A Simple Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a holiday that I don't celebrate. As a child, I enjoyed making valentine boxes and opening my cards and candy. Then as I grew, the boxes, cards, and candy stopped. The holiday turned into an obsession with buying things and people without a significant other were always depressed. I didn't like that and thus, decided I didn't want to participate. Brandt had other ideas.

Brandt said he felt like he should get me something and followed through every year, despite my protests. I can't lie, it is nice to be reminded that I'm loved though it felt stupid it was required on a certain day. The last four Valentine's Days Brandt has sent me flowers at work. I'd always secretly desired that my S.O. would send me flowers at work and he was the first to do it. Even on "just because" days, I'd become giddy like a little girl when I walked to the front desk and saw a beautiful bouquet. I hate being a typical anything, especially a typical girl, but I love flowers! I'd always proudly display them on my desk.

This year, with money tight and no "grown up" job I knew I wouldn't be getting flowers at work. Finally, Brandt was going to listen to my constant griping about how dumb this holiday was. Then when I was bombarded by all of the hearts and cute valentines at Target every day, I had a terrible feeling: I didn't hate this holiday so much any more. Maybe I'm getting older, maybe Brandt broke through my icy exterior, maybe my crafting has made me love all holidays. Who really knows.

I thought it would be nice to do a little something for my boyfriend since he always did a little something for me. I couldn't decide what to do and didn't want to spend any money. I'd almost given up when I was scrolling through my Pinterest page and came across an adorable I idea I'd pinned months ago! I'd make him a bouquet of beer! It was simple, cheap, partially handmade, and definitely not a traditional gift. Just my type of thing!

On Valentine's Day, I left his "flowers" in the fridge and went to work. When he got home from work, Brandt loved his present but was upset that I'd given him something and he had nothing for me. I told him not to worry because he always gets me flowers and this year it was his turn.

Silly guy did go out and get me a gift though. Best part was the note...

I cracked up and thanked him for my macaroni salad. There had been some in the fridge the week before but he'd destroyed it before I got any. When I went to eat it, I mentioned I was sad that it was gone. Now, he bought me my own! (I've censored the note for anyone sensitive to such verbiage.)

It was also our second year of exchanging digital valentine's. We constantly frequent meme sites such as themetapicture.com and imgr.com and had saved a lot of cheesy valentine memes last year. We spent the entire day sending them back and forth. We did the same this year during my last break. We didn't have as many but it was nice to laugh and know we'd been thinking of each other. I took a screenshot to give you an idea of how dumb/awesome they are. It's way better than spending money on one card. We can give as many as we want for free!

And so ended our fifth Valentine's Day. No big dinner (we hate crowds), no plants, no chocolate. Just two nerds giving each other cheesy gifts "homemade" gifts. I think it was our best V.D. so far!

January is Finally Over!

After the crazy, stressful, sleepless month that was December, January was a droll month. Brandt ended up back in the hospital in early January because his gallbladder was not done tormenting him (even from the grave). They took out "sludge" and "sand" during his final ERCP (going in through his mouth to access his bile duct) and he's been healthy every since.

Target drastically cut our hours and I was struggling to even get 20 hours each week. I've been watching the shift swapping sheet like a vulture and grabbing any hours I could. I need at least 30 hours to pay my bills and have been getting close. I picked up many cashier shifts these last two weeks and remembered why I dislike it so much. I'm very glad to be back out on the sales floor!

I've made several friends at Target and we've started a game/social/food night once every week or two. We've been playing Cards Against Humanity and it is the best game ever! I have left each time with my abs sore and my cheeks unable to move from laughing so hard. I invited everyone to my place this weekend and Brandt joined in on the fun. He dominated the game with his awesome sense of dry humor.

I've had a few interviews here and there but nothing successful yet. One employer actually called me afterward to let me know that they'd hired someone else (I'm lucky if I even get an e-mail) and they had wonderful things to say about me. They decided on another candidate because s/he had more experience. The job market is extremely competitive out here. I had another interview last week but this time I was overqualified. They haven't reached a decision yet and I'm hoping that they choose me because it is a job I would truly love, even though it's part time.

Brandt is working at the bank and all of his organs seem to be fully functioning! We haven't gone out and done much because we are conserving money and job searching. I haven't had much to write about on the blog, thus my long silence.

All three dogs are still alive. Sparrow is always happy and I've decided that she can't walk without wagging her tail. Everywhere she goes her mouth is open (tongue out) and her tail gracefully wags back and forth. Ellie is quiet, as always, but full of love. She really has come out of her shell, even more so than this summer. This weekend, she walked up to my friends and even let them pet her. I was a proud dog-mom! Cedric is a ball of unending energy. We've let his curls grow out to keep him warm during the winter. Brandt describes him as a Moopet (from the new Muppet movie). I think he's adorable and he's cuddling me more often than he has before.

What they say about the pacific northwest is true: it is always rainy and wet in the winter. It's usually a drizzle or barely noticeable but the ground is almost always wet. It does rain at times but we haven't had thunder to accompany it since this summer. It's been fun to see moss popping up on all the trees and I love that everything is always green.

Here's a picture of my curly boy because this post is much too text heavy. Happy February and here's hoping for a great month!!