Be Mine

Another Valentine's Day has come and gone. Matthew and I laughed as we tried to remember the other 4 Valentine's we've spent together. We can vividly recall our first one - we'd only been dating for about 4 months at the time. I created a valentine on a poster and surprised him with it at his apartment. Probably one of the only times I've successfully been able to show up somewhere and genuinely surprise him. I'm not as great as my husband - he's the Master of Surprises :) although I try and he loves my attempts. We then headed to Sonic's and had this amazing cherry brownie bite ice cream of some sort. Yum!

Our second Valentine's day is kind of a mystery... we thought that was the year my roommate and I cooked a special dinner for our boyfriends, but no. According to photos, I just discovered that the dinner happened to be the same year as the poster valentine. Hmm... maybe the pictures recalling the event are on Matt's computer. I know there are photos somewhere because we rarely go without our camera. Sadly, our 3rd Valentine's is a mystery as well. I guess we've had so many great times together that Valentine's Day just sort of blends in :) Does that happen to anyone else?

Last year's was significant because it was our first one together as a married couple. We celebrated by sharing a romantic dinner by candlelight on the floor of our new apartment. Sweet memories. Thankfully, I can recall this year's because it was only 2 days ago! My husband's gift to me was his time and money. He knew I was wanting some new dress clothes for school (guess me grumbling every time I pick out something to wear finally paid off.. jk), and he devoted his Saturday to... yes... shopping with me! I can wear my own self out shopping for clothes and now that I'm married, I'm aware of how much I can wear someone else out. After lunch with an old friend, we hit the ground running.

I checked my watch and checked my husband: approximately 3 hours until he'd expire according to my calculations. Time to get moving!

Several hours later we left the mall with clothes - always means success - and my dear husband suggested we go grocery shopping since we were out. I was amused at how 3 hours had passed and he hadn't once said anything about his feet hurting :) Ok, he's really not all that bad when it comes to shopping... he enjoyed himself and even came out with a nice looking black button down shirt. He prefers shopping for me and with me as opposed to finding clothes for himself. Let me tell you, finding decent clothes for a 6 foot 5 1/2 inch thin man is no easy task.

Sunday after church we relaxed at our apartment and headed to our 5:30 reservations at a Turkish restaurant, Bosphorous, in Winter Park. Matthew made the arrangements and the food was wonderful! That is where we found ourselves reminiscing on past Valentine's. Love is a wonderful thing and should be celebrated and recognized more than one designated day a year. Isn't it amazing that we have an unconditional love exemplified by the Heavenly Father that we can rely on? I take comfort in knowing that no matter what happens, His love abounds. It is God's love that is an example we can follow in our daily lives. Love is certainly worth celebrating. Praise Him for giving His love, and surrounding us with people to practice on ;)

In Sickness and in Health...

Yes, it's been over a week since my last post and there's so much to share! First, I must tell you my excuse... I was quite sick. It came as a surprise to me as we were walking around at an art festival after church last Sunday. The fever and aches lasted off and on for five days - leaving me with an unpleasant cough and sniffles. Thankfully, I am much better and can actually eat full meals and walk without becoming exhausted :)

Picking up where I left off last, Matthew and I went shopping at garage sales last weekend. Our first stop found us with a $1 chandelier - we figured why not pay a $1 to see if the thing worked. Now we have a unique overhead light above our dinner table and it's quite exciting! We didn't have one before because our table is in what the apartment complex calls a "sunroom" - we thought it made a nice "eating nook" instead. The last house we went to (I think 6, total) had some odds and ends, and we walked away with two wooden frames with glass panes. I don't really know how to describe them, but we had some creative ideas for both of them and only paid 50 cents for each. One wooden frame is hung from our ceiling, displaying all the beach shells we've collected over the years together. The other frame uniquely displays a photo collage we created. We took many pictures of bark, leaves, etc. and ripped up the photos - then put pieces together again to create one giant picture of a tree. It was our first time every trying anything like that and it's not complete yet, but we do like what we have :) I just tried to post pictures but it was taking way too long so I'll have to try again later.

The rest of the week went by quickly. Monday I rested, determined to be better by Tuesday so I could substitute. I took a subbing job, woke up Tuesday feeling miserable, but went anyways. I didn't want to call in sick on my first day! Thank goodness for medicine! I subbed for a first grade class and it went well. There was only one terror ;) and he refused to say Mrs. Taflan. He called me Tiffany...not sure why...then settled with Mrs. T (weird because that was the name of my bus driver in high school). The day ended with me tutoring, then going to bed extra early. On Wednesday Matthew and I were asked to speak to the youth for their Purity/True Love Waits night. We met with the youth for an hour and a half and it went great! We wanted to give them something different and we did this by bringing in lamps, low lighting to create a different atmosphere. The youth pastor asked us to also share our video we had created about love that we played as an introduction to our wedding ceremony (we hope to post it online to Matthew's website soon). Matt & I want God to use us and Wednesday night was a great opportunity. Thursday and Friday I rested and caught up on cleaning the apartment. I stayed out of the schools because my fever was still coming and going.

Valentine's Day was Saturday! It was our first as a married couple and we began the day by sleeping in. My wonderful husband made me blueberry pancakes (with fresh blueberries!) and sausage <3>

Sunday was a big day - especially for Matthew. He had been asked by the youth pastor (he's the guy the married us) to assist in constructing and leading the contemporary service that morning. The contemporary service is a new thing we've been trying and lately it's had no direction. Matt and Jim dissected the parts of the service and over the next three weeks are trying out different ideas to see what works and what does not. I was quite proud of him :) He lead the worship band that morning too, so needless to say, he worked hard this past week and will again for the next two Sundays. Our prayer has been that God will use and speak through those handling the service. That afternoon was the youth group's first meeting on a Sun. night instead of a Wednesday. Matthew and I were asked to lead games (my favorite!) and we showed up with silly ideas and enough energy to get us through the evening. It was fun and looks as though we'll be back again next week to help out some more.

Well I'm off to small group. I hope to have a sub job tomorrow!