Amazed and grateful...

...for the romantic weekend I had with my husband!

Since he works in a different city during the week, we only get to be together on weekends. This is really difficult, of course, but certainly not as bad as it could be (say, if he was in the military and deployed for long periods of time). I miss him so much! I miss him being a part of normal daily life, sharing all the little things that make up our days. I miss cooking for someone other than myself. I miss the way he makes me laugh and the positive perspective he has on life. I miss spending evenings curled up on the couch with him, and the feeling of security I have when he's home at night. I also miss the friendship and company and closeness of having him here with me! Sigh.

When he came home this Friday, I had to be at a rehearsal for choir. We always start the semester off with a weekend retreat for some added rehearsals to get things off to a good start, and this happened to be that weekend. Don't get me wrong; I love choir and don't mind rehearsal, but...it also happened to be the first day I would get to see my husband since January 1st! He was at a conference last weekend.

Friday morning, I had an unexpected snow day, and was able to do some schoolwork from home. Hubby and I texted all day (unusual, since his job is rather busy), so excited that we would finally be together that evening. I curled my hair, wore a pretty dress, and went to rehearsal.

When he picked me up from rehearsal on Friday night, he had gotten dressed up for me, too! We drove home, unloaded his Jeep, and then he asked me to wait as he got one last load of things out of the car...

...and in he came with an armful of red roses! So sweet! As I opened the bouquet, he explained that there were only 11 roses, because he wanted to scatter the petals of the 12th rose all over our bedroom - his own idea. Emotional me was about to burst into overjoyed giggles or tears by this point. He set up the computer to stream some romantic instrumental music, while I set a candlelit dinner, using some special vintage linens, the gorgeous roses, my two Orrefors raspberry votives, my silver-colored candlesticks, and my small Basilica pillar candle on a matching pedestal. Hubby insisted that we sit at opposite ends of the table so we could see each other and enhance the romance of the moment. Okay by me!

I am amazed that God gave me such a wonderful, loving husband, and I am so grateful to belong to him!

happy weekend!

Today was a rather girly day - shopping with a friend in the morning, lunch out, and a bridal shower in the afternoon. When I got home at 6, I was exhausted! Here's the snuggly face I came home to, though the picture is from a different day:

my cute Oscar cat sleeping under his knit cat-mat.

My husband got home early today, which ended up being about 15 minutes after me. Happy!

He was also exhausted, so we canceled our plans to attend a concert together in favor of a home-date night.

We snuggled up on the couch, grabbed our kettle corn supply, and watched a movie together: good old Aladdin. It was sweet and fun to remember our different childhood experiences of that movie and to marvel at how far CG has come since it first was used in film making.

Later, we opened up the Keith & Kristyn Getty songbook and spent some time playing and singing together. It means so much to me that my husband shares my faith, and that we also share a love for music. It's just wonderful to be able to make music together and to do it in a way that honors God.

To top off all the happiness, I found an adorable skirt (for $3.99!) in this morning's thrifting. It's a nearly new (?) Banana Republic skirt in a pretty, light lime green cotton, with the perfect amount of sheen. It's a fitted A-line, and I'm excited to wear it! I think it might be the beginning of an Easter outfit - perhaps with a crisp white shirt and a light pink cardigan? Pearls and white strappy-sandal heels? Curly hair? It has potential, which this picture does not do justice to. Some ironing is also in order...


I had some time yesterday to make dinner - we had Italian sausage, cornbread muffins, and peas. I also whipped up some Devil's Food chocolate cupcakes and an 8"x8" cake for dessert, but the cupcakes have already made it to the freezer for safekeeping. I'm hoping to decorate the cake tomorrow! Maybe Nutella icing? Maybe peanut butter icing?

I got a bit adventurous with the muffins, and used up the last of my raspberry jam (thanks, Mommy! it was delicious!) to put surprise filling in them. Mmm! Here are the only three I have left:

I love the way the bit of raspberry jam kept the muffins so moist, and I like the bit of red peeking out of the muffin tops. I'm planning to try this again with other fillings...

Happy weekend!

I love when...

...It's a rainy day and I have a cup of tea

My Oscar-Cat is snuggled in his fuzzy cat bed under my desk

Brad and I go on a mini road trip with no agenda whatsoever

The color pink is on sale

Chocolate chip cookies are just barely underbaked

My pictures turn out perfectly

Down comforters are cool and puffy when I crawl underneath

A song comes to mind that perfectly suits the need I have

My mom calls for no reason

I open mail from friends and family

My husband brings me wildflowers

The perfect seashell comes home unbroken

My white cotton curtains pool on the floor after blowing in the breeze