There once was a time when my husband and I were a fun loving, care free couple who were madly in love and the world was at our fingertips.  It was a time of dating, learning each other’s quirks, laughter, flirting, snuggling, and just plain FUN!!  This very short lived time is engrained into my mind and I often think about those days with a smile.  I think what I miss the most of this time was just the two of us enjoying each other……alone.

9 years.  That’s how long my husband and I have been married.  9 wonderful, blessed, crazy years.  In these 9 years we have expanded and are now ruled by three tiny boy humans.  We are still a fun loving couple and madly in love, but care free…ummm….not quite.  And while the world could still be at our fingertips, just thinking of a trip with the five of us makes my head hurt and needs lots of notice.  Lots.  Although I am in love with our brood, my mind often takes me back to those carefree, dating days.  Back when we were “us”.

Back when we were us, our nights consisted of spontaneous outings at 9pm or a last minute trip to “the Box” to watch some LSU baseball.  Back when we were us, our mornings consisted of sleeping late and pillow talk of what we’d get into that day.  Back when we were us, when the feeling felt right it was all teams go as we raced to the bedroom.  Back when we were us, we’d hold conversations that would last for hours as we sat on the couch eating pizza out of the box and drinking beer.

Now there is a new type of us.  The new us consists of being in bed by 9pm and outings require a few hours to pack up all the boys and get out the door. The new us has early morning alarm clocks and a quick I love you as we head out the door to work.  The new us still gets hit by that feeling, but we’re interrupted with a loud knocking on the door and “WHAT ARE Y’ALL DOING IN THERE?”.  The new us still has pizza and conversations (and beer), but conversations mainly consist of what the kids did in school that day, what bills need to be paid, and rock paper scissoring it to see who has the battle of putting the kids to bed.

Ahhh life.  It changes in the blink of an eye.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my party of 5! Snuggling my sweet boys, hearing “Momma, I need you”, and the everyday adventures with kids is absolutely wonderful.  I wouldn’t change one thing.  Yet, every now and then I long for the days when life was simple and it was just the two of us….  We do the date night when we can find a sitter and that is amazing, but getting a taste of the old us leaves me wanting more.

So this year we did something that we typically don’t do.  We booked a trip to Las Vegas on a whim for our 9th anniversary.  Was I nervous about leaving my children and being quite a few states away? YES!  Did we have the funds just hanging out ready to spend on such a vacay? NO!  But were we eager and ecstatic to get back to being us? YESSSSS!!!!  So off we flew to the City of Lights!

I have to admit I thought I’d be more homesick and missing my babies once in Vegas.  Once we reached our hotel and had a minute for the realization of our trip to sink in, I was so thankful that we took this trip and was eager to be referred to as Katie, rather than momma, for the weekend!  We saw shows, dined at fancy restaurants, lounged at the pool, strolled the streets of Vegas, gambled a tiny bit, and-my favorite- we soaked up every second of being US!!!

I was reminded of the little things that made us fall in love in the first place.  Just a few days away from our everyday schedules gave us a much needed boost.  It boosted our relationship.  It boosted our love and affection for one another.  It boosted our attitudes.  It boosted so many things that we tend to forget or neglect in the midst of our crazy life.  Keeping a marriage or relationship happy, loving, and “heated” is so so important.  It’s crucial to not let your children interrupt what made you a couple in the first place. After all wasn’t it your spouse that made you the family you are today?

I am beyond thankful for our little getaway (I highly recommend other couples do the same—be selfish and leave the kids at home!) and I’m so thankful for this time where we were back to being us.