Valentine's Day is February 14th, but GALentine's Day is February 13. I love celebrating Gal-entine's Day. So many ladies never get a meal just provided for them. They usually (though not always) are in charge of breakfast, lunch, and dinner EVERY DAY. When we have a dinner for Relief Society, we usually have to help make it as well as make dinner for everyone at home. And if we splurge and eat out, we feel a little bad about not being more frugal. So, a few years ago, I decided to throw a Galentine's Day lunch. I just wanted to give the fabulous ladies in my neighborhood a chance to get together and hang out without it being a party where someone is trying to sell something and a meal that they didn't have to prepare anything for. One of my friends did come and help me put the final things together, but other than that, ladies just got to come.
I've realized over the years that while I LOVE hosting parties, I don't always like cooking all the cute/yummy things. I like planning it, but don't like cooking it. This year, Brian spoiled me by providing catering by Kneaders. I ordered in their Chunky Cinnamon French Toast and made a couple of breakfast casseroles to round it out. It was my favorite Galentine's so far!
I also let kids come (because I never want not having a babysitter be a reason they can't come); I just make it clear that they need to feed their kids beforehand. This makes it so that a) I don't have to cater anything to kids b)nobody has to worry about feeding their kids when other kids are around (kids are REALLY not good at eating when other kids are in the house c) we can all just worry about ourselves instead of having to get food on a plate and all cut-up for our littles before we get to our plate. It's been a winning strategy so far.
I wasn't very good about getting pictures of everyone this year, but I did get a few.
(Susan, Katie, Stephanie, Cami, and Brittany)
(Kelli and Serene)
The next day was, of course, Valentine's Day! Rachel made these awesome cards for everyone:
Nana and Papa sent cookies to us again! Yummy!
Rachel got to make a Valentine's box. This is only the second one I've been able to help create. Most moms in the neighborhood hate making Valentine's boxes, but I think it's really fun....probably because this is only my second time being able to do it. I imagine if I had to make 4 of these suckers every year, I'd hate it too...or not. This is kind of my jam. Here's what Rachel and I came up with. We glued the boxes together and spray-painted them. We used blue paper for the turret roofs and Rachel decorated the outside with stickers I got from my mom.
I spent a little time hugging Braxton on Valentine's Day. My dad gave him to me when I was a senior in high school for Valentine's Day. I had already packed all my stuffed animals into a box in preparation for heading to college, and I remember wondering, "What am I supposed to do with this?" (I've never been much of a stuffed animal kind of girl). I dragged him around with me like a toddler to show my dad how much I appreciated it. Well, turns out, this bear was the right circumference for a comfortable arm position, and I started using him like a body pillow when I slept at night. 17 years old and sleeping with a teddy for the first time! Braxton came with me to college, and I'd hug him when I got homesick. I almost cried when I had to leave him behind when I left to serve my mission. We were happily reunited just before Christmas in 2007, but when Brian and I got married, he said I couldn't sleep with Braxton anymore. It was a fair point, so I stopped. This Valentine's, I was really happy to grab a hug from Braxton again because it was the closest I could come to hugging Dad. I never got Valentine's flowers, candy, or gifts in high school or college---except from my dad. He always made sure his girls got something. Maybe there were years he missed, but I'll never forget that gesture. It's one of the reasons I like using Valentine's Day as an excuse to love on (rather cheesily) my kids.
We went out to eat for dinner, a departure from our traditional heart-shaped pink pancakes, but a welcome one. I kissed Gabe's entirely too kissable face and had to laugh at the marks my lipstick left behind.
I am truly blessed by the amount of love in my life. I'm surrounded by amazing people who bless me everyday.
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