The Gift of Time

note- this post is a little long, so if you want to skip all the lovey-details, at least read the first and last paragraph...

I once heard a quote that said true love is spelled t-i-m-e. I truly believe this. Thinking back, the things I love most in my life are memories I have with the people I love...memories of the time we spent together. I may not remember what I got for Christmas when I was in 3rd grade, but I remember the time we sang the Nativity Song and I got to place baby Jesus in the manger. I may not remember the first pair of pajama pants my mom made me, but I remember when she spent the time to teach me to sew. I remember the days when my sister and I would make work-out videos, build forts and sing-along to mix tapes. I think all of the best relationships are based on the time we spend together.

So for this Valentine's Day, I decided that the best gift of all would be to extend our celebration to more than just one day. With me working full-time, taking online classes and Chris on campus all day and then coming home and studying for hours, our quality time together is limited. So we planned ahead, scheduled time for each other and loved every minute of it. (But let me tell you... planning 7 dates is exhausting!) And like most people...we LOVE surprises, so this week was full of them.


 Through out the week we enjoyed a variety of activities, the first being a Dinner Dance at church with catered food, dessert, a photographer and dancing. There was even a live singer! So of course, we slow-danced and it was ever-so romantic (in a Natalie and Chris way). He snapped my bra strap, grabbed my hand and swung it out, almost punching someone and then blamed it on me... I laughed, a little embarrassed but mostly giggling (I hope you are catching the humor here). We aren't ones for PDA, however we have our ways of showing love :)

I also surprised him by fixing a the giant rip/whole in the pocket of his favorite jeans. Woo-hoo! My first true homemaker task, complete. I've finally succeeded to the status of the perfect wife.

 I knew he was out of shotgun shells, so I surprised him with 2 new boxes so we can go shoot clay pigeons sometime. Then we had a fun evening at USU Mardi Gras together. I almost won the costume contest, Christopher won lots of Black Jack (with fake chips) and we got a few dance moves in.

For a special Sunday dinner, I actually PREPARED a meal. This means I thought about what we were going to have the day before, went to the store and bought all the necessary ingredients, set the table AND cooked a delicious 5-star meal. I cooked CRAB for the first time in my life. It was the easiest thing ever! I just boiled a pot of water, threw it in with some salt and bam... 6-7 minutes later it was ruby red and ready to serve. We also had some New York Steak, corn and fruit salad. I wanted to make this meal so it would be like Surf n' Turf, our favorite meal from our cruise.

On actual Valentine's Day, I made reservations for a new Brazilian restaurant in town called the Gaucho Grill. I had found a coupon on Cache Daily Deals (a local version of Groupon) which saved us $13! I love coupons. As part of the surprise, I bought Chris some red-heart boxers that he had to put over his head so he couldn't see where we were going. I wanted it to be a complete surprise!! This restaurant is an all-you-can-eat buffet + they come around and offer you unlimited meat! It ranges from steak, to bacon wrapped turkey, to chicken hearts! It's delicious. We loved the fun evening and were very full.

When we got home from our dinner, Chris had a surprise waiting for me. You can't really see the flowers but they are BEAUTIFUL!! They are my very favorite: stargazer lilies, that I had in our wedding. They hadn't bloomed yet, which I also love because the anticipation is part of the excitement! I'll be posting pictures once they all bloom. I also love it because I get to enjoy them for longer. He also got me my favorite color balloons (one which says Princess). So sweet :)

As part of our Love Fest Week we also went to support each other in our intramural basketball games+ I surprised him with a new sports water bottle. I love watching Chris...however it's not always fun watching our girls' team because there are lots of turnovers and it's not very exciting. But he was super cute and even cheered for me!! He's not one to shout things in public... so it meant a lot, especially since they were all good things.

For another surprise...Christopher bought fresh strawberries and chocolate...my FAVORITE dessert!!! He was so thoughtful to remember. He even helped me make them.


Now for my favorite part...he wrote me a cute poem and surprised me with a coupon to get a pedicure, with a friend. He knows me so well and this is the perfect, relaxing gift. I can't wait to redeem it! Please also notice the artwork on this letter, I love him.

But while all of the above was fun and sweet and loving and special... We come to my grand finale of creative dates: The P-Date. I thought of this idea to try and make things more exciting. I made a brochure which included the Perfect Plan for the evening. It included things we could wear (such as Polos, Pants with Pockets and Plaid), then it gave choices for songs that would go on our nights' Playlist (Party in the USA, Pour Some Sugar on Me)... you get the idea.

 The brochure continued on with appropriate terminology we must use, like calling each other Princess or Pumpkin. Then we had a choice of where to go out to eat: Pita Pit or Panda Express. Then afterward, we made a Pit stop at PetSmart to look at all the potential pets. We loved the Pink Kiss Fish. Then we spent the evening playing games, although we could have watched the Proposal and ate Popcorn. We ended the night with a Present: a new camo shirt and 2 new beanies. It was a fun date to plan. We decided that every year on February 16th, we would have an alphabet date. Although... we may do it more often because it's really fun.  

Another surprise evening, I brought home a Dominos pizza and a new game for the Wii: Mario Kart! It's Christopher's favorite game and I knew it would be worth the cost. We play games a lot, so I feel a lot more justified spending money on a game, than a movie. Most movies we own never get watched again... but games? They probably get their use in the first 3 days, haha - we've definitely spent our fair share of time racing Moo Moo Meadows and Luigi's Racetrack. This has made it easier to spend more time together, we love playing games.

The last of our Valentine's week consisted of delicious homemade nachos, including homemade guacamole! They were the best nachos I've ever made. I also got Christopher one last surprise: noise isolating headphones. Whenever he studies at home, there is always a dog barking or feet stomping from above that distract him. I did some research and found some great headphones that should help block out the noise. I hope they work!

For our last date night, I brought home a Red Box movie: Wall Street. Which actually brings my post back to where I started. The movie revolved a lot around money and greed, but the theme taught a powerful lesson about the most valuable asset in life: time. I hope I can learn to use it more wisely and to value the most important things in life, my relationships with people. If I dedicate more time to the people I love, I know I'll never look back with regret.

happy valentine's week! it's been amazing.