Will You Be My Valentine?
It's an understatement to say Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday. The reds, pinks and hearts galore, I eat it up. I anticipate the day with such a fervor that I can't even explain. Don't be fooled and think it's merely because I'm in a relationship, because it's not. Even as a single gal in high school I relished the 14th of February. I know so many people detest the day and chalk it up to being nothing more than a Hallmark holiday, but for me it was a proclamation of impending love. I may not have had it every year but I could appreciate it and those were fortunate enough. Plus, who doesn't love oversized teddy bears and balloons?! And I may or may not have a soft spot for the raspberry and orange creme chocolates. Shh!
This was my second Valentine's with Mike*. He's never been much of a curator for gifts. He's often left feeling flustered and stressed on getting me the "perfect" gift. I always assure him it's never about that, but he tries still. He woke up in the middle of the night to sneak out of bed and the house to go across town and acquire me a Valentine's goodie bag full of treats at 2am. Roses, trashy tabloids, candies from a story I told him about me being in 8th grade, and a Glee card to boot! I was tickled.
But that wasn't the best part. The best part was getting to spend every second with him today. Every single one. This of course is nothing out of the ordinary. I'm so fortunate to be able to spend almost every waking moment with him. I joked at the dinner table tonight that the only time Mike and I aren't together is when one of us is in the bathroom! Ha! (Well, and when he's in his weekly class!) But other than that, we're a pair. A duo. A team. With one comes the other.
I'm lucky enough to call him my best friend, my lover, my one and only, my business partner, my inspiration, my photographer, my voice of reason, my support system, and my number one fan. He's everything to me and for that reason I can safely say that everyday feels like Valentine's Day. He spoils me rotten and finds everything I lose (which is everything... seriously). He never raises his voice and he's patient and kind. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
Without risking being too mushy gushy or sickening, I'll simply say that everything I ever went through with my previous relationships and heartbreak has been worth it. I went through hell and back with my 3 year relationship before Mike and I never thought I'd ever love someone like that again but Mike swooped in at the perfect time and everything fell into place.
Last year we celebrated by renting a room at a mountain lodge in Gatlinburg. Nestled in the Smoky Mountains we dined on yummy food, went to the best aquarium (Ripley's. Yes, I like it more than the Georgia one!), went to too many jank tourist attractions, and ended it with a rushed trip to the ER to check me in for a camel bite (yes, that really happened). Oh, and we drove through a snow storm to get home! It was a whirlwind trip filled with so many tears (painful) and laughter (I mean... I did get bit by a camel! In the mountains! In Tennessee!)... We had toyed with the idea of returning. Instead we opted for a day-date, like we have almost every day. Errands and important stuff... productivity, lunch, fro-yo and enjoying each other's company.
Today made me realize that I don't need (or want) fancy candlelit dinners, rose petals, serenades or love poems. To be honest, those things make me so uncomfortable. I'm wary of showing public affection that is anything more than juvenile hand holding, but our little day-dates are perfect. To outsiders it would have appeared to be a day just like any other day, but that's the beauty of it... I get to celebrate it 365 days a year! And I get to share my love for Mike with thousands of people daily through this little blog, so thank you! Thank you for taking part in our Valentine's festivities and letting me ramble on about how fantastic he is!
Today was speckled with returns, sewing machine pickups, fabric shopping, applebees lunche, fro-yo on a bench downtown, random run-ins with people, activating a new phone and the wooden sky sing-a-longs. In a nutshell: it was perfect.
Mike - Thank you for being absolutely, indescribably perfect for me. Contrary to what I may claim, our silly bickering and nitpicking is one of my favorite qualities of our relationship. I can't imagine ever feeling this happy with anyone else.
I hope you all had a brilliant Valentine's! Whether you're single or spoken for, it's a day of love and laughter and sharing joy. Hug everyone around you, and then hug yourself, too! We should all be our own Valentine's!
PS: CLICK HERE if you'd like to read a recap of last year's adventures!
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Sweet story. every girl wishes they have what you have with mike. you two are the perfect pair!
ReplyDeletei love your red outfit :)
You look so pretty girl! Where did you get this dress?
ReplyDelete@Ohlittlebirdie: it's Forever 21! :) I'll hopefully have a full outfit post with it tomorrow!
ReplyDeletesuper cute! i love the colors and hearts too. your outfit is awesome too.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful and so heartwarming. I am so happy that you and Mike are happy--you two just fit. It's so nice to have someone who's there with you through it all. I wish you both happiness and love and laughter forever.
ReplyDeleteOh, and you look so cute. :)
Happy Valentine's Day!
Dear Kaelah,
ReplyDeleteI love you, but for the love of god, I's is not a word! Come on!
You would not write "This was I's first Valentine's Day." You would write "This was MY first..."
"Mike's and MY first Valentine's Day."
It just makes it really difficult to read blog posts when they don't even make grammatical sense.
I wore that same dress today except in blue!
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous: oh my goodness, you are just blowing things wayyy too far out of proportion, don't you think? so i say ONE thing wrong. heaven forbid! i think you'll be okay. you're not hurt are you? i never claimed to be a genius at composition. I went to art school for goodness sake. I think we'll all still get sleep at night. If one little thing such as that makes it SO hard for you to read my blog, feel free to unfollow and read someone else's. I can't even begin to entertain the idea that it's really that big of a deal. It's not to me, so it shouldn't be to you. Silly silly nonsense. (Really? So hard to read this entire post because I said ONE thing? Really?)
ReplyDeleteHeather: I blogged the blue one a couple of weeks ago! When I saw them both on the rack I knew I couldn't choose one over the other! They're so perfect! Especially for the price
I just have to say how stupid that Anon sounds. I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't give it any attention but I can't believe how stupid some people can be. I'm an English major and little grammatical things like that don't make it any harder for me to read anyone's blog. If we can read words without vowels and with the middle letters all shuffled around then I think we can withstand something as trivial as I versus My.
ReplyDeleteWith that being said, that picture of you two is precious. That frozen yogurt looks delicious, too. Happy Valentine's Day!
Unforunately my husband is in Mexico for this Valentine's Day. :( It's the second anniversary of when he proposed (I keep track of pretty much every anniversary... when we first met, when we first started dating, when he proposed and OF COURSE our wedding anniversary). I hope you had a sweet enough Valentine's Day for the both of us!! :)
ReplyDelete-April
P.S. You look epicly adorable.
@ April: I hope you get to celebrate with him soon! I like to keep up with all of those annis too so you're not alone! :P Thanks buttercup! <3
ReplyDeleteThis post is adorable!!
ReplyDeleteI love your blog :)
And I'm known to be a tyrant when it comes to grammar, but not to THAT extreme!
hahaa
Happy Valentine's Day!
I agree with Elizabeth! Perfect pair!
ReplyDelete<3 nearsightedowl.com
This is all so sweet... I really resonate with the philosophy of celebrating who and what you love every day of the year. :)
ReplyDeleteThat being said, this year also sounds more RELAXING than last year, which is good too!
All the best!
Gah! You guys are so cute! I love love love it! Seeing stories like yours just makes me happy! Happy Valentines Day!!
ReplyDelete--Ciara :)
I follow you on instagram my username is snowwhiteleigh :)
ReplyDeleteThis is lovely. I have the same with my boyfriend and feel so lucky. We go everywhere together and he is my best friend as much as he is my partner. I loved the bit where you said you spent every second together today and even though it's not out of the ordinary it was special.
ReplyDeleteHappy valentine's day to you both. I must admit I might have to go and read about the camel bite now :/
xxx
You two are the most adorable couple ever! You look so cute together! X
ReplyDeleteThat's amazing...you guys are wonderful together. :)
ReplyDeleteAwww you guys are the sweetest I'm glady you had a wonderful day together xoxo
ReplyDeleteYay for Mike! He sounds awesome. Mr G and I are exactly the same. We've been together for nine years, married for 2 and half. We sign off all our cards etc to other people as 'Team Gaston' - because that's what we are - a team - perfect xx
ReplyDeleteSo cute. My boyfriend and I had pretty much a normal day too - I just made him some heart shaped raspberry cookies as a little extra to thank him for being wonderful.
ReplyDeleteMiiiiighty jealous of your outfits, girl!
Aww! This was the sweetest post.. ever. Y'all are so the perfect couple! ♥
ReplyDeletexo.
so glad you guys had a good day. you looked amazing! and that ice cream does too :D
ReplyDeleteHey, glad to see how happy you and Mike are together! You definitely deserve each other! I agree that there's nothing better than getting to spend every day with your loved one and, fortunately, I can relate. I married my best friend a few months ago and couldn't be happier! Happy Valentine's Day!
ReplyDeleteI love Valentine's Day too! I'm with you--even before I had a special someone, I loved the excitement in the air and of course, the excuse to stand out in red (like I've ever needed an excuse, though).
ReplyDeleteYou're a very lucky gal! May this year bring many new memories and blessings to you and Mike!
Loved reading about your experience in Gatlinburg, by the way. I was there on a family vacation years ago...somehow I feel like I would enjoy the kitchiness more now.
Your little story was so lovely! Mike seems like an incredible boyfriend for you, and as someone who has been reading your blogs for a long time, I remember reading about all the crap you went through with a previous boyfriend, I'm really glad you've found someone amazing, because you're amazing and you both deserve to be so happy!
ReplyDeleteAWh this is so cute. Very lucky girly.
ReplyDeleteYou look gorgeous too (as always!).
xxxxx
Hey there! Following from "Be One of a Kind". Love that you are totally yourself!
ReplyDeleteMichelle
http://www.heartfeltbalancehandmadelife.blogspot.com
I love how you embrace Valentine's Day because I get bothered so much about how people tend to complain about it!! I think it is great that you got to spend all day long with Mike!
ReplyDelete