cooking

I hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day!

I enjoyed time with my favorite kind of chocolate on V-Day, chocolate lab!

I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day. I think because it was always a special day for me as a child. I can remember decorating my Valentine’s Box for school each year, picking out specific Valentines for everyone in my class (they pretty much always had dogs on them!), and my mom always giving me a small gift like a stuffed animal or chocolates to celebrate.

This Valentine’s Day was lovely, and I feel blessed that I was able to spend time with Jimmy in the evening! He surprised me with the sweetest gift–he called me after work to inform me that he was making dinner for us. This was a big deal because Jimmy had never cooked for us before!

He went to the grocery store to buy the ingredients and told me that he didn’t trust himself to cook everything. I offered to be his sous chef, and we had such a nice time in the kitchen together.

Jimmy’s menu included:

Impressive, right?! The menu was very gourmet and everything tasted absolutely delicious. The best part was that Jimmy had planned everything out and thought of such a special dinner.

On the work side of things, the family I work for had me bake cupcakes and assemble treat bags for their kids’ Valentine’s Day parties at school. It’s really fun for me to feel like a part of a family with little ones. I think kids just make holidays extra special.

I have to share some pictures from my parents, too! They ran a Valentine’s Day 5k together, which I thought was adorable. They finished in 32:00 minutes, which I think is quite impressive. Go mom and dad!

Lastly, my sister and her fiancé received some great news on Valentine’s Day. The offer they put on a house was accepted! Congrats on becoming homeowners Hannah and Josh! They’ll move in after their wedding in June! I can’t wait to see their home in person 🙂

Tell me about your Valentine’s Day!

Past Valentine’s Day Celebrations
Valentine’s Day 2016
Valentine’s Day 2014
Valentine’s Day 2013
Valentine’s Day 2012
Valentine’s Day 2011

Hello and happy Tuesday! I just wanted to pop in and share some things that have been making me happy lately. I’m just going to jump right in!

Lola with yarn

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Lola isn’t a typical dog in that she doesn’t like to play–not with toys, people, or dogs. Her favorite things are food, laying on the couch, and taking long walks. I was super surprised when my mother-in-law and sister-in-law came over last week to teach me how to crochet and Lola was transfixed by the yarn. She didn’t do anything, but I could tell she was enthralled. The next day, she came inside after her morning bathroom break and ran over to my ball of yarn and started ripping it apart and playing with it! It was the cutest thing.

Date nights

Before Jimmy and I were married, we went on dates a few times a month because we only saw each other on the weekends. Now that we’re married and living together, we’re with each other all the time (yay!), but we tend to focus on house work or other activities in our free time. We went on a date night over the weekend for the first time in months, and it was spectacular. We used a gift card we were given for Red Lobster and then browsed around some local stores. Catching up over a meal we didn’t have to cook or clean up after was lovely, and we had a blast window shopping! Must do that more often 🙂

Doodling

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I’ve been doodling each morning when I write in my journal and read my Bible. It’s a fun way to relax and express creativity. Also, I want a cat.

Enjoying the great outdoors

It’s so easy to stay cooped up in the winter when it’s cold outside. Thankfully I have Lola to give me the please walk me now look, which gets us outside each day. Even if we’re only out for ten minutes, I always feel great afterwards. Fresh air works wonders!

Work

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I got to work from home (kind of!) for the first time last week. The family I work for is having their house renovated, so their kitchen is currently out of commission. I typically bake and cook for them each week, so I made some food in my kitchen and then dropped it off at their house. I made granola, bread, chili, meatballs, homemade pasta sauce, and spaghetti. The only downfall? I was totally unmotivated to cook dinner for Jimmy and I that night, haha.

Indoor gardening

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Last month, I mentioned that Jimmy and I bought new windows for our house. Jimmy, stud that he is, made a special windowsill in our kitchen for me to start an herb (and palm tree, ha) garden! I planted basil, oregano, cilantro, rosemary, parsley, and chives. Everything is starting to grow, and it makes me incredibly happy. I’m already dreaming of gardening outside in a few months. Can’t wait!

Living My Full Life

Valentine’s Day Festivities