For our second night in Palm Springs (see first post here), we splurged and stayed at The Parker. Celebrating 10 years of marital bliss (and plenty of reconciling after fights) is a pretty big deal, and Hotel Tonight had a good offer, so we treated ourselves. Ben and I were able to check in early, so we walked around scoping out all their cool hang out spots and gardens, then we chilled in the hammock for a some time that afternoon. It was a good choice to stay there because we really felt like we were able to take advantage of the beautiful hotel and relax. The Parker had lots of calming vibes.

We had dinner at Chi Chi at the Avalon (more on that later), then we went back to The Parker, grabbed a few couple-y pictures together before the sun went down, and did more relaxing. There are so many picturesque nooks and crannies in that hotel, we had fun exploring all the different areas. If you wanna splurge a bit, I definitely recommend staying here!

I just love getting away with Ben. I love being with Ben period. We reflected on the past 10 years and how amazing (and hard) it has all been. There have been so many surprises, actually, I think all of it has been a surprise. When we got married, we thought we weren’t going to have kids due to a medical condition Ben had. He was in his last year of grad school, and I was in my first year teaching, so our plans were completely different from what panned out. We are thankful it didn’t happen how we thought it would. Our whole trajectory changed that first couple months because we got pregnant (total surprise to us!), then we pretty much popped out 4 kids in about 6 years (again, a lot of surprises and blessings), but that’s just insane! There hasve been plenty of difficult days (such is life though), but also an overflow of beautiful days too. Even the hard days are beautiful because in the messiness of dealing with all the selfishness we bring in marriage, and in rearing our children, God humbles us and shows us his goodness and grace. Jesus is seen in the good and ugly parts of our lives, and all of it points back to grace. It all points back to the cross. He brings the good and he redeems the ugly. I’m thankful to share grace and forgiveness, and the good and ugly of life with my Benny. It’s been a happy 10 indeed!