Happy Valentine's Day!

An oldie but a goodie! (July 30, 2005)

Well today is Valentine's day.  Generally Valentine's day is a very low key day for us.  We do the whole exchange gifts thing, and usually go out.  Yesterday we did breakfast at the barking frog.  We debated for a while whether or not we wanted to do a "date" or take the munchkin along. In the end we decided to bring Reese, and I am glad we did.  We decided that it wouldn't be right to celebrate her first Valentine's day without her.  We had a great breakfast celebrating another year, and I think Reese had fun too.  Today we decided to just stay in.  I made some carrot, ginger soup with chicken satay and peanut sauce. I have to say, it was amazing! I tried some new recipes and definitely found a couple keepers.  My plan was to surprise Chris with dinner made and candlelit dinner. He foiled my plans a bit by showing up an hour early, but it was nice to have him home and celebrate a bit longer!
I think it is funny how people hate Valentine's day.  I don't know why you would. It is just a day to tell the people around you how much you love them. Yes, you should do it anytime, but I think it is so easy to take people for granted and not express that you care. I think that extends beyond your significant other, but also to your parents, friends, etc.  I am so thankful for my friends, family and especially for Chris.  I am so lucky to have found someone to share my life with and who is not only my love, but my best friend.  In celebration of Valentine's day, I thought I would be extra specially cheesy and list the top 10 things that I love about Chris/our relationship. So in no particular order, here we go:

1. I love that a lot of times he knows what I am thinking before I say it
2. I love that he takes care of me and Reese and is a wonderful husband and father
3. I love that he knows me to my core
4. I love that he is an eternal optimist and sees the best in everyone
5. I love how he makes others a priority and is so good to his friends and family
6. I love that he can always make me laugh and smile
7. I love that I can tell him anything, at anytime, without reservation
8. I love that he makes me feel like I am the most beautiful girl to him
9. I love that I have complete trust in our relationship and his faithfulness to me
10. I love that our beliefs, values, and goals all align and the things that are most important to him are the most important to me
I am thrilled to spend our 9th Valentine's day together, and am even more thrilled to get to share it with our daughter.  It was definitely so amazing to celebrate Valentine's day and look across the table at a little "us".  Happy Valentine's day to everyone!

Reese enjoying her Valentine's Dinner of Black beans!