I am writing this a day late after coming home from a weekend away for a special occasion. But more on that in a moment, because there are lots of joyous tidings in this post and I should start chronologically.

Our happy weekend began early. Jason took Friday off of work, not for Valentine’s – though that was a great bonus – but for a special signing at a title company. We are now officially owners of only a single house again, hurrah! Due to our own clumsy scheduling, we did have one month of two-mortgages-to-pay, but the proceeds on the house paid the debts accrued by this. We have yet to create a new budget for ourselves – I’m a stickler for waiting until the deed is actually DONE to do this kind of thing – but our situation is vastly improved by this change we began in the fall.

And since Jason had the rest of Valentine’s Day off, we decided to do a little celebrating until our kids got off from school. (Go figure that it would be an early release day, yeah?) So after our closing, we went down the street to Eisenhower Park and took a 3.2-mile hike. Hiking is an activity we both enjoy – very rare for us with regards to physical activity – so it made for a nice morning. Afterwards, we went down to my favorite restaurant in San Antonio, India Oven, for a buffet lunch.

So that’s how we spent Valentine’s Day. Jason is still suffering under that whole root-canal thing – the procedure isn’t scheduled until the 21st – so after all that, he was ready to nap the afternoon away. I got the boys from school and we had a lazy rest-of-Valentine’s before prepping for our awesome, love-filled weekend. Here’s where the best of the joyous tidings begin:

My cousin Jen got married yesterday! She and her new husband, Robert, have known each other for years, but began to date back in the fall of 2015 when Jen and I threw a joint Autumn Party for our friends. In the years since then, Jen and Robert have been wonderful for each other, and I was so happy to hear of their engagement back in early autumn. They decided to have a small ceremony at the coast, and Jen asked me to read an excerpt from Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith during the wedding. Jason, the boys, and I drove down to Port A on Saturday morning with plenty of time to check into the hotel and walk down the beach to the ceremony spot.

I won’t hash over all the details from the wedding itself. I’ll just say that it was a beautiful ceremony, with perfect weather, and a small group of friends and family gathered. Of course, I got lots of photos, and can’t wait to see the ones the professional photographer took. After the ceremony, we all went to eat at a nearby seafood-and-pasta restaurant (delicious!), and the next morning, we had breakfast tacos over at the newlywed’s beach rental. Jen and Robert organized everything so well. Their rental was was right next to the group hotel, and only half a mile from both the restaurant and the wedding location. Jason, the boys, and I walked everywhere instead of needing to drive, which just made the whole weekend that much more perfect.

After Sunday breakfast, we made the LONG drive home. (By the way, did you know that driving on an island in the middle of major fog is stressful??) And as a perfect end to a lovely weekend, my friend Stephanie and I joined our hiking group for a beautiful 2.7-mile walk around Woodlawn Lake.

Today is a school holiday, so my boys are home with me, and the plan is to try to get our weekend chores done and otherwise be lazy. Maybe some yoga for me, because I’ve walked/hiked roughly ten miles in the last three days and some loosening of muscles and joints and tendons will do my body good! I hope y’all all had as beautiful a weekend as my family did!