Want to have the ULTIMATE honeymoon? It's only the most important vacation you'll ever take in your life. Oh man, the pressure! If you think people make too much out of this little post-wedding trip, you're not alone. 19 Kids and Counting's Michelle Duggar thought so, too. In a recent blog post, Mrs. Duggar shares the story of her budget honeymoon with Jim Bob, and it's so far from the idea your jaw will drop -- and yet it sounds perfect.
They did home repairs!
Duggar says she did plan an actual trip, but nothing turned out quite how they'd pictured it. She booked a cabin at a state park in Arkansas that turned out to be "really rundown with awful orange curtains -- and cobwebs everywhere!" They spent the night at a hotel in town instead. The next day they moved to another state park but then started having car troubles. So they cut their losses and decided to head home.
Jim Bob had bought a fixer-upper and moved into it a month before the wedding. Michelle moved in with him after the wedding. Jim Bob had started some of the repairs, but there was still a whole lot left for both of them to do. Michelle didn't mind at all because they were living together for the very first time, and that alone was a thrill. "We were living on love and it was so exciting," she says.
I can see how this could be more meaningful than a more traditional honeymoon trip. Instead of lying on the beach, getting sunburned, and going to bed drunk every night (oh, is that a little too blunt?), they built something together. They were focused on their new life as a couple, not on fantasyland. And the end result was a beautiful home they could enjoy for years.
Don't get me wrong -- this is not the ideal honeymoon for everyone. But for the Duggars, it definitely set a great tone for their marriage and got them off to a perfect start. Michelle's first memories of her new husband are precious. She recalls thinking, "'Oh, how romantic. He’s at our house and he’s working on our car.'" She doesn't say so, but there's something really sexy about that!
What do you think about the idea of fixing up a house for your honeymoon?
Image via DuggarFam/Instagram