all you need is love

i think i'm the only person who actually looks forward to valentine's day. yes, it's a sappy holiday where stores make too much money off of stuffed animals, chocolates, and corny cards. but it also happens to be the day that tannon and i enjoyed our first date.

and because i think it's fun to do dorky things for tannon. my favorite was the year i made up little poems and sent him on a scavenger hunt through our 500 square-foot duplex.

and because it gives me something to look forward to during the long and dreary winter.

* * * * * *

the other day i came home from work to a package with my name beautifully written in red marker. inside was a little note from my darling caitlin {sis-in-law}. she had made me a valentine's banner. it meant so much to me, i almost cried.

and now? my house has a darling valentine banner hanging in my front room.

christmas 2010

i wasn't planning on doing a christmas post, but... here i am. i love spending christmas with just tannon. we missed our families, but christmas really is special with just our little family.

on christmas eve, we went to a movie {how do you know - lame!} and then we followed the movie with a romantic, cozy dinner at Olive Garden. once we stuffed ourselves into a food coma, we came home, snuggled up on our air mattress next to the tree in the family room and fell asleep to Christmas Vacation.

christmas morning, we woke up slowly

opened presents

{hudson got a new toy squirrel}

ate our very healthy breakfast, monkey bread.

and played a lot of rummikub.

we were supposed to end the night by going to our friends house for dinner, but instead my body decided it would be a good time to catch the flu. so, we spent the night on the couch watching LOST season 1.

i love lazy christmas's.

i'm still alive

we've been doing a lot of playing, running, and getting dirty. i love my boys.

and not just because it's thanksgiving

i am so grateful to live in this beautiful city

deep thought {but not by jack handy}

a co-worker said something to me the other day that i thought was just hysterical.

"you live a PBS life in an MTV world".

i'll take that as a compliment.

the letter

it all started on thanksgiving day, in 2005.

well, it didn't all start then, but thanksgiving 2005 brought some pretty powerful & juicy details that marked the beginning of tannon & i making our commitment to eachother.

* * * * * * * *

tannon and i met and started dating in january of 2003. we had some great times dating, but we also had our rough patches. fast forward 2.5 years - our relationship was going backwards. we i decided to end things.

we dated other people and went our separate ways.

in november 2005, tannon gave me a very unexpected letter. i can't recall exactly what day he gave it to me, but he made me promise not to open it until thanksgiving day. it's virtually impossible for me to break a promise, so those x amount of days generated much anticipation.

my family always spent thanksgiving in st. george. i was very much enjoying family time and the warm temperatures southern utah offers. without a doubt, this unopened letter was gnawing at me in the back of my mind. i had to prepare, mentally, to read it. i was still in love with tannon, but "knew" it couldn't work out between us.

thanksgiving morning finally came and i locked myself in my room. i breathlessly tore open the evelope that enclosed the most beautifully, poetic letter i have ever read. i read it over and over and over. all of the words i so badly wanted to hear from him were right in front of me.

i had changed. he had changed. and they were changes that needed to happen.

i am so grateful for that letter.

the capitol

it was one of those weekends.

you know, the ones where you have so much fun that going back to work seems excruciating.

we took a mini road trip.

ans stayed with some fun people.

we didn't do much "downtown" tourist-y stuff because jon stewart's rally to restore sanity was taking place. and dc was packed.

we did, however, visit great falls & georgetown.

it was in georgetown that we made a decision that would forever change my life.

we visited georgetown cupcake. this place is insane. we went there two days in a row, just so i could stand in their out-the-door-and-up-the-street-line and enjoy their freshly baked cupcakes. their salted caramel is the one i want to eat every day for the rest of my life. the red velvet, milk chocolate birthday, and pumpkin spice are also to die for. i love cupcakes way, way too much.