so quaint


We had to laugh because the room smelled like Old Spice - it was almost like that was their air freshener :o) It was a gorgeous room though!This was the lobby - I wanted to just hang out and read, but there wasn't time.
That night we went to the Pritzker Pavillion and watched Northwestern University play for us. It was fabulous!

The night was perfect - 60-70 degrees and just so relaxing!

I loved this close up - they have concerts all summer long - we look forward to hitting some more.


After the concert, we headed to Geja's cafe. It was so much fun!
It was so cozy and romantic!
They started with the fruit, bread and cheese
And then went to a small salad
Then came the Meat and veggies! It was actually really good. Although I purposely overcooked every piece - just in case!
We got to roast our marshamallows over the chocolate
Some great fruit!


Mmmmm - chocolate!!!The next morning, we woke up (late) and stopped by "The Original Pancake House" which is well known here. It was pretty amazing!



Tim got the house specialty - the "Apple Pancake" It as massive! He only finished about half. But it sure was good!
That afternoon, we headed to University of Chicago - Beautiful School!
Then we spent time jsut walking the magnificent mile and hanging out in Millenium park.

We had a wonderful time together - we probably walked 5 + miles, but it was worth it. It was nice just to see the parts of the city we hadn't seen before. And of course it was such a blessing just being together and relaxing!

The best 5 years of my life!

This was actually the night we got engaged  - I don't really have any wedding pictures on our computer (i'll have to work on that). But today is our 5 year anniversary! I can hardly believe it. Tim has just flown by! I love being married to my best friend. We have had a blast just living our lives together.  We had a wonderful four years in Virginia Beach where we made so many friends at Central Seminary and Greenbrier Christian Academy. We bought our first home, got a few years teaching under our belts, sold our first home... and then headed to Chicago. We have been here less then a year - there has been a lot of transition, but it didn't seem hard because I had my companion by my side!  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HONEY!   

He was so sweet that he planned a little get away for us in downtown Chicago. We are heading into the city tomorrow morning after church, watching a concert at the pritzker pavillion, having dinner at Geja's cafe, staying the night at the Whitehall Hotel, and then just checking out the city the rest of the day on Monday.  I am sooo looking forward to it! I am so impressed that he made the time to plan this for us with as busy as he has been.  I love him so much and I am so looking forward to some time away with him.