Best. Vacation. Ever.

After several unforeseen setbacks and serious/painful struggles over the last couple of months or so, Bryan and I decided we were in desperate need of a vacation. I'm not talking about a trip home to see our families, or a weekend at home. I'm talking one of those trips so full of fun and adventure, it makes you forget about your problems for a while, and when it's over, you feel like maybe -- just maybe -- you can go back to your life and your problems don't seem so bad.

We had talked before about going to The Homestead (pictured above), a resort in the woods of southwest Virginia, but we had never made the trip. With the three-day Memorial Day weekend on the horizon, we decided the time had come. To give you an idea of how excited Bryan was for this trip, he actually volunteered to call and make all of the reservations for our activities. We planned a weekend designed to blow our problems to bits and cast our worries into complete oblivion. And we succeeded. Oh, how we succeeded. Did we spend too much money? Yes, we did. Did we eat so much food that our clothes were ill-fitting by the time we came home? Absolutely. But was it worth it? Without a doubt. I even managed to ignore my blackberry for more than 24 hours straight. That is a serious feat.

I will chronicle the magical weekend here, one day at a time, if for no other reason than to enjoy it again through my memories. Seriously, it was that fun. It may take me a couple of days to get everything posted, but don't worry, I'll get it all posted eventually.