Valentine's Day

I used to be one of those single girls who was pretty happy being single, most of the time. I enjoyed my time to myself, the way that I could travel at the drop of a hat, and own however many pairs of black shoes and black pants I wanted without the slightest hint of guilt. But... I did not like Valentine's Day! That was... until 3 years ago. I got to work on February 13th (I worked the overnight shift, so I would arrive at work at about 11pm on the day before) and there were flowers in the newsroom for ME! I was shocked. I was never one of the girls who had flowers sitting on her desk, ever! I thought, "how sweet... my mom sent me flowers!" Then, after a breath, I thought, "wait... my mom doesn't do that! Cards, yes, but flowers... no, she doesn't feel that sorry for me!" It turns out the flowers were from this guy, Michael. I was living in Pittsburgh and Michael was living in Texas. We had kept in touch for like 8 years via email, chat and recently, we had been talking more and more on the phone. We had talked about how we both had wondered at some point if our friendship could ever be more. But that was months before these arrived in the newsroom at WTAE:

I remember that for some reason, I didn't have my phone with me that night, and I didn't have his phone number memorized, so I sent him an email thanking him for the beautiful flowers. He said it was nice to have someone to send flowers to. And we were both floating for I don't know how long.


In many ways, these Valentine's Day flowers were the beginning of us! I'm so glad he took that chance three years ago! I never would have imagined at the time that the next Valentine's Day... we would spend together in Texas... sharing our first kiss... going out to a great restaurant and spending the evening wandering around a really cool art gallery.

That was V-Day, 2008.

Last year, 2009, we were engaged and saving every penny for the upcoming wedding, so we weren't able to be together for Valentine's Day.

This year, we celebrated our first V-Day as a married couple and it was so sweet! We agreed that in order to save money, we would MAKE eachother's Valentine's Day gifts. It turned out so well, we've now decided that's how we will celebrate each year.

We celebrated last Saturday instead of actually on the 14th, because Sundays are busy for us with church and everything.

Saturday morning, I did something I never thought I'd do. I actually made heart-shaped pancakes!

I realize how super cheesy this is, and a year ago, I probably would have made fun of myself. But it was actually really fun! Plus, now I have a super giant spatula and I love kitchen tools, so that's a good little bonus.

We almost never eat out, so as a treat, that evening, we had a little date night at Chili's - a favorite restaurant.

YUMM.

It was there that we exchanged our valentines.

I made M a list of 50 things I love about him. That was super easy. He made me a series of Bible verses, on business card size paper, so that I can carry them with me and memorize them. This was a great gift of love, because he knows me and my anxiety and how the Word of the Lord calms my soul. I love this man!

When we got home from Chili's.... I had a little something else I'd made for us to enjoy!

PAULA DEEN'S RED VELVET CUPCAKES.... made from scratch, of course! (we are not going to discuss how the red food coloring made my dishwasher look like a murder scene, mmkay?)

But. The cupcakes were lovely!

Here's a link to the recipe. Don't say I didn't warn you... there are two sticks of butter and literally a pound of cream cheese involved!

We set up the camera to take a Valentine's Day picture. So, here you go:

Yes, I'm wearing my wedding rings on my middle finger. They don't fit anymore and I really need to get them sized, but keep not doing it for some reason.

And, of course, a kissing pic, because if you know us... you know that's essential! I hope you all had a very special Valentine's Day as well! Love, love.