Happy anniversary

This weekend, my husband and I spent the night away from real life and family in honor of our 15^th anniversary. My husband, wanting to make this a special anniversary, booked us a room at the Water Street Inn in Stillwater. I’ve driven through Stillwater, but I’ve never spent time in there. It reminded me why I love living in the Twin Cities.

I’ve lived in the area most of my life. I love the fact that I can get the big concerts, go to major sporting events, see Broadway-quality theater and visit top-notch art galleries without having to drive more than 20 minutes. I can also visit small towns and scenic suburbs and be home the same day (Stillwater is a 40 minute drive from my home near campus).

Today I enjoyed a fantastic breakfast, view of the St. Croix River from our room and a walk down Main Street Stillwater (with a little shopping in the fantastic boutique shops). We jumped in the car and drove around the area for a few hours enjoying the amazing fall scenery in the beautiful St. Croix Valley where we stopped to visit a funky and free outdoor sculpture garden. We had to take a couple self-portrait, similar to one we took 15 years ago on our honeymoon drive.

On our way back from the Taylors Falls area, we stopped to see this amazing view of Stillwater from up the river:

And we were home by 3:30 to pick up the kids and head home for a nap and the usual Saturday-night-before-church preparations.

While autumn has been, well, brief to say the least this year, I love being able to enjoy watching God’s creation as it changes and just driving a short distance from the Twin Cities allows me to see that change in an entirely different light. So while autumn is probably going to be over sometime in the next five minutes, I hope you have had a chance to see how beautiful Minnesota truly can be.