Hannah Morrison

5 Things For Prayer

I think one of the things I hear the most for both new and seasoned believers is, “I want to pray, but how?”

I certainly am no expert in this whole faith thing, and I never will be. I hope I never falsely believe I DO have it down. I am constantly being refined, broken down to be put back together, and it’s a beautiful process. To be honest, I have been in a really trying season of life. To be even more vulnerable, I have a hard time reading my Bible and being disciplined in my routine, but for some reason prayer has always been second nature to me. Ever since I was a little girl I have prayed long extravagant prayers, and if I fell asleep before (or, let’s be real, during my prayer time), I would wake up and immediately feel prompted to finish my prayer I had started. I truly believe that it is my prayer time as a child and into my teenage years that shaped me and showed me how real God is. The crazy things I just listed off and prayed and saw come to fruition later in life, things so specific, showed me God is real and he hears and he cares to show his children how real he is.

Prayer is a beautiful invitation to be in relationship with God of the universe- that’s pretty sweet. How you approach him in prayer will also reveal your heart’s view of how you can relate to him. Allow me to explain. When you pray, do you feel fearful or the need to come in low and ashamed? Or, do you approach a conversation with God, like a mentor or parent? I encourage you to seek the latter. When I was in high school, I would roll the windows down on the way to dance in the wee early hours of the morning, pitch black outside, and pray out loud. I would start off with “Hey God” or “Good morning, God!” It was such an incredibly intimate time, and I will never forget those crisp morning drives. I can quite literally still smell them. The more you see the Lord as a relationship, the greater your trust will grow and your prayer life will flourish. So what do I pray for? How do I start this? I have 5 tips and things I pray for daily that I hope will help you spark your own personal prayer life. Make it your own! This isn’t “the format” and it certainly isn’t the only way, I just hope sharing this will encourage you to pray big, constant, and personal prayers.

1. Make me more like you

Every morning as I roll out of bed, I have gotten into the habit of praying, “God make me more like you today. Help me to love more like you, speak more like you, and see things more like you.” This is simple, but is asking for the heart of God. With the heart of God comes the eyes and compassion of God.

2. God, give me creativity today

I ask God for creativity in my work and for a good work ethic. About two years ago, a creative told me that she prayed for creativity in her work every day, and I loved that. I know that ultimately, all good things come from above, and that all great ideas are really God’s grace and love for me coming out of me. I am working on lots of fun things right now, and I ask daily for the Lord to be in them, the process, and the outcome.

3. Pray the CRAZY prayers

Listen, when I say pray the crazy prayers… I mean the CRAZY ones. I have done this my whole life, and I promise God cares. He loves hearing you pray big. I pray lots of crazy prayers right now, but #1 on my list is a farm in McKinney that I wrote a letter to a couple months back and left in their gate. I  pray for it every single day and that it would one day be mine. A photo of it is on my refrigerator with the verse “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24. When I pass by it I say, “God please bring me the farm.” That’s all. So simple. Or I will recite Mark 11:24 to remind me how much he loves my crazy prayers.

4. God, heal

I won’t go into detail of this, because I want to protect people. But I ask for healing in relationships daily. I pray for a situation like the prodigal son that one day there will be a return with celebration. It’s a beautiful picture, and I love resting in that. I can’t wait to throw an extravagant party for these friends of mine at their return.

5. Speak What Is True

My current jam is ‘Here’s My Heart’ Lord by Lauren Daigle. I love how real and simple it is, it’s honestly a lot like my prayer time. “Here’s my heart lord, speak what is true.” It goes on to say all the characteristics of God, a reminder that he is so good. I am my own worst critic and enemy, and I can be in my head a lot. I hear the words “you’re mediocre at everything” a lot, and I ask for God to speak what is true. “I am found, I am yours, I am loved, I’m made pure.” When we ask for the Lord to speak what is true to us, we will find confidence and assurance. It’s asking to be reminded of who we truly are, not want the enemy wants us to believe we are.

I hope this helps you with your prayer time. Don’t be afraid to approach prayer. It’s an easy place to start a deep love and relationship with Jesus. You don’t have to wait to be a “good believer” (newsflash- there’s no such thing) before you can pray. PRAY- especially if you’re unsure if you even believe in this crazy God thing.

Happy Friday. I love y’all!

xoxo- Han

 

Hydrogen Peroxide

I shared about a month ago that life as I know it was changing drastically, and basically at the snap of my doctor’s fingers. I went to a crazy scientist doctor who made sense of my entire life in about an hour, and he also made me cut out everything good in life in exchange for a diet of meat and veggies.

Listen here, my blog is called The Cake, I have a massive sweet tooth. Cutting out sweets cold turkey has been anything but easy. I have cheated twice, all in the first week, and haven’t since. I indulged in Pacuigo gelato and queso. It was bad news bears and I swore to not do that again, because both the guilt and the stomach ache accompanied with these decisions just wasn’t worth it. Cutting out carbs, pastas (even the gluten free I have been on for 4 years!!), not easy. I have been on this “diet” for about a month, and I thought I would share an update mostly because you have asked for one. First off, I want to say  THANk YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, and I wish I could hug and kiss each and every one of you. The emails, comments, support, and questions I have received over the last month have been overwhelming. To the ladies in my church community who have loved on me so closely, asked me how I am so genuinely, and sent me home with bags of vitamins and supplements, you are all such gifts. The best part about sharing my story has been the numerous people I have been able to send to my crazy scientist doctor! I always share my stories and details about Paul’s and my life, because I know it can help SOMEBODY. What I wasn’t expecting was for so many of you to be in a situation, like mine, of not knowing what kind of doctor to see and feeling hopeless. It has been the greatest joy to respond to your emails and comments, helping you find doctors in your own cities with similar practices as my crazy scientist doctor, or sending you to my own.

For an update,

Warning: I think actually when you start a detox, you get sicker before you get better. My first month has been extremely hard on my body. I have experienced more fatigue and more overall pain than before this detox. And, I have experienced fits of insomnia again, which I don’t understand considering the fatigue I have. (I woke up at 4:45 today, wiiiide awake so I got up to take on my day rather than just laying there in bed.) I often feel as though I am on the verge of the flu, you know that overall achey feeling you get when you’re sick? I have also experienced some vertigo. I have told people that it must be like when you put hydrogen peroxide on a wound. Before the wound gets better, the hydrogen peroxide burns and stings, but it’s for your own good. I am waiting for the “hydrogen peroxide” stage to be over. But, mind you, we have 24 years worth of reversing to do, so progress will be slow, things will take a long time. But, like the bubbling of the peroxide on the cut, I know something is changing, something is healing.

You have asked me what I am eating…

and some days I would like to know the answer to this question myself. HA. I think some of you fear I will wither away to nothing before this is all over, but I can assure you I am eating. And a lot of it, just whatever I can get my hands on. The Morrison household has taken to A LOT OF MEAT. As if we didn’t eat meat for each meal already, I mean literally, we cook whole massive steaks, and I am eating large portions of them. I eat a lot of chicken, a lot of broccoli, a lot of cucumbers with avocado oil and onion. I eat coconut butter straight from the jar, and I have allowed myself to eat a little coconut almond butter daily. (I don’t know if I am supposed to technically, but I needed SOMETHING.) The first week was the worst. I was hangry, frustrated, and never full no matter how much I ate. Prepare yourself for week one, drink lots of water, and pray a whole lot. Overall, our meals don’t look a whole lot different than they were before, but the portions are larger because my snacking options have dwindled. Because I can’t eat toast, I can’t eat pasta, I can’t eat any filler foods in my meals, I rely solely on a whooooole lot of veggies and meat to fill me.

The best part about this,

this past month has been one of the most spiritually filling months I have had in a long time. It’s funny how our prayer life and awareness of how much we truly need to rely on the Lord for absolutely everything in our lives comes about when we are in seasons like my “hydrogen peroxide” one. Every morning I pray for the Lord to give me energy and to help me be aware and present in my day. I pray for joy. I pray for my relationships that have been put on the back burner the last few years. I pray for the little things, I pray for the big. Constant dialogue is what my prayer life is like lately, and I don’t hate it one bit. I feel like my faith was refreshed, and like I am in high school again. My prayer life is constant and crisp, like my morning drives to school when I was 17. Talking out loud, windows down, rolling through the back roads of the hill country to dance practice in the pitch black morning chatting with Jesus, telling him the deepest desires of my heart. I feel that sense of need and longing I did when I was a teenager, learning what it meant to be in a relationship with God (don’t hear me say that like the weird “I am dating Jesus” thing), I mean like father daughter. Like leaning on a crutch with a broken foot, I have had to lean on God for absolutely everything when I would usually have a tendency of straying or figuring it out for myself. I am thankful for this season of life, and I am expectant for what I will learn next.

I am so grateful for ALL OF YOU. I love sharing life and walking alongside you in it (as best the internet allows us). I love hearing from you. I love being part of your mornings. I love helping in any way I can. Thanks for following The Cake.

Infinite x’s + o’s- Han

Worth It

After years of searching for answers, a crazy mad scientist looking doctor was finally able to help me. Today I am sharing my story of diagnosis and the beginning of a journey to recovery.

This past Monday, I got an unexpected phone call from a doctor’s office I have been on the “waitlist” to get into for months. We called in May to finally make me an appointment after months of talking about doing it, and it turns out they didn’t have a spot for me until November. So we said to please put me down for November, but if by any chance you can get me in before then, keep me in mind. And for some reason, they called me and said they had an opening that evening and wanted me to come in. I was referred to this doctor by a family at our church, and they swore that he was this crazy scientist with all kinds of off the beaten path methods, and he would surely be able to help me with all my crazy symptoms and unknowns I have lived with for years now with no real answers. 

I have spoken about my health lightly on here in the past, but to fill you in, I have been sick for almost ten years with really no answers. I am always tired, always a little groggy, I have had swollen lymph nodes all over my head, purple fingers, and I have had increasingly bad anxiety and a list of other things that just didn’t make sense for me. I don’t tell you this as a sob story, honestly, it’s just reality and what I have come to consider normal over the years. I knew at 14 years old that something was not right, but every doctor my parents took me to told us there was nothing the matter. I had every kind of test and saw every kind of doctor you can think of. Eventually, I got scared to talk about any of the weird things I experienced anymore and felt ashamed. The doctors basically led us to believe I was a hypochondriac, a child who believed they were sick when they weren’t and often because they wanted attention. Though I knew deep down this wasn’t true, I gave up fighting. I gave up the fight for my health, the fight to be heard, and the fight to be better. By my senior year of high school, I couldn’t keep my eyes open at school and I would come home to sleep about 3 more hours on the couch until my parents came home from work. I finally saw a doctor that got me on the right track in college when my health was so bad that I began forgetting where I was when I was driving. I was convinced I was a 20 year old with Alzheimer’s disease. Finally a friend tipped me off to seeing a doctor about gluten, because my symptoms sounded strangely similar to her own. Turned out I am in fact allergic to gluten and my Adrenal Glands were burnt out. I had never even heard of Adrenal Glands before, and gluten was something I had eaten my whole life. I was shocked, angry, and a little selfishly skeptical. You’re telling me I have to give up my favorite foods?

I battled the diagnosis for another year, slowly changing my diet to gluten free. I would cheat here and there, and pay the consequences for how it made me feel. I would say “it’s worth it, I swear.” That cheesecake, so worth it. The cupcake, I will be fine. But, nine times out of ten, it wasn’t actually worth it. I convinced myself that eating something I am not able to was just an innocent cheat, and it wasn’t doing longterm damage or dishonoring my body. I realized foods with gluten weren’t just something I liked, but I was refusing to do what my body needed because I was stubborn and unwilling to let it go. After I learned my brain was swelling from eating food I cannot process, I ate fully gluten free for about a year and a half and changed up a lot of what I did, but even still, my body felt it was only getting worse. Random spots on my body hurt, my skull felt swollen, I bruise easily, and my eye sight in recent months has began to take a shot. I literally have kept an ongoing massive list of weird, random symptoms I have that have no explanation, but must somehow be connected to all the others. They are kind of funny, honestly. And it is crazy to me that I was told for so long with this list I was just dehydrated or tired. I am serious- I was told that! 

So, I find myself in this crazy Einstein looking doctor’s office that looked straight out of Bill Nye The Science Guy Monday. He had hundreds of viles lined up along the wall with different ingredients inside of them, and electric balls and magnets hanging from old filing cabinets, and on the wall an outdated poster of an ear with different markings and body parts on top of different parts of the ear. Paul and I sat in the chairs below the big ear posters, one the American version the other the Chinese, and stared at this doctor as he smirked at me and said, ‘alright, how can I help you?’ I stared at him for a few seconds, because I didn’t know what to say. I have been in this seat multiple times, tested and pat on the head to be told I was okay. Everything in me would scream, “No I am not! I wouldn’t be here if my body was telling me I am fine.” So, I began spitting out in a really informal manner and illformed sentences what all I have experienced the last ten years. I explained what different doctors have told me, what I had studied myself and felt it might be, and that my most recent trip to the doctor was a couple years ago where they told me I am allergic to gluten and my adrenals are shot. The man literally stared at me and giggled a very delayed giggle, and I awkwardly shifted in my seat, slumping over a little with defeat. I was convinced I would find no answer yet again, and this was a waste of my time. 

Then, Doctor Von Bergen grabbed me by the hand and stood me up to stare at the odd ear poster above me. He explained to me that our ears tell us what our body is trying to. He began touching my ear digging inside of it, around it, pulling on my left arm all the while. He found a weak spot, and my arm dropped. And he giggled. He said, know what that spot tells us? It tells us your gut is in trouble. He proceeded to have me hold my arm up as he pushed down on it, and then if he covered my right ear, my arm would drop. But, if he covered my left ear, my arm remained strong. This had something to do with the sides of the brain, and my right arm was my weaker arm because it is commanded by the left side of my brain, and my left side of the brain is the side that is affected by all these other things. (Laymen’s terms, clearly, but you follow me, right?) This would also explain why it’s my left eye ball that has dropped in vision significantly the last month. 

FASCINATING, y’all! My jaw was on the ground half my appointment. 

The next thirty minutes I held a magnet in my right hand while he put vile after vile of ingredients up to my left side with a magnet. Anything my body is sensitive to, my arm would drop. It was truly fascinating. He is the first doctor who ever made me feel like, wow, I am not crazy. So then the diagnosis. Basically, right now, I am allergic to everything. My body is so shot from so many years of going undiagnosed that my body is literally unable to process just about everything. He literally looked at me and said, “I could cry for you, because this will not be easy.” That’s encouraging… but actually, in a weird way, it sort of was. It was the first time I felt fully acknowledged for all that I had experienced for so many years. What he came to the conclusion of is that I have been allergic to yeast my entire life. Allergy to yeast causes your immune system to take a shot, and then, because I was sick as a kid so much, I was put on antibiotics that only knocked my immune system out more and made my yeast allergy more intense. I would spend the next 15+ years of my life battling tonsillitis, strep, mono, and all kinds of other sicknesses for which I was put on antibiotics, and it was a downward spiral for my body. I literally had strep 9 times in the 4th grade, and my doctor just told my parents I was a “carrier of strep.” What the heck does that even mean?! Month after month I was on amoxicillin or penicillin, and my body was becoming more and more weak. This is why I became allergic to gluten later in life. And over the last couple years, even though I have been gluten free, I have been piling yeast into my body still, thus no recovery. Yes, all my gluten free items- packed full with yeast. We did some serious pantry cleaning Monday night. 

So, why am I telling you this?

WELL, first off, because I hope that if any of you are going through similar experiences, you can know you’re not alone and perhaps you are allergic to yeast or a random ingredient like me. Second, because I am now on a journey to recovery and am actually excited about it. I am on a diet that consists of meat and vegetables. I cannot even eat fruit, because I have leaky gut and cannot eat sugar of any kind. My Adrenal Glands are so swollen, that when he was testing them, even water made them react negatively, so I have to prioritize sleep and dwindle down the coffee intake. Say WHAT? Yes, so I am on a journey that will be tough. But, I am so hopeful and so ready. I am all in for this one. The Lord responded to prayers by way of a mad scientist, and I am so grateful. Now, it is time to heal and honor my body in a way that it hasn’t been for majority of my life. I am ready to take on this journey, grabbing the bull by the horns, if you will. 😉

I am excited to share with you along the way what all I learn, what I find, and how I am feeling. And, truly, I know that I am meant to write about this to help others. If you are my age, you are the product of a generation that was on meds left and right. It wasn’t our parent’s faults, it was just where medicine was at the time. I know I cannot be the only one who suffers now because of what was put in my body then. Chances are, there might be quite a few of you who struggle with similar things in a more mild form that you just have counted off as normal. Don’t call it normal! I promise, you don’t want to, or you’ll find yourself where I am. 

I hope this encourages you, and I hope that it spurs you on to take care of your body. We get only one, and it truly is a temple. To put anything in it that we know is bad for us is to poison our temple. It’s so funny that a couple years ago, had I been told this, I would have wept and been so angry. But, I left smiling and affirmed Monday night. I felt like I actually had all the answers I have wanted for so long. I didn’t even care that it was drastic and life changing for Paul and me. I am just thankful to be heard. I feel like I just took off from the start line, and I feel equipped for the race. God cares, y’all. He really does.

Happy Wednesday, friends! I love you so much. Thanks for being part of my life. 

xoxo- Han

To My Dad

 

A father has the ability to set the tone of his entire home. It is his role to show the girls he loves most what self-worth is, what love is, what respect is, what hard work is, and what it means to love a man who loves them lavishly first.

If you’re around me for any bit of time, you will quickly catch on that I have a major mushy button for my daddy. The mention of a daddy, and Todd Cheves is immediately on my mind accompanied with “awww” and a couple crazy stories about him. My dad is one handsome man. Momma tells me not to tell him that anymore or his head will grow, but I can’t help but say it. 😉 He was a football star, a baseball star, a hardworking cowboy, a college athlete, an Aggie, and one of the most funny people I know. He is tall and in the summertime, his neck turns red, revealing his Cherokee genes.

He is the hardest worker I know. For over 20 years, Daddy would leave for work at 5:30 in the morning and get home after 5. I always knew when he was home just by listening because of how he would walk in through the door. Daddy is a man of routine, so he would open the door, put his coat in the coat closet, jingle his change, placing it along with his keys and chapstick in his side table before doing anything else. Daddy always knows where every item he owns is, because he places them in the same spot every single day. Honestly, I think you could blind fold him for a day but he would still know where to find what he needs. When we were kids, you could pretty much guarantee that daddy was outside when he wasn’t at work. Dressed in his working Wranglers, not his “nice” Wranglers, with cowboy boots and his white cowboy hat that didn’t quite protect his neck. He was either trimming trees, mowing the lawn, fixing something, building something, or tending to one of the animals. He would take me fishing, he would play soccer, and he at least tried to play baseball with us- but that one never really worked out in his favor. He played in a softball league when we were little, and we would cheer for him in the stands with Blow Pops in our mouths. He could punt a ball so high it would disappear for a brief moment, lingering at the top, before coming back down. He built a tree house and a tire swing, and he taught me how to ride a bike. Daddy was ‘coach’ at one point or another for every single one of us, which blows my mind knowing now how long and hard he worked. He would come home through the door, change out of his slacks and tie, and put on his soccer coach clothes. I don’t understand how he did it. He also never missed a single performance of any kind. He was at everything no matter what. 

Bless both my momma and daddy’s hearts, because I was a VERY curious child and needed an explanation for everything. I needed to know what a song meant, I needed to know why certain things worked the way they did, I needed to understand every process. I also had a distinct Disney-like cartoon voice, something my daddy says is one of his favorite things about me as a kid. I would follow my dad around outside, cartoon voice and all, asking him questions as he would continue to do whatever it was he was doing. He would always have a calm and cool answer for me, explaining to me whatever it is I needed to know. He had a quick response for lyrics of songs that went over my head but insisted I needed to understand. He also let me put on talent shows and sing songs I made up on the spot for as long as people would let me go. Daddy knew everything and he made me feel pretty + safe always.

I have a lot of funny stories about dad, but one of my favorite stories about him that I tell often is when he chased the goats on a Saturday morning in his underwear. We were just all rolling out of bed, making our way slowly to the breakfast nook to eat together. (I loved Saturday morning at our house, because we always had biscuits and gravy with scrambled eggs, which is daddy’s favorite.) We had goats on our ranch, and those stupid things always would climb up on my dad’s car. There were many times he would have to run out there to scare them off, and then pop the dents they left back up. This time was the final straw, though. He hated those goats. He looked out, saw the goats on his car, and darted out the door. He chased those goats off the car and across the yard- all in his underwear. We knew we couldn’t be laughing when he came back inside, so we got out our giggles waited for his valiant return to the kitchen for his biscuits and gravy.

Of all these things, my favorite thing about my dad is that, though I saw he was a hard worker around the house, he never brought home the office. I couldn’t tell you what he did other than sometimes hearing the phrase “briefing the general” but that’s because when daddy was home, he was daddy. He wasn’t Weapons Systems Manager. He valued his home, his wife, and his children. He drew up my momma’s dream home, and created a beautiful space for us to all live. He loved us enough to make home a safe place free of worry about what was happening at work. I really appreciate this core piece to our home growing up. Both of my parents did this so well, and it’s something I will absolutely carry with me when we have kids. Daddy is also unashamedly a crier. Put a good commercial in front of him or the Star Spangled Banner, it doesn’t matter, he will have a good tear in his eye. I am so grateful for a dad who had emotion and showed it. I am grateful for a daddy who held me in the kitchen and let me get mascara on his nice shirt when I couldn’t handle mean girls at school anymore. I am grateful for a daddy who is my favorite dance partner to just make something happen with. When the music is on, we are out there. Three step, two step, swing.

I could say so much more, but I will end it with simply this: Todd Cheves, you are one of a kind. You are the greatest dad there ever was, and I can’t believe I get to have you. You are the reason I had such high standards for a spouse, and didn’t date a whole lot. I didn’t need anyone or anything to fill a gap. You always filled the space. You taught me what it means to follow God. You have always led me well. I have never once been left wondering if you love me or if I have made you proud. I can’t wait to see what life looks like in the next 10 years, and I can’t wait to see you be a grandpa.

I love Father’s Day. I love that having a good daddy is a tangible example of God’s love. I also know I am lucky, and that not everybody has a daddy like mine. To those of you who didn’t have a great dad or perhaps it’s a first Father’s Day without him, I hurt with you. I am sorry. I truly can’t imagine, but know that their are men in this world who want to love you and love you well. Kind men who want to sacrifice for you and want to take care of you, fight for you. Above all else is the love of God who has the most perfect love of a father that no earthly daddy can ever live up to. He is the ultimate father.

I am so thank for you, daddy. Happy Father’s Day.

xo- Han

A Staycation for Two at Four Seasons Dallas

 

Note, our stay at Four Seasons Dallas was not and this post is not in any way sponsored. This is me sharing about my vacation, something we saved up a long time for and spent our own money on, just because we had such a great experience and think you should know about it. **

This past weekend, Paul and I went on our first resort vacation ever. Which I can now say was the first of MANY. I have to admit, though our honeymoon two years ago to NYC was incredible, it wasn’t luxurious. It was an adventure and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but this… oh my gosh. Our stay at Four Seasons was by far my favorite hotel experience ever. I jumped on fluffy beds, ran around our private villa in a white robe like superman, and ate food delivered to me in bed just because I could. I read Shauna Niequist on my private back porch, played board games on our bed, and was given the best service I have ever received from any hotel or restaurant of any kind. Paul and I both had never been to anything like this, resort or all inclusive-type place, and believe me when I say we didn’t take one single second for granted. I think I gasped and said “thank you Jesus” every other sentence. We can’t say enough how satisfied with our choice of Four Seasons Dallas we feel. It was the perfect spot to kick off my birthday week and celebrate Paul’s graduation at such a wonderfully ran resort. To the staff and leadership of Four Seasons, BRAVO. There is a reason you are continuously voted a top world-wide business and rated by Fortune a top 100 business to work for. You can certainly see in your staff that they are well-taken care of.

I was a little nervous about a resort stay, because I didn’t fully know what to expect. I didn’t really understand how you can be entertained for an extended amount of time within the gates of one place. WELL, I will tell you.

What To Do at Four Seasons Dallas:

First off, the pool. We spent HOURS out by their Agave pool + bar. The kindest wait staff will approach you regularly, making sure you have everything you want. Their food, though pricey for poolside, was so good. This is no fast food french fries and burger. They also were so helpful with both Paul’s and my food allergies- preparing food specially for us. Their drink selection, particularly their margarita, was both tasty and extensive as well. You could spend your entire vacation here, and it’s worth the stay.

The Well & Being Spa- oh my lanta. I could have spent hours in this spa if I didn’t have a husband waiting on me. The spa feels like stepping into another world. It’s luxurious, peaceful, and exactly what you would hope for a spa to be. Full with a sitting room by a peaceful water fountain, a whirlpool, as well as saunas… it has everything. The staff was incredibly sweet, one noting that Paul and I carry “happy vibes”, which I was very thankful to hear. My masseuse was incredibly talented. I somehow got the most requested masseuse on staff, I definitely didn’t mind, for my custom massage. For a custom massage, you tell your masseuse what parts of your body hurt or you want focused on, and she will spend the next 55 minutes working on those spots. I said my headaches, hip flexers and knees from years of dance are what bother me the most. She maneuvered and replaced my limbs + joints to their proper placement. She knew that I sleep on my right side from simply looking at how my clavicle laid, showing this spot a lot of attention to relieve tension and stress from my right side. She added life back into my very tight hip flexers, and she realigned my left leg. (I can now do a full squat without any pain in my hips… after just one session! *Insert praise hands here*) All the while, though it might sound the opposite, this all felt spectacular! I left feeling so at peace and as if I gained ten years of life back. The massage was both corrective and luxurious. I would LOVE to go back for a facial and manicure/pedicure!

LAW Restaurant- this is the on-site sit down restaurant at Four Seasons Dallas. Guilty: We went both nights for dinner, and were not disappointed. We were quite fond of our sweet waiter, too. He was so great! (Everyone at Four Seasons truly seems to love their job, and that makes such a difference in your experience.) LAW’s food is not only bomb, but they have one of the most extensive wine lists in Dallas. As you can imagine, I was quite stoked about this fact. The restaurant looks out over Agave Pool with the beautiful award winning golf course, host of the Byron Nelson, just behind it. It is picturesque and you definitely forget you’re actually just outside of Dallas.

I highly suggest the lamb chops and roasted cauliflower with a glass of their Malbec for dinner.  For an appetizer, don’t ask questions, get the bacon. GAME CHANGER.

The Sports Club is as impressive as the rest of the resort. The workout facilities, tennis and racquet ball courts are available to hotel guests, and you can reserve spots in private classes alongside Club Members. I took an Anti Gravity Yoga class with Meg, and I believe I found yet another workout I am obsessed with. Meg was fun, a good teacher, and also made me feel very safe whilst dangling upside down from a piece of fabric. THAT takes some serious talent, you know? I unfortunately forgot my own tennis shoes and socks, so I didn’t spend as much time in the Sports Club as I had hoped, but even still, it was so great.

The Golf Course, you can either pay to play the entire course or you can hit at the driving range. We didn’t golf this time, but we did take a romantic stroll along the golf course at sunset, and it didn’t disappoint. It truly is breathtaking. We had about a two minute romantic sit at hole 16 until a straggling group of golfers came over the hill to our romantic hole. We had to run half in fear we would be in trouble for sitting on the course and half in fear of being hit by flying golf balls. It was awesome.

Room service, I already mentioned getting to eat in bed, but, y’all, order breakfast in bed and coffee for two, and don’t forget to order the flourless chocolate cake with raspberries for take-out from LAW. There is just something more special about eating chocolate cake at 10 PM in bed. (SO.GOOD.)

Whether you are looking for a romantic getaway like us or a family vacay, Four Seasons is such a great choice. There are options for everybody! (There is a whole family and kid’s section that, obviously, we didn’t go to. BUT, we did walk by their pool and it looks so fun!) They have a movie night at the pool on Fridays during the summer, so we walked by to check it out briefly.

Come ready to relax and unplug. Because the staff is so incredible, you seriously don’t have to worry about a single thing. Come ready to indulge in good food, get spoiled, and be sure to have plenty of cash on hand to tip. 😉

We are BIG believers in date nights and getaways. We get just as much as anyone that money can be tight, but prioritize both of these things. If you are a Dallas-local like us and/or can’t get away for a week from work, this is SUCH a great option for you. Likewise, you can EASILY spend a week here.

See you again very soon, I am sure, Four Seasons!

xo- Han

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