Valentine's Day 2006

February 13th 2006

I have spent my life romanticizing about true love and that deeply sappy emotional state of mind that is also called “the Prince Charming syndrome” but I have never had someone that merited a full blown Valentines Day effort. Bryan definitely merits that kind of thought & attention, so I was really looking forward to this Valentines Day!!!

I’d been planning on this event for at least 2 full weeks where I was watching the ads in the news paper for crafty ideas that didn’t cost too much. I had a limited budget so I made all of the extra efforts to maintain that budget. I even had to break up my purchases because my coupons were for 40% off, per purchase per day . I’d go to the craft store in the morning buy one item, leave, run some other errands and then come back when the second shift would be there so that I could optimize my coupons. I did that 4 or 5 times but it was worth it because I got some really fun stuff; 24 inch champagne glasses where I put glass rocks & candles into, streamers & other fun decorations.

I was so excited for Monday morning. I could NOT believe that I had kept this big of a secret for so long!! Actually though, I had to tell Bryan on Sunday that I was planning to do the “thing” Monday night so that we could join our ward in their temple night, which was at 6 pm on Tuesday and would take the majority of the evening. I told him to pretend that I hadn’t told him that I was planning “something” on Monday instead of Tuesday, which is the true Valentines Day. (If I needed an argument it was this; the concept of Valentines Day should be lived every day so doing something on the 13th would fit my form of logic.?)

Monday morning was a struggle for Bryan because he was so tired but I had the energy of an obnoxious puppy dog. I pulled him out of bed, started his shower and then went down stairs to make my shopping list for the few ingredients that I still needed to make the dinner. I threw together a lunch, that didn’t look too appetizing and got my stuff together so that I could go run errands immediately after I had dropped him off in BYU-Land of the Happy Valley.

I spent the next 5 or 6 hours shopping, cleaning the house, decorating and creating a really fun dinner! Becky helped me quite a bit by climbing on a chair to tape the streamers to the ceiling. She let me use her SUV to go get the 30 balloons; 10 pink, 10 white & 10 red. I loved having her help!!

Later in the afternoon, sometime after 4 pm I realized that I was still way behind schedule for the dinner but was approaching Bryan’s 5 pm pick-up from work. I called him right at 5 pm to see if he was ready to be picked up and he was. I went to get him and asked him if he could occupy himself for another 45 minutes. He said that he could do a few things so he dropped me off at the house and then disappeared.

I scurried around the kitchen trying to finish up the tiny details. I set the table, iced the sparkling red grape juice, put all of the cold foods in glass dishes and turned down the chicken that was almost done baking in the oven. I called Bryan to see where he was at and found that he was already heading back. I just needed to get myself ready but as almost an after thought; I realized that I hadn’t cooked the rice!!! I had bought just a packet of rice pilaf so I thought that that was an easy fix. I grabbed a pot, mixed the contents of the packet, turned the stove on a medium high temperature, rushed upstairs to get myself ready…..promptly forgetting that I had just put something on the stove.

I was only gone about 15 or 20 minutes but that was also about the time that the smoke detectors started to go off all over the down stairs so there was a sequence of different alarms alerting me to my folly but NOT before the security system started blowing its siren! I came down into the kitchen which was filled with a lot of stink and smoke!! My first thought was of Becky, who was sleeping. (Her new job is a grave yard shift so she needed her sleep, especially since she spent the earlier hours of the day helping me decorate….I just felt badly.)

I ran down the stairs that lead to the door to the garage. I opened the door thinking that I’d open the big garage doors before Bryan got home to clear out most of the smoke but right when I opened the door to the garage Bryan had started pulling into the driveway. I sheepishly closed the door to the house behind me, pretending to ignore the commotion. I just stood on the top step grinning an odd grin. Bryan pulled all the way into the garage with a puzzled look on his face in response to my funky grin. He got out of the car and I asked him if he knew how to turn off the fire alarm and smoke detectors……..knowing that he’s been in the house 3+ years to my 6 months. He said that he did know how to turn it off. Once Bryan turned off the sirens the smoke detectors stopped beeping. I told him that I wasn’t done yet and that he’d have to wait in the garage………even though I was grateful that he was there to turn off the alarms.

I sent Bryan back out into the cold garage for another 10 to 15 minutes. I rushed around lighting all of my candles. I rushed to put on some soft music and grabbed an album from Kenny G. Once I had the music on, the candles lit I finally let him in. He walked in with a dozen long stemmed red roses!!! I put the roses down and he danced with me in the dining room, among the balloons, streamers, candles & the stench of burned rice pilaf!

Bryan loved the decorations and I was pleased at how it all pulled itself together. The candles made the room seem warm, the music made the mood feel relaxed and the stench of burned rice made it a reality!

I got lots of kisses and a smiling-happy husband.

After we danced in the dining room, which is something that I’ve dreamed about since I lived with my Homer Family. John would put on Johnny Mathis and dance with Carol in the kitchen when the kids were all bedded down for the night. It was so sweet to watch & be aware of. John is so sweet with Carol and I’ve always wanted that kind of attention---AND I GOT IT!!! Bryan fell into my web; my plot to manipulate him into dancing with me in the dinning room.

Anyway, after the kisses & my knees melting like butter in his arms, I asked him if he was starving or if he could wait while I cooked some more rice. He said he’d wait so I put another pot on the stove, ON LOW. Bryan and I sat on the couch that faced the dining room and just talked about our day a little bit. (I have to admit that that was the first time all day that I had stopped so my swollen “feets” decided to mutiny for the rest of the evening…..so I just sat there and tried to relax.)

Finally the rice was done so I pulled out the chicken from the oven, reheated the corn & had Bryan pour the sparkling juice. We had a very enjoyable dinner; Apricot Chicken, sticky rice, corn, Rhodes Rolls, 3 different kinds of jam, a dinner salad & raspberry soufflé for dessert. I’d never made the chicken dish or the soufflé before so I was a bit nervous about how it would all turn out. It was probably a good thing that his lunch was less than appetizing because he ate it all. (tee hee)

By the time dinner was over it was well after 8 pm. Both of us were so tired and full!!! I hadn’t planned on doing anything after dinner, like a movie, so when dinner was over Bryan and I just left dinner on the table and went into the living room to watch TV. Within 20 minutes Bryan’s mom & dad called us just to talk so we got to tell them all about our sappy & romantic evening. I was still on cloud 9,000 and loved relaying the evening to them.

I must admit that by the time 10 pm rolled around and I got into bed, I really just fell into bed and “crashed”. Both of us were asleep in a matter of minutes. I have never felt so content & complete.

Bryan and I are so happy!! It’s so nice to have these feelings of friendship, love & security. He kept telling me how beautiful I was and how much he enjoyed the dinner and my efforts. I loved his roses and fell in love with him all over again. It’s like a dream……………..