Cheese and Chocolate

January 29th marked 7 years of the happiest years of my life. It's the day that I married, not just my soul mate, but my best friend.  I remember that day like it was yesterday! One thing that I can still hear in my ear is the part of his brother's speech that said "May you love each other more over the years than you do today." Well, he was speaking the truth!  Every second of the day my love for him goes stronger and stronger!

So, to celebrate this wonderful occasion, we went out to dinner and a little shopping. Now there is more to this story, so just stay with me for awhile!  :)

About a month before our anniversary, I decided to surprise Kevin with a nice dinner for just the two of us. I knew my parents would be in town and that our actual anniversary date, I would be on the road heading to Florida for a much needed vacation! Anyway, the one place we have always wanted to go to was The Melting Pot. So, I made reservations and we were good to go!  I told Kevin that I had something planned for our anniversary and even though he tried to get it out of me, I did NOT tell him where we were going.

Fast forward to the weekend of our dinner date.  We were talking and for whatever reason, he was calling around to see what other places were free the night. To our surprise, that weekend was Charlotte Restaurant Weekend! (can I get a woo-hoo)  So everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, was booked!   He was bummed because he said he even called The Melting Pot and they had nothing free all weekend. So, I had to let the cat out of the bag and I told him that we already had reservations, so he was beyond thrilled! Yes we kept them and went and let me tell you, the place is amazing!  And the extra bonus is- our anniversary falls on Charlotte Restaurant Weekend, so we are always going to have the best deals no matter where we eat!! Amen!

Let me tempt your palette a little.....

First, if you have never gone to The Melting Pot, please go! They do have family tables if you want to make it a family night out and private tables for just you and your sweetheart, so you'll have a great time either way!

They ask you to pick out a cheese choice. Now I'm thinking two or three, but NO. They have a mixture of so many wonderful cheeses! And it's not just cheddar, swiss, this or that. It's blended cheese that they make as you're sitting there! So then you get your dippers and dip away! Even the dippers, as they call them, are so good. Breads, chips, apples, etc.

Next is your salad, which it's funny to hear me say, but it was the best salad I ever had! It was fresh and the dressing was homemade and just plain old amazing.  After salad was your "meal". You have a choice of two, but the choices were filled with so many yummy things! I had two types of steaks, chicken,and shrimp. Kevin had some surf and turf meal. Both were very good. Oh- and you have to pick the type of oil that you "cook" your food in. We picked something with a little kick. (our cheese choice had a little kick too. See the theme?)

After the main meal comes my favorite part. You guessed it- dessert.  OK- just brace yourselves!

They don't just ask you to pick dark,milk or white chocolate. It's more like what chocolate choice do you want....the turtle (which has all the yummy goodness of a turtle type ice cream-minus the ice cream).  There was another choice of caramel and nuts, some others that I can't remember but the one that we choose was AMAZING!!!!  Now if you really know me, you could say which one we picked without me even telling you.  Yep- milk chocolate with crunchy peanut butter.  The Lord is SO good!!!!    Not only was the chocolate wonderful, but this is what you had to dip into that magnificent blend of milk chocolate and crunchy peanut butter:  A piece of cheese cake, bananas, strawberries, brownie bites, and red velvet cake bits. Ohmyword....I have never eaten so much in my whole life and loved every second of it!

After two or more hours of eating, the only way we could keep all that yummy goodness in was to walk around and do some shopping! We had such a great time!

Happy Anniversary Honey! I love you more than words could ever say!

                                                      Our Wedding Day - January 29, 2005.

                                                     Our Anniversary Date at The Melting Pot. 2011

Amazing Grace

There are two things that are really on my heart today. Things that I already knew, yet for some reason, they are more clearer than they were before.

My husband just came back from a two weeks missions trip to Kenya, Africa.  As I looked at picture after picture, I just fell in love with the people there, especially the children. If you're anything like me, the mom in me wanted to just love on them and bring them home with me! Most of them were part of the orphanage there, so they had a real want to just be loved on. I know the people that work there love them, but it's nothing like the love of a parent.

My husband, who is the smartest person I know, has this amazing gift of remembering things that I would have forgotten in 5 minutes.  :) He told so many stories and shared so many details about this beautiful country that it made me feel like I was there with him. Now I have been to a third world country before, so I know how it compares to America.  Americans have more things than we really need, yet we still hunger for more. Funny how we hunger for things that we can't take with us when we die. Things that are only materials, objects that mean nothing. Wouldn't it be great if we hungered for the right things, not the things of this world? I mean why are we here anyway?  To get and have more things? To brag and flaunt these things? No way! We are here to tell others about our Heavenly Father. To share the gospel. Get it? Got it? Good!

Which brings me to something else that has opened my eyes (and heart) a little wider.  I just read this book, in two days, called "Heaven is For Real."  It's a  amazing story about a not yet four year old who went to Heaven and saw God, Jesus and other amazing things! If you haven't read it yet, read it! It will give hope to those who doubt and give comfort to those who believe.

I could go on and on about this book, but I don't want to ruin it for those of you who will hopefully read it. But I will say this, throughout the entire book, this little boy continues to share how much God love US. Especially the children. Of course I already know this because the Bible tells me so, but it almost confirms it. I know it sounds a little weird, but this came from God's lips to this little boys ears! God kept telling him how much He loves us. Almost like He wanted to get that point across. I mean who else would send His ONLY son to DIE for OUR sins? That's how much He loves US! And then while His son was dying on the cross and going through all that pain (pain that WE deserve), He had to look away. Not to "reject" Him, but because what parent would have not stopped their child from all this suffering. God knew that this must be done so that WE could live with Him forever! Let that sink it for awhile. I will never know how it was that day on calvary, but I do know that without it, I would be dead in my sins. Not too many people I know would die for me. Sad how the one that saved US, many still deny Him.

Don't you just want to jump for joy knowing that no matter what we do-even when we sin- God still loves us! A popular phrase my kids say when something wonderful happens is "Praise the Lord".  I know they would shout it out if I told them how much God loves really them, (they already know this because we talk about it in Bible study) but just to almost confirm it. "Hey, God told this little boy just how much He loves YOU!"  Exciting huh?  I have not yet talked to them about this book, because I'm not sure if they would comprehend the fact that this boy went to Heaven and then came back. Of course when I think they're ready- I will be delighted to share it with them!

I'm not sure if there is really a connection. Two weeks, two days, two things that God has put into my life and gave me such a passion to work even more for Him.  Just something I wanted to share because that's what I'm here for. To share and spread the good news of everlasting life!

                             Jesus Loves the Little Children. All the Children of the World.

You gotta start somewhere....

I really enjoy reading some of my friends blogs, so I thought it would be fun to do my own! What better way to keep in touch with family and friends that can't be with you everyday.

Stay tuned! Hopefully this will be a fun journey for us all!