Last week, Lance and I celebrated 10 years of marriage! A decade married. In some ways it feels like we should just be celebrating 1 or 2 years of marriage, since we are just 31, but when you get married at 21, this is what 10 years looks like. And I’m so thankful for it. At the time, I’m sure it made no sense to most of the people around us. Why now? What’s the rush? Don’t you want to live/travel/be free in your 20s? And the truth is, getting married young and having kids young has definitely changed things for us and we have not lived the typical lifestyle that most do in their 20s and early 30s, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. For us, it was the best decision. We got the chance to grow up together and figure out so much together. We got married before we had a steady income or our careers figured out or really anything figured out (we were still in college). We found this step of obedience was exactly where God showed us that He will provide over and over, not when it makes sense, but when we fully put our trust in Him.

All this to say, I’m so thankful for Lance, this marriage of ours, and this life the Lord has so graciously given us. These 10 years have held so much for us: graduating college, each of us starting new jobs, job changes/transitions, a puppy, 5 pregnancies (3 beautiful boys, one baby girl on the way and a sweet angel babe in heaven), and so many twists and turns along the way, but in every season, the Lord has proven to be faithful.

To celebrate these ten years, Lance and I landed on spending a couple days away (kid-free) in Ojai. So thankful for our amazing moms that made it possible for us to leave behind our 3 kiddos and dog for a couple nights. We’ve wanted to stay at the Ojai Valley Inn for a while now, and a 10 year anniversary felt like the perfect reason to make it happen. It was absolutely beautiful; so serene and peaceful.

Day 1

We dropped the boys off and excitedly made the drive to Ojai (from OC it took about 2.5 hours). Our first stop was in downtown for lunch. We ate a delcious lunch at Hip Vegan. The gunpowder fries were especially yummy and seasoned! It was the perfect healthy lunch to start off our Ojai trip. We walked around for a bit and made a stop at Bart’s Book. This bookstore is almost entirely outdoors and it’s the perfect setting to wander and explore books. A place I would definitely come back to! We then grabbed an iced coffee and matcha at Three Birds. Loved this spot and grabbed breakfast here our last day too.

After, we checked in at the hotel. There was champagne (saving that for after baby) and chocolate covered strawberries for our anniversary. Such a sweet and thoughtful touch. The room itself was so big and spacious and it felt like stepping into a little retreat.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the grounds and spending time at the adult pool (nice and quiet- not our typical pool scene). We then got ready and headed back to town for dinner. We ate at Ojai Rôtie. This felt like another true to Ojai spot. We shared a rotisserie chicken with yummy sides and a peach salad that tasted like summer. They are known for their sourdough and homemade butter.

We sat out on the grass area at the hotel in hopes of seeing the pink moment that I read all about from research, but really didn’t see anything pink, but it was a pretty sunset! Lance thinks this is not real, but maybe we just weren’t in the right spot?

Day 2

This day was our anniversary! We started day extra early as both Lance and I are used to getting up early with the kids, we really can’t sleep in. We drank cups of espresso on the balcony and then went out to grab a light breakfast from The Dutchess in downtown. This was a yummy morning spot for pastries.

After, did the Ojai Meadows Preserve hike. We did more of an out and back route and didn’t go super far as I am pregnant and wasn’t feeling up for doing a ton of miles. It was pretty and nice to be out and moving for a bit.

When we got back to the hotel, we grabbed our pickleball gear: Wilson Pro Pickleball shoes (these ones are mine and Lance wore these), Wilson Cadence Tour 12 Pickleball Paddle for me and Wilson Blaze Pro 13 Paddle for Lance, and pickleballs. Thankful for Wilson sending these amazing products to us! Even though Lance and I have never played an actual game of pickleball on a court, we felt like we knew what we were doing with these shoes and paddles.

We checked out Linus bikes from right outside our room and rode over to the courts! We played an hour and it was a lot of fun, even though Lance beat me all three games. We both hope to play more regularly together.

We built a picnic at Libbey’s Market with sandwiches and chips and then biked into town and ate at Libbey Park in downtown.

After a really active day, we were ready to take it easy and relax. We biked back to the hotel and went back to the Indigo pool. We read, swam, and I enjoyed a virgin piña colada poolside.

We wrapped up this lovely anniversary with an amazing dinner at The Oak. The bread here was so good. We shared crab dip and a caesar salad. Lance got fish and I got steak and we shared mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts with bacon. It was all so good and so much food, we even took some back with us.

We walked around a bit and even saw a deer roaming on the golf course. We headed back and watched the sunset again and still no pink moment, but a beautiful evening.

I feel so thankful for this time away with Lance. We love Ojai- it really is the perfect little retreat spot. Right when we got back we fully stepped back into the chaos of daily life, but a little break is super helpful in not only handling all the things of regular life well, but also having a deep appreciation for this life of ours. It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years of marriage. It’s been a good decade and I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for this next one.