Valentines Day

This was an especially nice Valentines day. Ryan and I both put a little thought into it. Previously, it was our trend to wait until the last minute, be unable to get reservations anywhere, and grab Panera's or something simple like that. But, this year Ryan told me that we were going somewhere nice, and to wear a dress. Well, I don't have any maternity dresses and only have one skirt to choose from, but luckily it worked out, even though, the skirt kept sliding down the slope of my belly and baring my midrift (something neither one of the colleges I went to would have tolerated) But, I managed to keep it together for the most part. He also got me the heart necklace shown in the photo below. I'm normally not even a big fan of heart jewelry, but I absolutely love this one, maybe because he found it, but I also think it's special and a-typical. Our friends Zach and Velvet came to pick us up and we headed to Zola's, a quaint little place on West End that I had always eyed, but never tried. It's always great to see the two of them, and I think I appreciate them now more than ever as I realize how sweet or time in Nashville is. I will really, really miss them after we head to South Dakota. I hope we can see them often even after we move. That's all about that because I really don't want to get emotional this early.

For Ryan, Graham and I made Valentine's Day cupcakes. Or to be more accurate, Graham ate strawberries and licked the batter while I made the cupcakes. Then, we found where Ryan had parked that day and I placed little hearts with clues of where to find his gifts. We put new "tough" floormats on the floor, a Johnny Cash CD in the player, a Gillian Welch CD and the Wedding Crashers DVD in the glove box, and a message for him with his truck's recorder. It was fun to surprise him, and I had a hard time waiting with my plans and keeping it all a secret, as well as hiding the monstrous box his floormats came in.

My confession is that I did NOTHING for Graham. I wanted to buy him a Laurie Berkner CD, but just ran out of time. So, a huge thanks to all of you who thought of him and sent little gifts. He loved them. I would tell him he had a present in the mail and his mouth would open in a huge "oooohhhhh" and he'd throw his arms in the air, as if to say "hooray." You all are the best, and made him feel so special. I'd tell him who sent the gifts and cards (which by the way, he loved the cards too, amazingly enough) and I could see by his expression that he could remember who everyone was. I can't wait for him to see you all again.