Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day. I have never been a huge fan of this "Hallmark holiday" . . . until 2 years ago. February 14, 2008 fell on a Thursday that year. John told me he was making plans. It really didn't matter to me what we did, because as I said before - this holiday was never a big deal to me. I was never one who sat home crying because I was without a "valentine". That day, John had roses delivered to me at school. I felt a little guilty about that, because I had called him in desperation to bring some juice for my kids' party that afternoon. He arrived just after the flowers did. He could have saved a lot of money and delivered them himself! After he left my school, I assumed he was heading back to work. Little did I know that he had another stop to make. We had gone to look at engagement rings several different times, and found one that we knew was just right. John knew he would be getting a big check for his year-end bonus that he had earned from the previous year. He was adamant about paying for my ring on his own. He didn't want it to become another bill we paid every month.


So, that evening, he took me to Kirby's Steakhouse in The Woodlands. We had the most fantastic dinner, and just enjoyed the quality time with each other. Towards the end of our meal, John started getting a little mushy on me, and I even asked him if he was trying to make me cry. Previously in the evening, our waiter had pointed out Robert Reed, a former Houston Rockets player, who was eating there as well. John pointed out that he was talking to some people directly behind me. So, I turned around a looked at him. When I turned back around, John was on one knee with a little box in his hand. Tears immediately starting streaming down my face. He asked me to marry him, and I could only manage to nod my head. As he slipped the ring on my finger, everyone around us started clapping. It was very surreal for me. While I could feel the presence of other people in the room, at the same time, it just felt like the 2 of us. John was so nervous about me discovering his plan, that he hadn't remembered to bring our camera. The lady at the table next to us had just gotten a new camera that day from her husband, and offered to take pictures for us. She wasn't sure of all the settings, so the pictures turned out a little blurry, but at least we have something to remember that night by.

On one knee

Sealed with a kiss

The waiter brought us champagne to celebrate

So happy!

Close up of my ring. He did well!

I love it!

As soon as we got to the car, I called my mom, best friend and all my brothers. We headed over to John's mom and dad's to share the news with his mom (his dad was working). I told John as we were leaving the parking lot that we should make it a tradition and celebrate every Valentine's Day at Kirby's. We didn't last year, because it's a little pricy and we had a wedding less than 2 months later. Last night, though, we went back. We were seated just a couple of tables away from where we sat that night 2 years ago. Funny enough, we found out later, that they had originally planned to seat us there. We arrived a little early for our reservation, and the people who were at that table hadn't quite finished, so they seated us at another table. I told John we should have requested that table, and I thought it was really funny that, by chance, we were going to be seated there. The hostess let us know that it is Table 26, if we want to request it next time! After dinner, we saw the movie Valentine's Day - very cute!! We had a free hotel stay at a hotel in The Woodlands, so we took advantage of that. Todd and Heather were nice enough to come dogsit for us, so we had a little get away. We even had a fireplace in our suite!! It was a fantastic, romantic night! We really enjoyed just focusing all of our attention on each other, and enjoying each other's company.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

In The Beginning . . .

I have toyed with the idea of doing a blog for a while now. There are several blogs that I follow on a regular basis, and enjoy reading. For me, it's fun to read about the happenings and thoughts of my friends. I'm starting this journey as a way to put my thoughts on "paper." Maybe someone will read it, or maybe nobody will.

I thought I would start a blog after John and I officially started life as a married couple, but I'm a little behind! We tied the knot on April 4, 2009, after almost 3 1/2 years of dating. It was hands-down the best day of my life. We had a few hiccups, but I knew to expect something to go wrong. At the end of the day, though, I felt everything was perfect. It wouldn't be everyone's perfect day, but for us, it was exactly what we dreamed of. I wouldn't change a thing!

Two days after the wedding, we left to spend 5 relaxing days in Las Vegas. Although Vegas is a "glitzy" city, we just relaxed and enjoyed spending time together, that wasn't frantic with last minute wedding details. We had been to Las Vegas in April of 2006, when John's brother Andy got married. This time, we stayed at the Monte Carlo, and fell in love with it. It's in the middle of the Strip, but isn't one of the gigantic hotels, so there wasn't as much "traffic" in and out. We were upgraded to a nice suite when we got there, and it was fantastic! It was the perfect week of relaxation after all the hustle and bustle leading up to the wedding.

Now, fast forward to almost 10 months later, and we are loving our life together. John and I didn't get married young, but a huge advantage to that is we have so much more knowledge of the world, and an understanding of who we are as individuals. Because we know who we are, we are much more able to nurture each other, and our relationship. We both understand how truly blessed we are to have each other. I'll leave it at that for now, with some pictures from our wedding.