One lucky girl

Today is K's and my three-year wedding anniversary (from the Florida wedding, the one where we were actually legally married). Three years and a second wedding later, we still haven't had a honeymoon. We swore to ourselves that we'd finally get around to that this year, but between all the traveling for weddings, wedding showers, a baby shower, and we-haven't-seen-you-in-a-while visits, we just don't want to have to take off work again for something else. That, and sometimes it's just nice to be home for once!

We're very fortunate to feel like we have everything we want or need, so we didn't plan on even buying gifts.

So imagine my surprise today when I see an enormous bouquet of flowers coming up the stairs today. And when the bouquet was moved aside, I could see that the delivery person was K!

Of course he planned his arrival just in time for lunch. That alone was a nice treat, since we work in completely opposite directions from one another, so it's a good 40 minutes or so between my workplace and his.

Tonight is our weekly kickball game (by the way, I had an amazing catch at last week's game, AND I'm somehow the 3rd kicker in our new lineup!), which we always look forward to.

We're still going to fit in some of the sweet, romantic stuff -- we've got brunch and a couple's massage at a spa schedule for Sunday. Considering the jam-packed day we have on Saturday, which includes a 16-mile training run, Sunday's relaxation will be pure perfection.

But for tonight, we'll celebrate with a little kickball, lots of friends, and a couple beers.

That's more our style anyway.

Just when I think you can't get any dumber ...

K just pinged me on my phone. He's 10 minutes away from my office (which means he's now about 40 minutes from his).

Evidently this was a planned surprise. Tomorrow marks 5 years from the day we met, so he wanted to do something special. Since he has a meeting or something tomorrow, he asked for an extended lunch today so he could surprise me with one of my favorite places for lunch!

Does that man know how to redeem himself, or what?!

Not quite the type of outfit I expected to buy, but I was just as excited about it

Today was a great day for me. H&M, which I discovered and fell in love with after we moved to VA, opened a new store closer to us. Today was the grand opening.

Before, I had to make a pretty decent drive to visit my favorite store (which was probably good for our bank account). After lunch today, I found myself near the new store. I originally wasn't going to go, but the temptation proved to be too great. Especially when I drove by and saw the place wasn't as crazy-busy as I thought it might be.

As soon as I entered the door, I saw it: An adorable dress. Perfect for warm weather. Cheerful. My favorite color was all over it. I was in love with this dress.

Since ER told me she was pregnant, I have resisted the urge to buy something for the baby. It's her first child, and if I'm this excited about choosing gifts for the baby, obviously it's even more exciting for her and her husband. No, I've told myself, I'll let them register, and I'll get something then.

Since ER called me to tell me that little Nacho (what they called their baby, since ER's husband is Mexican) is in fact a nachette, it's been even harder to resist, but I've done it.

With this dress, though, I gave in. What was I supposed to do, when it comes with an adorable matching hat and a price tag of less than $10?! (LESS THAN $10!!!)

Did I mention ER's favorite color is yellow too?

See? Totally meant to be. And totally in the mail on its way to surprise ER.

The gift of beer

Today is K's birthday. His 31st birthday.

He told me a couple months ago that he'd like a kegerator for his birthday. So a little over a month ago, I started doing research on them. I talked to his friends who know about them. And I ordered one. It's here. Right now. In the garage.

I don't really know much about kegerators. I know being a PA boy, K loves his Yuengling. I called around at a few places this morning to find a half-barrel keg of Yuengling, and it wound up being harder to find than I thought. I found a wine store with one left. So at 9:54, I found myself standing outside it, waiting for the employees to open the doors at 10. Three other people were waiting with me. Interesting ...

I bought the keg, and I headed to pick up the kegerator. The keg weighs 180 lbs. The kegerator weighs 150. I definitely can't haul them inside myself! It's almost 90 degrees outside, which means the keg can't stay in the car in the garage for long, so I called K and asked him to come home for lunch a little earlier.

He should be here in about 10 or 15 minutes. I'm getting anxious. Why didn't I buy a 1/4-barrel keg? That would've been so much smarter. Or if I'd waited. Why didn't I wait? What if the beer is skunky by the time we get it in the kegerator?

Why do fun surprises always wind up making me so anxious?!

K outdoes himself again!

Yesterday morning, as he does every day now that we live in the same place, K leaned over the bed to kiss me goodbye before he left for work. He asked if I was coming downstairs. I said I hadn't planned on it (I never do before he leaves). "Oh, I just thought maybe you would," he said.

So I got up and followed him down to the kitchen, where he had a package waiting for me on the table (he thought I'd get a kick out of the wrapping paper).

When I opened it, I was excited to see that he had gotten me something I've been wanting for a VERY long time: a digital SLR camera!

I had really wanted a Nikon D50, D60, D80 ... any one of the above. Several bloggers I read own them and LOVE them, and the pictures they post are always amazing. Then, when K and I went to visit Kris and her husband for the 4th of July, she was talking about the Canon Rebel. K has evidently been doing a lot of research, and they both seem like great cameras. He chose the Canon Rebel XSI.

I can't wait to use it, but I always like to read the manual first with new phones or cameras so I can see what they're really capable of. It'll be so fun to figure it all out!

Day 12

We got back from PA on a Monday evening. We picked up dinner on the way back to my apartment, and we spent a relaxing night in. I told K we needed to get to bed a bit early since we had an early morning the next day -- and that's all I told him. The next day was the big surprise I'd planned for K for our first anniversary -- the hot air balloon ride.

Our anniversary is Sept. 22, but I scheduled the balloon ride for the 16th so we'd have plenty of time to reschedule in case the weather was bad. The 16th actually wound up being the perfect day for the surprise for a reason I hadn't even thought of: Before K's R&R, the most time we'd spent together consecutively was 11 days. We had always said once we finally hit Day 12, we'd have to do something special to celebrate.

Sept. 16th was Day 12.

I woke up around 5:15 that morning. I had hardly slept because I was worried we'd oversleep and miss our balloon ride. I even had a dream that K's ex-fiance had taken K on a balloon ride, but he had never told me. In the dream, when he realized that was my surprise for him, he told me he had hated the ride and thought it was a waste of time. Needless to say, I was anxious to get on the road and finally have the surprise out in the open.

I let K sleep a little later while I got ready for the day. When he got up, I told him to dress for hiking -- wear tennis shoes, jeans, and layers on top. We left my apartment a little before 6.

We drove and drove, and finally around 6:45, we arrived at our destination: a bakery. I didn't know what to expect when we arrived -- would there be a balloon all ready for us to go, or would we go on to another place to take off?

Well, there was no balloon in the parking lot. There was a van with a large basket on the back of it, but no balloon. I hoped K wouldn't see the basket and figure everything out. Thank goodness, he didn't. (Additional benefit of a sunrise balloon ride: Your clueless passenger is too out of it to piece together what's going on.)

When we walked inside the bakery, a man and woman were standing, drinking coffee. They said my name, and I nodded. K and I went up and introduced ourselves. The woman was wearing a ball cap with a hot air balloon embroidered on it. Her sweatshirt had six hot air balloons on it, and her dangly earrings were actually in the shape of hot air balloons (I had to look at them for a few seconds before I realized what the were). Her husband wore a polo shirt advertising the balloon company.

The woman looked at K. "Are you excited? Are you ready?" she asked. K nodded. "Do you know what you're doing yet?"

"Not a clue," K answered quickly. We all laughed, and the woman started telling me where we'd go from there and what we'd do to set up. Several seconds later, K said, "Aaand now I see the shirts. ... Got it. I'm a little slow -- still not fully awake."

We headed out to the van, and we all rode out to a little airport nearby. The man and woman had explained to us that they were a little light on the crew, since it was a weekday, so they'd need our help preparing the balloon for our ride.

K and I were excited to get to help them prepare the balloon. The man and woman pulled it out of a huge canvas bag. We turned the basket on its side, and we laid the balloon, which was rolled up length-wise, in front of it. The woman told us the balloon was 7 stories tall. (Wow!)






































We started slowly and carefully unrolling the balloon, making sure to pull it from the canvas seams instead of the actual balloon material. Then, we made sure it was completely spread out. The man put a fan at the bottom near the basket. He gave K and me each a pair of gloves and showed us how to step on the bottom part of the balloon and to grab the top so the air from the fan (once it was turned on) could get inside the balloon.

As K and I did our part at the bottom of the balloon, the man and woman went around to the top and continued to spread the balloon out. Pretty quickly, it began to fill with air. It was a cool morning to begin with, so having a huge fan blowing straight at me got a little cold, but it was really neat to watch the balloon fill up.





















































After several minutes, the man came back to the bottom end of the balloon and started using the burners. They had warned us that the burners would seem close, but that we wouldn't be in danger of getting burned by the flames. I had to keep reminding myself that as I stood just a couple feet away from the large flame and could easily feel the heat coming from it.

















Very quickly, the balloon started rising, and the basket started slowly raising along with it. The woman ran to where K and I were standing and told us to put all of our weight against the edge of the basket to keep it in place. Her husband had climbed inside to continue prepping the balloon, so K, the woman and I were all leaning against the balloon as it slowly tipped upright.

All of a sudden, they were telling me to get into the balloon. Quickly and clumsily, I hurled myself into the balloon. K was right behind me. Then, before I knew it, we were several yards into the air and climbing quickly.











































It was then that it occurred to me to be scared. I had realized that we were basically in a giant basket. "You kind of have to have a lot of faith in wicker to do this," I said to our pilot.

He reassured me that we were standing on an actual floor sandwiched between all that wicker -- not to mention the fact there were cables from equipment in the balloon that ran across as well. We were safe, he promised. We weren't tipping or rocking, and the giant basket we stood in came above my waist.

I looked around at the gorgeous view of the sunrise and the open countryside, and I forgot about being scared and began to just enjoy the ride. It was peaceful up there.

















We could see for miles and miles in every direction. There we were, just enjoying the views around us, while the world below us went on about its business.

Around the homes below us, people were taking out trash, taking dogs outside, walking to their cars. Many of them waved at us, and we always waved back. Our pilot told us to be careful what we said in the balloon: "They can try to talk to us up here, but we'll never hear them. But they can hear everything you say up here clear as a bell."

It was funny to see the reactions different animals had to us. Dogs would run and bark, determined to try to find a way to catch us. Cows would look around them, but never up. Horses did look toward us. All the animals, though, tended to try to run from us (maybe the sound of the burner scared them?).

















So much about a balloon ride is dependent upon the weather. The amount of wind determines how far you're able to travel. Several times, our pilot mentioned how perfect the weather was for our ride. It was calm, but there was a light breeze that allowed us to simply float along peacefully. The temperature was comfortable. It was a beautiful, clear day.
















































We got pretty high up a few times, and others, we were gliding along just a few feet above the treetops. We lucked out when we flew over a lake. The pilot lowered us to just above the water so I could get a picture of the balloon's reflection in the pond below us.
















































The ride lasted about an hour. We wound up landing in an area the pilot sometimes uses to take off. Since you can't really know where you'll land when you take off, there's a chase crew that follows the balloon on the ground. Our chase crew was our pilot's wife in the van we rode in. We had a two-way radio in our balloon that the man used to talk to his wife to help her follow us on the ground.

To land the balloon, our pilot did what he called "walking the balloon" so he could get us to a certain area of the field we were landing in. We got very close to the ground and actually touched a few times. In fact, we landed several times before we actually landed. Some of the landings were very smooth -- we simply touched down to the ground for a few seconds -- while others were rough, feeling almost like the balloon would tip over.

Once we were in the general area where our pilot wanted to really land, he put us down for good. This one wasn't as good of a landing, and almost in slow motion, the balloon slowly tipped more and more to the side. I wasn't sure if it was going to balance itself out and fall flat again, but I leaned back and back, trying to keep my arms in the balloon like they'd told us to do in case the balloon landed on its side.

Sure enough, it completely tipped over. Our pilot and his wife had also told us not to climb out of the balloon until they told us to, since it would still be very much inflated, and the only thing keeping it on the ground would be the weight of those of us inside. It was only a few seconds before the pilot told me to get out. I crawled out of the balloon, and K was out behind me a few seconds later. The balloon deflated pretty quickly.





















































K and I helped the pilot and his wife push all the air out of the balloon and roll it back up. I put Velcro straps on it every few feet as our pilot, his wife and K all gathered it back into the humongous canvas bag. They put the basket back onto the back of the van, and we all piled in and headed off to a park for the celebratory champagne toast that traditionally follows a hot air balloon ride. On the way there, our pilot told us we had traveled over 15 miles in the balloon! He and his wife kept talking about how perfect the weather was for a balloon ride.

When we got to the park, we sat down in a gazebo, where our pilot and his wife poured us mimosas in keepsake champagne glasses with "First Flight" and a hot air balloon etched into the glass.

































They told us the history of hot air balloons, and they gave us certificates with our names, balloon number and a photo of the balloon on them. I reminded K that the traditional first anniversary gift is paper, so our little certificates were the perfect way to remember the ride.

















We stayed and talked awhile longer as our pilot and his wife, who have both been balloon pilots for many years, told us all kinds of stories of their own and from friends in ballooning. Some of the stories were (thankfully and purposefully) specifically not told to us until after the balloon ride, but it was nice to just relax, enjoy mimosas and talk about our neat experience while the rest of the city was rushing around to begin the day.

When we got back in my car to head home again, K told me he had actually always wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride. We had both loved it. It was definitely a neat way to celebrate our first wedding anniversary -- and it was a memorable, perfect way to celebrate finally reaching Day 12.

It's funny how I THOUGHT I was completely ready for him to get here

I got a call from K just after 1:00 this morning. He had gotten his flight info, which told him he was scheduled to arrive in Dallas bright and early Friday morning.

EEEEK!

I haven't slept well since Monday night. Last night was no different, but that news definitely didn't help. I tried to go back to sleep after we hung up, but my mind was reeling over the things I needed to do.

I knew I wouldn't be able to clear my head until I made a to-do list, so I got up and turned on a dim little night light so I could organize my thoughts. It helped a little. It at least made me feel better, although once I finally got back to sleep, I was still stuck in that torturous state between dreamland and being awake thanks to a subconscious that was going over everything from possible things I'd forgotten to add to my to-do list to how Piper will react when she sees K again for the first time in over 9 months.

When I got to work, the coworkers I work closest with had all planned a surprise patriotic party for me! They had decorated the area with miniature American flags, and we had a delicious homemade casserole with sun-dried tomatoes, homemade bread, eggs and who knows what else (it was amazing!). We had mimosas, strawberries and canteloupe ... and brownies! It was a really sweet surprise.

And then my day really began. I had to email all our family and friends and tell them when K is arriving. I had to email anyone who could possibly need to know that my time off work had been bumped up a day. I had to ramp people up on my projects.

And in the middle of the day, I had to go get a Brazilian wax.

(You didn't think that was all I was going to say about that, did you?) For a girl who's never even had her eyebrows waxed, let's just say it was an experience. It was painful at times. It was uncomfortable most of the time. But it's done. (Whew!)

So now it's time for me to leave work. For the last time for almost the rest of the month. Crazy!

Which means it's time for me to go do all those things on my to-do list.

I'll post pictures of the arrival tomorrow. Eee!

It's booked!

I've got my present for K for our first anniversary set for Tuesday, Sept. 16, at sunrise. Our anniversary is actually Sept. 22, but I wanted to be sure to get it in early in case we have to reschedule due to the weather.

Plus, it'll be so hard to keep it a secret! I'll just have to be strong. I'm so excited!

Not a bad way to start my day!

When I got in the office this morning, I got a compliment on my shoes, which are the ones I bought to go with my dress I'm wearing when I pick K up for R&R. Another coworker said, "I've got to see these cute shoes!" She peeked around the corner at them and said, "They are cute! Especially with your pedicure!"

I was leaning over to sign up for a blood drive at work, so I put my purse on the counter. "Your bag is really cute too! It's so summery!" said the first coworker.

Um, the shoes were from Payless -- on sale. The "pedicure" was an at-home job. As for the bag, I bought it last summer at Wal-Mart for $9.95.

Then, I got an email that I'd gotten mail at the front desk. It was a package from K to "add a great start to your birthday week":






















That'll do it!

(In case you were wondering, he had sent the flowers through a national flower company. They arrived in a box. I guess in transit, a couple of the flowers broke off near the top of the stems. That's what the two roses in the small white vase are.)

I'm becoming a pro at these care packages

I didn't have any luck with the weather on Thursday night. It stopped snowing before dinner even, and although a lot of people in our office worked from home, I went in to work on Friday.

Friday night, I baked some cookies for K and made him a St. Patrick's Day care package. I'm even more excited about him getting it than I was about his awesome Valentine's Day package. What I didn't mention on here, though, is that every care package I've sent him has taken right at a week to get to him. EXCEPT FOR THE VALENTINE'S PACKAGE, which took over three weeks. (Good thing I sent the homemade cookies in the package before that one!)

This care package, naturally, was entirely green. I put green tissue paper in the box for starters. I baked him some peanut butter cookies, and I wrapped the Tupperware container in green tissue. I did the same with the package of protein bars he'd asked for. Everything else was green to begin with, and some of them were funny coincidences.

I had planned on burning K a CD. It turned out I had one rewritable CD left, and it just happened to be green. (I think it's a sign God liked my idea.) I had bought K some good loofas a couple weeks ago, and I hadn't had room to put them in a package yet. Coincidentally, they were green, so in they went. I had some Pringles snack packs I'd bought to disperse in care packages, too. There were several different flavors, and the pizza flavor had a green wrapper. I put a few of those in the box.

I bought some Heal.thy Cho!ce soup, which comes in green containers; K's favorite gum, which happens to come in a green wrapper; some granola bars in green wrappers; and some Russ.ell St.over candy I found that came in green bags. I also had a fun St. Patrick's Day card that I don't think was intended to be a "missing you" card, but it worked perfectly. I wrote a letter on green-and-blue-striped stationery, and of course I wrote it in green marker. Not to restrict the festivity to the inside of the box, I even addressed the care package in green marker.

As I closed the lid to tape up the box and ship it to K, I considered taking a picture for proof of the (over)abundance of green inside. I decided not to, though, and now I wish I had. There will be more special packages, though -- I'm sending Easter this week -- so I'll be sure to get a picture of them.

Next week, I'll have to make a care package for April Fool's Day. Obviously there'll have to be a whoopie cushion and little prank toys in there, but it's gotta have a little extra something in there too. (April Fool's Day is a big day for us, remember?)

I have the best husband ever

Today at work, I was very pleasantly surprised to get this from Kevin:



















Partly because I like to share, partly because I wanted to send photos to K so he could see how they turned out, and partly because I'm a huge dork who loves getting flowers so much I have to take pictures of them so they'll last forever, now you can enjoy them along with me:

Day of celebration

I came to work today to find my cubicle decorated with a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner and lots of balloons. There are red and white streamers (closest they had to OU colors!), and even some a bouquet with lots of yellow flowers. Next to the flowers is a big bowl of fresh pineapple. Yay!

My co-workers know me so well.

We're all going to lunch today, and I'm assured there's more to come throughout the day. Should be a fun one -- and incredibly busy, too.

After work, 10 of us girls are going out for dinner at a restaurant that has an amazing birthday dessert. I'm pumped for that. Afterward, it's fun times at my favorite bar! Expect pictures soon.

Tomorrow morning, I'm working from home on a project, which means I'll get comp time. I'm totally okay with that! Tomorrow afternoon, I get to meet my possible puppy! I'm so excited!

It's gonna be a great day.

Our first wedding gift!

I had a package notice on my door when I got home last night. Since I hadn't ordered anything, I had to go this morning to my apartment office to get the package and give in to my curiosity. I suspected it might have something to do with a friend of mine and K's asking for my address, but I wasn't sure. A woman in my apartment office handed me a pretty large box when I showed her my package notice. The sender label was something I didn't recognize, and the box had come from New Jersey. The friends I'd thought had sent the package live in Georgia. I was confused.

I took the package to my car, putting it up to my ear to listen for ticking before realizing no one would be sending me a bomb in the mail (hey, better safe!). When I got in my car, I cut through the tape on the box with my keys. I opened the lid to find tons of bubble wrap.

I pulled back layer after layer, and finally, I saw a color peeking out that even this small-town Oklahoma girl recognized.















My jaw immediately dropped, and I paused in shock only for a moment before continuing to pull back the bubble wrap. What was revealed underneath was a simple box, in that oh-so-famous shade of blue, with two envelopes on top.















I didn't know which to open first, so I reached for the big one. I had debated on waiting to open the package until K was with me, but that'll be a long time from now. He'd probably tell me to go ahead and open it anyway. Besides, the large envelope contained a paper telling me exactly what was inside. Oops.

I opened the small enveloped to find the sweetest card. I was teary eyed at the message and the thought, especially since it was from two people who I know are very close to K.















Once I knew what the box contained, I had to open it. But I had to be in my apartment to do it. I rushed back and carefully carried the box up the stairs and into my apartment. I untied the bow and pulled the lid off, only to see another box, this one engraved.















When I pulled that lid off, there they were.



















I gingerly pulled one of the glasses out of the box, and as I did, it made a sound so much sweeter than my cheapy Wal-Mart champagne glasses ever made.

I can't believe our friends were so sweet (and generous) to send us such beautiful champagne glasses. This couple is so close to K. They were there for him after his bad breakup with CM, and they're both really close friends of his. I met them once in February of 2006, but I really hit it off with both of them. They're such great people, and I have so much respect for them as a couple since the last few years have been so rough for them. D-n has been in Iraq three times in the last five or so years, each deployment lasting a year. He's there right now, actually (he's one of the three guys I sent care packages to a few weeks ago), for 15 months this time. It definitely takes a strong relationship to come through all of that stress and still be standing together.

It's for all of those reasons that I've already decided these champagne glasses are exactly what K and I will use for our toast both on the beach in Florida after our ceremony, and in Dallas at our reception.

Such a romantic

Friday night when I got to K's, I unloaded my car as I always do. I got to his door, but when I went to open it, the door slowly opened on its own. I peeked into K's apartment to see several little tealight candles lining the entryway.

I stepped inside the door to see more candles going all the way up the stairs, and even more leading into the kitchen. K emerged from behind the door and gave me a hug. We walked into the kitchen, and the table was covered with more candles, and so were the counters. On the kitchen table, though, was a plate of strawberries and whipped cream, M&Ms, little Butterfinger Easter eggs (hey, candy is seasonal!) and a bowl of my favorite ice cream -- Edy's Slow Churned Double Fudge Brownie. Next to the plate was a bottle of the champagne that I absolutely love that K and I have had the last two New Years -- Martini & Rossi Asti Spumante.

We shared the ice cream and goodies, and we each had a glass of champagne. We went upstairs, where K gave me a massage.

He did all of that because we hadn't seen each other in a couple weeks and since we didn't get to spend Valentine's Day together or do anything special for that.

Even if he's taking his time, I'm a pretty lucky girl.

Awaiting surprises

I have to say that I'm very excited about Valentine's Day. It'll be my first with K, and I know it'll be amazing. Last Thursday night when I got home from work, I had a note on my door that I had gotten a package that had been left on my balcony. I wasn't expecting a package, so I was very surprised when I went to my balcony to find a box marked "Godiva." I had never even had Godiva chocolates before! It was from K, and inside was a sweet little note along with a ton of chocolates! There was a starfish-shaped chocolate, an open-oyster (complete with a hazelnut pearl!) shaped chocolate, a seashell-shaped chocolate (believe it or not, I'm just now picking up on the ocean theme the shapes had going...), the typical shapes you get with chocolate -- the medallion/coin, little squares, rectangles... There was white chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white drizzled with dark, dark marblized with white... Cream-filled, fruit-filled, solid, chocolate-filled -- everything! All in one pretty box. I just ate one piece, and since I was going to visit him the next day, I left the rest so we could try them together.

It was an enjoyable weekend that, as usual, went way too fast. It was fun sharing the chocolate. Obviously, we didn't eat all of it. It's in my refrigerator until our visit next weekend.

The great thing about K is that he's absolutely perfect for me. He's a romantic, so I know he has something planned. Unfortunately, we won't see each other until Thursday night. I have to drive there right after work, so it'll be after 10:30 before I even get to his place. We're planning to exchange gifts then, and we leave early the next morning to fly out to Georgia to visit some friends of his, a married couple he met when he was stationed in Oklahoma. I wouldn't put it past him to have plans that extend beyond Thursday.

I'm excited to give him his gifts, as well. I got him a hat and two funny pairs of boxers from his favorite store. I swear, everything he wears is from there. But what's great about the hat is that it fits one of our inside joke "code words" so well. He'll die laughing when he sees it. He already knows about one pair of boxers I got him because we were at the mall a few weeks ago. We were in his favorite store, and he happened to head toward the boxers because they were having a sale.
"Didn't you just say you have too many pairs of boxers?" I asked him.
"Yeah, but I always try to buy a couple when they're on sale," he said. He went straight for one of the pairs I had bought him, looking for his size.
I laughed that those were the ones he picked and thought it was cool that I knew his tastes so well. "I bought you those for Valentine's Day," I said.
He laughed and said, "Well, I guess it's cool we both have the same taste!" He told me I could've said something else to make him not get the boxers. I told him I'd save him the trouble of thinking about it and eventually figuring it out on his own by just telling him there. :)

I also got something for him that's for me. :) I've never done that before, so it was kind of exciting to pick out lingerie that he would like. I'm afraid I'll feel kind of shy about putting it on for him -- since I don't consider myself some sexy, Eva Longoria-like vixen -- but I guess I have five hours of driving to prepare myself to do it. :)

I'm also going to make him a Valentine's Day card. It's more personal that way, and I can say what it is that I want to say. I really have gotten into that (making gifts) especially over the last year or so. I think it's really cool to give someone something you bought and something you made. I spent a lot of time crocheting this fall to give scarves as gifts for Christmas. I hope the recipients all appreciated the work and time that went into it. I picked out the yarn with each of them in mind, and I thought of them the whole time I was making the scarf. It was a gift from the heart.

I'm not expecting K to go all out and spend hundreds of dollars on a holiday that, frankly, was designed to sell chocolates, cards and flowers. In fact, I think a single flower on any other day just for the heck of it is better than a giant bouqet on Valentine's Day, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the thought. Whatever K does, I know it will be something from the heart and something he has done to make me feel good and appreciated, which he does for me every day. I'm just excited to see what other surprises he has in store.

But enough of the mushy mush stuff. I hope that you -- whoever you are -- enjoy your Valentine's Day with a special someone. I hope that your day is relaxing and that on it, someone makes you smile and feel special.