Booking Our Babymoon

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Cheers! Moments after booking our babymoon. :) (Yes, mine is nonalcoholic.)

I only live in gray in a literal sense--as in the walls of my home and my favorite articles of clothing. Otherwise, I'm a black and white kind of girl. I am decisive. I like to make firm decisions with no turning back. They gray area just isn't my thing; I'm all in or all out.

Such was the case for booking our babymoon to a destination that came out of left field in a quick but certainly not hasty decision. You see, we were planning on driving to Blowing Rock over Valentine's Day weekend and staying at my grandparents' condo. A low budget, romantic winter babymoon getaway for two. But when my Mimi called to tell me that there was a wedding block booking that included her condo, my mind traveled elsewhere.

On a whim, I looked up flights to Europe. My thought process: I'll just look. It's the dead of winter when flights are cheapest, and between our US Airways Credit Card (that we put all purchases on and pay off every month) and our miles, (racked up--mmm--thousands traveling to and from Burundi in 2013) it was worth a try. Well, it wasn't long before I figured out that we could book a flight to London or Paris for a few hundred dollars total. I texted Mark saying, "I know this is a ridiculous thought, but..." Believe me, he hears plenty of crazy ideas from me. :) Much to my surprise, after hearing my idea, he said, "I would love to do that."

Boom. Gametime. When Mark got home from work later that evening, we made a game plan that consisted of London and Paris. We called US Airways on speaker phone (since you can't book multi-destination award travel online), and when the lady told us the total I was flabbergasted. I was ready to spend $300-400, thinking that was a good deal for the two of us flying abroad. When she said the total was $190.98, I immediately said, "Okay, that's each, right?" And then Mark buzzed in my other ear saying, "No." That was the total for both of us. I couldn't believe my ears!

WHAT!?! So here we are. Houston, party of 2, flying to Europe with our miles for a grand total of $190.98. In-stinkin-sane. Glory to God! Can't believe it.

I couldn't fall asleep Friday night. I was too anxiously excited to hear from my in-laws, knowing that they would come see us for the London stint of our trip. What a surprise message I knew they would wake up to! I was like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for them to realize what we had just spontaneously done!!!

Our plan is London first -- that will be a very heavily friends and family oriented trip. A lot of Mark's mates live in London, so we will spend our time with them (and lower our costs by staying with them too!). This reunion will be so heartwarming as time with his friends is always too few and far between! We'll also get to spend time with his parents who will travel down to London to join us for a day or two. I honestly hit the jackpot in the in-laws department. I love them so much. My sister refers to them as "perfect" -- I guess the only thing that isn't so perfect is being so far away from them! I could cry just thinking about being able to experience a sliver of this pregnancy with them around -- something I thought wasn't going to happen. What a blessing.

 

 My first (and only) trip to London in October 2008 -- a few months after we started dating.

(Mark's hometown is about 3.5 hours away, so we don't travel to London when we visit!)

The second portion of our trip, Paris, will be the just-the-two-of-us, romantic portion. I've been dreaming of seeing the Eiffel Tower in real life ever since I can remember. I will be more excited than a kid at Disney World, that's for sure. My Parisian adventure dream come true. Oh, and we'll also ride the channel tunnel from London to Paris, another "Elise dream" years in the making. I've been talking Mark's ear off about wanting to take the chunnel ever since I started making trips back and forth across the pond when we started dating in 2008.

 Pinch me. Because we booked this Parisian apartment on Airbnb for hundreds of dollars cheaper than any of the hotels we were contemplating. Oh, and I used coupon code too. WHAT! EEEEEEE!

All that to say...

Wow. I'm amazed. Giddy. I love that this marriage brings out the spontaneity in me. I love that we both love to travel. And I love that this babymoon is about things we value most in life: friends and family (in London) and our marriage (in Paris). It's a trip that fell together on a whim so beautifully that only God could've orchestrated it.

After calling my Mom (to make sure she could watch the pup!), I called my Mimi to thank her indirectly that their Blowing Rock condo was booked. I knew exactly what she was going to say. And that she did! Romans 8:28 -- "God works together for the GOOD of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose."

Feeling so incredibly thankful. Cannot wait to get back to England. Cannot wait to discover Paris. Oh, and if you have any must-do suggestions, throw them our way!

Cheers to our Euro Babymoon!