Snow in February

I do not naturally take pictures very often...leaving you with wordy posts to read.  I am making up for it with this post- enjoy!

Tip: If you click on the image, you can see it larger.

At the beginning of the month, Daniel came home to an added "decoration" to the wall.  I had fun adding a new note each day (though not always keeping up with it as I had hoped) to my Valentine to add to the excitement and anticipation of the coming holiday.

I received my inspiration from The Ruche Blog.

This past week brought snow!  It made my weekend, and possibly even my winter.  This Vermont raised gal was missing snow.  Believe it or not, but some people do love the snow...me being one of those.  

School let out early on Tuesday for the storm.  We then had three days off from school!

An added blessing to these snow days was that the mister and I both had Wednesday and Thursday off.  We haven't had the same day (not to mention days [plural]) off in months.  We loved the extra time it gave us with each other.

We had agreed early on to celebrate Valentines day on Saturday.  The mister went to work, and I got busy baking and cooking.  For anyone who knows the slightest about me, knows that I love to bake and cook.  This is one way I love to show love!  I made it my personal challenge to make as many things into a heart shape as possible.  

Side Note:  Daniel and I had decided to not use hearts before we were officially dating.  We officially started dating a few days after Valentines day (five years ago) and that is when we exchanged Valentines cards.  I remember so clearly how excited I was to finally be able to use hearts!  That being said, hearts are fun.

I enjoyed the challenge. 

For breakfast, I made what was supposed to be heart shaped Egg in a Basket.  The heart in the toast didn't look too much like a heart afterwards. Oh well.  For dinner we had salad (with heart shaped carrots), and pizza.  My favorite part about the pizza was the heart shaped pepperoni!  For dessert, we had Red Velvet Oreo Truffle Brownie Bars.  All was yummy!  I had so much fun planning this out and doing my best to take advantage of an excuse to make a day over-the-top special for my Valentine.

We chose to keep a tight budget on Valentines "gifts" which ended up being a lot of fun.  We both stayed "within budget" and had a blast doing it.  My man loves cookie dough.  He also loves peanut butter, so it was a done deal when I discovered this recipe.  I made peanut butter cookie dough truffles.  Again, I love to show my love through baking!

He was incredibly selfless in his gift for me.  You see, my husband does not like coffee- the taste, or the smell.  I love coffee!  My sweet mister bought me a french press and coffee!  As one of my friends said when I told her about it, "he's a keeper!".  I couldn't agree more, even though I already knew that.

Our first Valentines Day together as a married couple proved to be a lot of fun.  We enjoyed celebrating each other and the love the Lord has given us for each other.

We were reminded of the most perfect example of love provided to us through Jesus' work on the cross.  We are able to love, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

So....

from our family, to yours...

we wish you a belated

How did you celebrate Valentines Day?

February...carpe diem

February is here.  I go back and forth between not being able to believe it is already February and going "wow, at the end of this month [which you know will fly by] we will be a sixth of the way through the year".

This year I find myself with a new mindset--carpe diem.

Seize the day.

We have a new years resolution with our sister (who loves 10-15 minutes away) to get together with her at least once a month.  I have a personal resolution to try and plan at least one "time" [my husband's love language] adventure/event/date per a month with my husband.  I have another personal resolution to hand write a note of encouragement to one person a week.  I had to break my goals into smaller goals, with short term "deadlines" to help keep me on track.

I want my year to be one of change, and worthwhile priorities.  I want to invest in relationships.

I already look back on last month and am pleased with the things "that got done" and I didn't feel like I was having to micromanage my schedule.  I want to be thankful for each moment I am given and looking back on it, know I used it wisely.

That all being said, January was a wonderful month!  Per my mister's suggestion, we are trying to clean out one closet per a weekend.

Side Note: We have an odd schedule.  Once we get used to it, it changes.  I am a planner, and am having to learn to adjust to it.  Again, I have had to learn to seize the moment.  The quicker we get into a new routine, the longer we get to stick with that one.  The mister enjoys a weekend of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.  His Friday is my Monday, and my Friday is his Monday.  I get called to sub, and so we never know if I actually will be home when he is.  We mutually agreed, to protect one of his weekend days to become our weekend.  We sleep in, I make a special breakfast, and we enjoy our time together until 3pm, when I go into work.  This has been wonderful for us!  It allows us some rest time, and some time together.

Our home is getting cleaned out and we are throwing away, selling, and donating so much--it feels great!  We have agreed it is a wonderful winter activity when it is too cold to do outdoor activities (no skiing, or snowmobiling down here).

I am spending a lot of my "off hours" lesson planning and trying new recipes.  We are celebrating the month of February with a "Countdown to Valentine's".  Pictures to follow in a future post.

All this to say, I find myself enjoying life more, when I live each moment to it's fullest!

What are some fun things you did in January to help jump start 2014?