Valentine's Day

Aaron and I decided to get away for Valentine's Day this past weekend. We are vowing to ourselves that even after Lil Chapps is born, we are determined to still "get away" and take some time for ourselves. We know just how important it will be for our family...a time to refresh and relax. This past week was absolutely WONDERFUL! We had no set plans, no agenda, no pressure to get anything done. This was the complete opposite of our daily grind, where we have lists of things we have to do every day/night of the week. Friday night we drove down to Myrtle Beach in the snow. We watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and made a late dinner at the condo. Saturday we slept in until 10:00 (unheard of for us!!) We went to the outlet malls and did some shopping for Lil Chapps. We got awesome deals at The Children's Place. All of their winter clothing was $2.99 or less. We were able to pick up 21 items (pants, shirts, hats, PJs, coats, etc.) for $42. (For those of you who are reading this and might possibly pick up baby clothes...we are good to go on 6-9 month clothing after this shopping spree!! :) ) Aaron and I had the best time outfitting our little man. It warmed my heart to see Aaron get so excited over the things we were picking out. He even talked about when and where our son would wear the different outfits. Aaron's favorite was a red, black, and gray sweater vest that he is going to put Lil Chapps in at his first NC State basketball game! We spent the afternoon watching the State/Carolina basketball game and relaxing at home. We celebrated with our Valentine's Day Dinner (a night early) at Ruth's Chris. We both had the most amazing steak we've ever had! Sunday brought another day of sleeping in. We lounged around Sunday morning and then headed out to see a movie. We did a little shopping, ate a little dinner, and saw our second movie of the day, Dear John, on Sunday night. We were able to stay until today (since Aaron had off and I was able to take the day off). We had a wonderful ride home together, filled with lots of conversation and laughs.

I thought a lot this weekend about our relationship as a couple and how far we have come in three and a half years of marriage. I am so thankful for the man I married and the way he lifts me up every day and encourages me to be the best person that I can be. He goes out of his way to take care of me and to let me know that I never have anything to worry about. This past weekend, we had more laughs than I can begin to count. I will never take for granted his ability to keep me laughing and keep me on my toes. I am so thankful for our ability to keep life light and happy. We had a lot of time to talk about our life together, our hopes and dreams for our family, our excitement and fears that come along with being parents, and the things that we are most thankful for. I feel so blessed to have such an open line of communication in our marriage, something I was not always good at but Aaron has encouraged me since day one of our relationship. This past weekend put a lot of things into perspective for me and allowed me to step back and thank God for all of the blessings in my life. I can't wait to have these same conversations with Aaron in 60 years as we are sitting in rocking chairs on our front porch drinking sweet tea and thinking about our lives together. :)

I love you baby and thank you for the man you are and the woman you allow and encourage me to be...I thank God every day for you and our marriage.