Wine Tasting

Sarah says:  Jon and I went to our first ever wine tasting last weekend.  I loved it!  Members of Geneva Presbyterian Church get together every year and do this.  Here are some pics of the wines we tasted:

Moscato D'anti - fairly sweet, and as we all know, I don't do sweet.  However, I seemed to enjoy this Moscato more than any other Moscato I've ever encountered, so yay for that!

Crane Lake White Zinfandel - Can you ever go wrong with a White Zin?  Nope.  It's a sure thing, a safe bet, a delicious wine.  I enjoyed it, as did many others!

Michigan Red - It saddens me to say this because I usually like everything Michigan, but I didn't like this.  I left my mouth dry and wishing for a glass of water.  I think I ended up swapping glasses with Jon so he could finish it.

Green Apple Riesling - My first apple wine!  LOVE IT!  I'm beginning to think I enjoy all Riesling, but I especially loved that this gave me the opportunity to taste something completely different.  So good!  I think I would declare this my favorite of the night.

Lake Harvest Riesling - another Riesling, another success!

Casillero del Diablo - I didn't get a chance to taste this one, but Jon did, and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it!  I'm not sure about the name though, isn't Diablo a violent video game?  Hmmm... you gotta watch our for those Presbyterian wine drinkers

CMS - this was the winner of the night, because it was the first bottle finished.  It was finished so fast that I didn't even get a taste!  I was told it was awesome, and that is motivation to go purchase a bottle myself.  Maybe another time.













This night wasn't really about the wine though.  Obviously, based on my brief descriptions above, I didn't really take notes about each one.  This night was about getting out of the house with my husband in typical "date night" fashion.  We're parents of 2 kids, a 4 and a 5 year old (Gasp! Can you believe Mary turns 4 tomorrow!?!  More on that another time.)  We don't get a lot of time away.  Like many new parents, back when Liam was born, we let him and our new world of parenting control our lives and our schedules.  When Mary was born, it only got worse.  It's only been over the past 18 months or so that I've really come to understand the necessity of the date night.  I used to dread them, I was so nervous about leaving my kiddos, it almost never happened.  Then, I was too worried about them to really enjoy the night.  I'd write pages of instructions, I'd call and check in, we'd come home early.  But then... I got burnt out.  Parenting is a 168 hour a week job.  I work 40 hours per week and my "regular" job, and I'm exhausted by it.  They give me several weeks off a year simply because they know we all need it to rest and recharge.  It's something you earn and deserve.  We need to apply the same rule to parenting - stop feeling guilty for wanting to get away!  As parents, we put in our time, and we deserve... and need a break sometimes.

I've come to enjoy our date nights (I still write pages of instructions though), and (thanks to a few awesome relatives) a few date weekends!  My kids are my priority, my pride and joy, my blood, my reason for trying, my everything; but my husband, he's my best friend, my supporter, my confidant, my love.  I was making so much time for the kids, that I ran out of time for my husband. 

Date nights are the best, I look forward to them now.  It allows us to communicate on a adult level - sure we see each other at home, but we are usually so busy caring for the kids, cooking meals, helping with homework, cleaning toys, dishes, laundry, that our conversations are usually about things like poop and swim lessons.  It allows us to rest - there isn't anything wrong with going to the movies - sometimes just sitting still for two hours is exactly what we need.  It allows us to interact with people we rarely get to see - friends are important too!  It allows us to show our kids that we are together - they pretty much know that they mean the world to me, and they use that to their advantage as much as possible, but these nights are about us, not them, and they know it!  It allows us to see how good we have it - sorry guys, but sometimes getting out of our bubble and seeing what everyone else has, makes us realize we wouldn't change a thing.  Often at the end of a date night, I find myself saying that I just want to go home.

So, date nights and wine are both important - they both provide relaxation.  I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Friday evening, than with these two very important things, and to top it off, we got to spend time with our church family!  Bonus!

Overall rating:  Thumbs WWAAYY UP

I'd also like to give a big Thank You to anyone that has taken on the responsibility of watching the kiddos so Jon and I could go on our date nights!  We truly appreciate you!!  Mom & Dad (both sets!), Anne, Henry, Shayna, Tara, Gerrit, Terry, Tina, Beth, Marilyn, Chelsea.