Valentine's Day: Then and Now

 Valentine's Day has come and gone. Hope everyone had a GREAT one! This was our eighth Valentine's as a couple.  Wow, time really does fly!!  You may not know this, but our first official date was on Valentine's Day our Sophomore year of college at UGA (2003).  If you've never heard the story of our date, please ask me to tell to it you the next time I see you.  It was a wonderful and UNIQUE first date to say the least.    It started @ East West (for those of you familiar with Athens), carried over to Scott Carter and Alan Brown's downtown apartment where we all had a Valentine's Day dance party and Italian champagne (courtesy of Brent's dad's costumers in Italy), and ended with a cab driver reaching in my purse for more money and the police being called (by the cab driver) saying we owed him more money.  The police promptly took our side and explained to him that it was illegal to reach in a person's purse to get more money.  That is just the very abridged version.  It's too long to type out.  But, I would love to tell it to you sometime.  The reason I am reminiscing about our first Valentine's Day is to give you a reference point of how far we've come.  Last night wasn't marked by a fancy dinner, we certainly didn't have a dance party, and no police were involved (thank goodness).  We had a quiet night in with our little baby girl!  I think we've grown up A LOT since that first date!!

Last night was great!  Ella's colic didn't set in until almost 10:00, so we got to hang out from 7-10 without a screaming baby.  A major plus.  Brent brought home flowers, sweet cards (one for me, one for Ella), and gave me a gift certificate for two massages!  He's always very thoughtful and I think a massage is just the thing I need right now.  We were on the same wavelength because I got him a gift certificate for massages too and a Red Velvet Cake from Cheesecake Royal that was absolutely delicious!!  Luckily he shared his cake with me!  Brent picked up tasty Greek food on the way home from a meeting at the hospital and we ate a quiet dinner out of a Styrofoam to-go box.  It was delicious and perfect.  After that, we ate cake and watched The Bachelor.  The Bachelor was a MAJOR LET DOWN....very boring this week.  But, it was great to spend time together.  Right when our DVR ended the show, Ella began crying and cried until 11:30, then cried some more at 2:00 a.m.-- but I can't complain too much, she slept from 2:00 a.m. until 9:00 a.m.--LUCKY ME!!  So the day was just super.  We got to spend time with Ella and each other.  For us, that was what this Valentine's day was all about- appreciating the gifts God has blessed us with!

As far as Ella goes, she enjoyed Valentines day too!  She played with me in the morning and was very smiley :)  She napped throughout the afternoon.  Brent was able to come home for a couple hours in the afternoon, so we took a walk.  Ella loves walks...she falls into a deep sleep.  It's really funny.  When Brent left for his meeting, she helped me pick up the cake.  I'd say she had a great day. She even got some presents--both grandparents sent her some cute Valentines clothes...I think she already loves fashion!!

Reflecting back on our first Valentine's to now, I see how much has evolved and changed since then.  Brent and I enjoyed two and a half years of college together, finished undergrad at UGA, I got my masters, we got married, bought-renovated-sold a house, Brent graduated dental school, we moved to Dallas, TX, Brent has almost finished his pediatric dentistry residency, we have a little girl (our greatest accomplishment), and we are preparing to move to Savannah for Brent to work in a wonderful dental practice.  When you think about it, we've accomplished so much together since our first Valentine's day.  Honestly, what I think is most important is not WHAT we've accomplished, but that we've accomplished it TOGETHER.  We've stuck by each other through good times and bad, kept a good sense of humor, and have always remembered how much we love each other.  I am so blessed to have Brent as my Valentine each year and couldn't imagine what my life would be like without him.  Today we have Ella to share our love with and it's just amazing to see how our love has bloomed and expanded since that first Valentine's day eight wonderful years ago.  Happy Valentine's Day, once again, to my fabulous husband and our bundle of joy, Ella Bean!  Thank you, God for these blessings- today and always.