It was nearly four years ago that my mister asked me to become a misses, and just over three when I finally said I do. While most days feel like our wedding could have been just last weekend, reality tells us something different and the calendar shows us three years.
We celebrated our third wedding anniversary on May 26th, memorial day weekend. The perfect weekend for a wedding anniversary, but also not so much. It’s great having your anniversary fall on a long weekend, but traveling around a holiday can sometimes be nuts. I think that the pros certainly outweigh the cons though, especially if it means getting away for a few days with the one that you love the most.
To celebrate our special occasion, we unplugged from our busy schedules and headed south for a weekend of us. We spent day one of our trip in the middle of nowhere Arkansas, trying our luck digging for diamonds at the Crater of Diamonds State Park. Murfreesboro is an eclectic little town, and there’s really not much there to do, besides digging in the dirt for diamonds, of course.
While digging in the dirt might not sound like much fun, the history of the park is actually pretty interesting. For many years, Arkansas was the only place where diamonds had naturally been discovered in the United States. After two sizable stones were found on the now park grounds in 1906, Murfreesboro quickly became the home of America’s first diamond rush.
While Arkansas is no longer the only state where diamonds have been discovered, it is still the only state that allows visitors to search for a diamond of their own. We didn’t leave with a diamond that day, but we did walk away with a few other fun looking stones. I was so hopeful as a park worker studied our loot. I crossed my fingers tight hoping that maybe we had found ourselves a fancy little anniversary gift, or maybe another trip to Europe. Supposedly, it’s almost daily that someone takes a diamond home, and occasionally, there are those lucky few who find something really worth writing home about. There was a 40.23 carat diamond found there once, a just a few weeks ago, a local found himself a 6.19 carat gem worth keeping. If only we could have been that lucky…
We found ourselves bored after just one hour (some diamond hunters we are, huh?), and headed back to our quirky little camp sight. As everything within an hour’s drive was already full, we settled in at a strange little place, spending our night hanging out with geese and peacocks, sleeping inside of a giant, air conditioned teepee. While the peacock roosting next to our teepee seriously creeped me out, our night was comfortable, and there wasn’t much to complain about. We were right on a river and were able to fish, and enjoyed the peace and quiet that camping tends to bring.
As the second day of our trip rolled around, we checked out of our teepee and headed up north.We spent our Memorial Day wandering around Hot Springs, enjoying the beautiful Garvan Gardens, and the quirky downtown. We relaxed at our lovely bed and breakfast, sipping on wine and munching on cheese, and enjoyed a late dinner on the patio, celebrating three awesome years of marriage.
Our trip was simple and quick, but it was just what we needed. Our days before and after were busy, and we really needed that time alone. Anniversaries don’t have to be extravagant affairs, but I do think it’s important to stop and recognize what accomplishments that they are. I look forward to what our fourth year of marriage will bring, and to the memories we will add to this great chapter of life.
The Daily Doss 