Celebrating 29 Years

Ben and I took off yesterday morning for Indianapolis. Stayed at the Hampton Inn in Fishers so we could enjoy an evening at the Melting Pot. We chose Fondue because it is a special memory of our younger dating years. It was a favorite at the 100 Center but is no longer there. We added in a trip to Cabelas and IKEA since they were so close. It was a nice getaway considering we haven’t traveled since covid hit. 

My Sweethearts

My sweetie took Gabi and I to Pasquale Rulli's for Valentine's Day on Saturday night before the MHS girls basketball sectional final game.  Such YUMMY Italian food!  I had mentioned being in the mood for that a few days back and lo and behold...my honey takes us there :)
He also did something VERY SWEET for me....he encouraged me to have the flooring done in the kitchen (last Tuesday) and he put the finishing touches on for us yesterday (trim, new cabinet handles, dividers).  We cleaned up the cupboards really well and it is now complete for now and I <3 the final product!
Before

After

Made some cutout cookies for the weekend for my Valentines

and a special breakfast this morning

 

Got an extra special text from my Valentine in Naperville that brought tears to my eyes...
Message after telling him I mailed him a Valentine package...
"lol well hey thanks!  Can I share you with dad as my valentine?  I don't have one lol and why not my mom? the best woman I'll have in my life"
Looking forward to the big Fondue Party in Gabi's class today for her Valentine party...
On the menu tonight...New York Strip Steak!!  I have a feeling everyone will LOVE that :)
Happy Valentine's Day!!!!  Be sure to hug all yours today - I WILL!

Dinner Date

Ben put in a plan of attack last week to take me on a dinner date for my birthday last night. Because of our schedules, well, the boys' schedules, it seems harder and harder to make "husband/wife" time. It worked out well for us last night though. Trenton and Tyler watched Gabi. I ordered a pizza for delivery for them and off we went. Ben wouldn't tell me where we were going...he wanted it to be a surprise. We usually always went to our favorite place to eat as a couple (1. because it's very expensive, 2. because it had a romantic setting, and 3. it took a while to eat there so it gave us plenty of alone time, and 4. it's a special place for us since we have gone there since we were a high school couple) - the Fondue Parlor. We eventually incorporated the dining into taking the whole family for Christmas. This past Christmas we found out it had closed. Very disappointed. So, Ben decided to take me elsewhere - somewhere I would be surprised, and I was. This place was very nice! Beautiful atmosphere, quiet and YUMMY YUMMY food. I am not lying when I say it was the best steak I have ever had. I started out my dinner with a spinach salad, shared a Porterhouse for two with mashed potatoes, and Ben ended his dinner with Bread Pudding (he shared a couple of bites with me) but I took my Birthday Chocolate Mousse home to be eaten later. Nice place. I have to say I liked this place better than LaSalle Grill...maybe not so much better than Fondue, but it was close. Thanks, honey, for taking me away from it all for a little while. I am enjoying these alone times more and more, ya know.

Dinner Date

Ben took off of work early today to celebrate our anniversary. We were able to have Gabi eat with my parents so Ben and I could enjoy a nice dinner out. We had plans to go to our favorite place to eat (dating back to when we first started dating)... The Fondue Parlor. I called there about 4 ish and figured out they had went out of business! I wanted somewhere cozy where we could have a little privacy and would take some time to eat there (Fondue would have been perfect). Time where we could converse and enjoy each other's company. After talking to my brother and Ben's sister and remembering we had a gift card from Dad R. to here, we decided to try it out since we have never been there. It was very nice! We certainly enjoyed ourself. Ben had Blue Cheese Topped Beef Tenderloin Medalions but later decided mine was better (New York Strip Au Poivre). We each also had a LaSalle House Salad to start us off along with some tasty bread and oil. The chef sent out a special appetizer for us (since it was our anniversary)...can't remember what it was called but it was mushrooms with cheese if you want to be technical. Needless to say, it was good. After our entrees we were stuffed, but Ben insisted we try a dessert. We decided on the cheesecake which was excellent, and the Hot Chocolate for two. Ben didn't care for the hot chocolate because he said it was too chocolatey. I loved it. Tasted somewhat like a real hot chocolate but tastier! Yum! To top off the meal, the chef sent out a box of chocolates for our anniversary also. It was a nice change of pace...a nice place for special occasions. Got some very gorgeous flowers before leaving for dinner. Thank you, Ben! Thanks for a great evening. Sorry pictures aren't really that great...they were taken with my camera phone....

Fondue

One of my and Ben's favorite places to eat, especially while we were dating, is Fondue in the 100 Center in downtown Mishawaka. In fact, that was Ben's first place of employment! Although it is quite expensive it has got to be the best environment to just relax and enjoy each other's company. It can sometimes take a couple hours to eat there! Anyways, three years ago when Trenton was 12, Tyler was 11, and Gabi was only 3, we decided to venture there and include them in our love of fondue. They loved it too! It has now become one of the things we look forward to once a year and we try to make it around Christmas time because the restaurant is decorated so beautiful. It just so happened that Trenton did not have practice this evening (he has it tomorrow morning) and he doesn't have to worry about cutting so much weight so we decided to go out tonight. It was once again an enjoyable evening.