Valentine's 2012

My Valentine's Day was very eventful this year! I think for sure though, next year, I'm taking the day of and the day after off. It's like a whole other birthday :)~
It began with having to go to work...followed by getting roses, chocolate and a teddy bear at work :D

My husband is adorable. Ya know, it took a few years of deciding how we both felt regarding Valentine's Day to really feel like we had a plan of what we do. I questioned myself....am I the kind of girl that really enjoys flowers and chocolates?....Every year??......Yes. Yes I am. It's not about expectation or outdoing another person's boyfriend story or anything like that. It's just about lavishing upon one's partner and feeling like, as the partner, you have been lavished upon :). I know some girls that obsess about "topping" the year before, or they expect it from their partner. Not me. I am very happy with some romantic flowers, a nice dinner date, and of course, some alone time later. I think it's important to always push for the alone time, even when you have kids and busy schedules. Scratch that, ESPECIALLY when you have kids and busy schedules. Blowing it off only leads to one or the other feeling not important, or that your relationship can always be the thing that gets tossed aside. Not for me. We are the glue. If we are happy, the kids are happy, the family is happy and somehow life just feels more bearable.
So to follow up work, which never should have happened that day I might add, I scrambled with my girlfriends in a fun scheme to enjoy the evening old school style with our guys. Every once in a while, something fun and crazy has to be on the menu!
We decided on a scavenger hunt! It began at our homes. Each of us girls left a verse for our guys and a change of clothes. The instructions said to put on the clothes and meet at Ashley's house no later than 5:40 pm.
of course...they were late. :(
However! We then sent all three on the HUNT!!!!
The first clue was for Owen. It led him to our reception center Chateau Faire for a surprise. In my attempt to get a picture of him opening it, my camera was turned the wrong way and my retardedness got captured...so here you go....

We hid behind a Dumpster to see if we could capture them getting the first clue!... People thought we were a bit odd...

We then RACED to the second destination to prepare for the guys!

This time it was where Ashley and Jake held their reception...we got caught!!

On to where Kevin and Natalie did their dancin!

 We were the Valentine Babe Bandits!!!

Next, it took them to Laser Tag! We figured since we bossed them around a bit, they could get out their anger by shooting at us :) The guys loved it!

In the end, we ended up at the Five Alls. It's old and the motif is Medieval. It was really cool with a beautiful room. It was a little pricey for a steak, but it was yummy and I had a great time :)

I loved this Valentine's Day. And I love my Owen.

Soul Food

Updates Updates. It's hard to know when something is worth blogging about. I read some and am like....yeah I don't know that cleaning your bathroom was very exciting to me, but then I see some magical cleaning agent they share the recipe to and I'm like, YES! Thank you Blogging world for being information and handy.

Anywho, I thought I'd take a moment and update on the lives of our craziness. January was a fun/crazy month. Being right after Christmas, I thought for sure we would have some room to catch up and straighten out our finances. Instead, we had a birthday party for Mitchell, my car registration is expiring which means I need a new windshield and tires, Owen's truck had bald tires and in the (occasional) snow we've been getting, it's been a bit scary. So those had to be replaced. Then the kids were playing with O and his glasses broke, which we found out his prescription was expired so a new eye exam, followed by new lenses and glasses was a must. While we were there, I knew I needed an exam because of the headaches and constant lack of focus of my eyes at work all day staring at my computer screen, so I had an appointment to get checked out as well. After insurance, this visit ended up costing us an arm and a leg plus the guts inside my wallet. Needless to say, my new and first pair of glasses ever will be ready in about a week and a half. The doc told me they are not necessary all day long, but they are necessary for more than reading...so it's up to me....Owen told me once I can see, I'll be addicted to it and never want to go back. I guess we'll see how it goes!

So all in all.....BBBBBLLLUUUHHH!!! (vomitting noise) <--- that's me vomitting out money from my ears and realizing, January is more painful than Christmas and definitely does not come wrapped in a bow. :-s

On a lighter note, February is the month of love. I have decided that based on the fact that I have 30 different moods and personalities, I am going to change my background to reflect the month and possible festivities pertained therein. (I'll use any excuse I can find to decorate something)

LOVE. Amazing to think it governs us so completely some days. I can go an entire day being pissed off at my husband, ready to ring his neck and feed him to the zombies....and look at him and still be able to say I love you. Crazy how that works. Like this little thing you can't control...and it's ok. <3

I don't know exactly what we'll be doing for Valentine's this year, but it's probably going to be a bit on the small scale due to trying to salvage what little piece of financial dignity we have to make up for January. But if you ask me, it's not about who does it bigger, who does it cuter, or even who does it the "best". It's all about taking a moment out of all the noise, to look right at the person you are with/love/ or admire and say, "I'm glad I'm with you. I trust you. I love to laugh with you and I love to know that you love to laugh with me. I promise I will be here even when the sky is black and everything seems impossibly dark. I know you. and I love you. "

Truthfully, I think being able to say that every day is important, but let's face it, we don't remember to, we don't have time to, we don't have the brain to (especially if you have kids around) or we don't have the opportunity to every day. And that is why Valentine's day exists. Aside from the St. Valentine stories and all that. The truth is, it's morphed into a time to step aside and really remember the reasons why you love the one you love. And I'm grateful for it. Owen thinks it's a fake holiday. But even so, I'm glad I have the time set aside each year to fawn over my dearest friend and let him know I care as much as I do...and it's not cheesy on that day. It's given a license to ham it up! Thank you Valentine's Day for that! :) I wish you all the best on your Valentine's Days and I hope I hear how they all go! Have some fun and do something random :) You'll remember it more that way.