My husband is the best!

Yesterday morning after we all woke up, Eric told me to get the kids dressed because he had a surprise planned for us. I've finally learned to not pepper him with questions when he makes statements like that, so I busied myself getting us all dressed. He then took us to McDonald's for breakfast (something we never do, so it was a big deal for the kids) and after that we started driving toward the city. On the way he handed me a letter that he had written that morning while I was getting some "beauty rest." It was a beautiful letter reminiscing over the almost eight years of our marriage (our anniversary is next month). Here's part of the letter that explained what we were on our way to do:

For each year of our marriage, you get one chair. For the beautiful family that you nurture, you get one table.

I believe that we have been blessed in many ways; health, hope, joy in living our vocations. I also believe that we will continue to be blessed in the love and time we share around your new table.

So, yesterday I got to shop for the first piece of furniture that we have ever bought! A brand new kitchen table! I'm so so so excited! Our house is mainly outfitted with hand-me-downs, left over cheap college furniture, flea market finds, a couple of cheap pieces from IKEA, and even some old office furniture that the company Eric works for auctioned off. The only thing that we have that is new is a couch that Eric's parents bought for us for a wedding present.

We went to 5 or 6 different stores, dragging the kids along with us. They were real troopers and only complained about every other minute. :) We didn't buy anything yet. I am a very slow and careful shopper (Eric knows this about me which is why he's having me start shopping a whole month before our anniversary). We also only want to get something that is very good quality, a piece that will be in our home for the rest of our lives. My favorite so far is this table and chairs from Pottery Barn and it is definitely not cheap! I'm usually very tight with money but Eric said that I'm not supposed to worry about the price. He actually said, "It's my job to make the money and it's your job to get what you like." Can you believe that? How many husbands have actually said that to their wives?!?

So, I'll be spending the rest of the afternoon doing some online comparison shopping. Hopefully I'll be posting a picture of our brand new kitchen table very soon!