What a Keeper!!

Valentine's Day.  A day where those in relationships either do something special in attempt to show their love for the other person or choose to claim it is a "dumb" holiday.  A day where single people either ignore it or claim to hate the holiday with a passion because they are jealous that they cannot fully participate.  While I have always claimed to not care (in a relationship or not), there has always been a secret desire to be swept off my feet romantically (a feeling I think most women have).  Well this year Heath truly went above and beyond!! 
Having heard him boast over his ability to be really romantic when he wanted to, I was curious if I would receive some of this romance or not.  In the days leading up to February 14th I realized I had not heard Heath mention anything.  So I casually reminded him that Sunday was in fact this coveted day of love.  To which he, in surprise, answered that he thought it was next week or something.  This led me to believe that he had forgotten and only had about 2-3 days to do anything.  I began preparing myself for nothing.  Valentine's day would just be another day in the year with nothing special about it at all.  I needed to work on not expecting anything, because expectations are where problems can arise.  I was trying to decide whether or not to do something for him or if that would just make him upset at not doing anything.  I had to work from 4-9 and since Heath had not asked me to get it off I just figured that I would be working with nothing out of the ordinary...
It all started on Saturday night =]  I got off work at 10 and was tired from a surprisingly busy day at the Motel 6 and knowing that I wouldn't get to see Heath until later the next day I was a little saddened.  I walked upstairs to my room and my door was slightly closed, knowing I had left it open I was a little confused.  I opened the door, turned on my light and almost burst into tears of joy! There was my room exactly how I had left it except all the clutter was gone, all the boxes of stuff we were trying to sell was gone, my floor space was cleared and vacuumed and my bed was made.  And to top it all off, sitting on my bed was a heart shaped box of chocolates with a heart balloon attached AND there was a beautiful single red rose in a pretty vase sitting on my nicely cleaned bedside table!!  I was stunned!  I had been complaining for awhile that my room was really messy but I simply didn't have any place to put all the junk.  And now it is all gone!  I just kept walking around my room looking at all the clean surfaces in awe.  I called Heath up to thank him and tell him just how special I felt when he said that that wasn't all!  That there was more to  come tomorrow.  Not knowing what he meant I put it away in my mind, trying to still not have any expectations for what else could be coming.  Let me tell you, I slept like a little kid on Christmas eve.  It took me forever to fall asleep because I was hyped up on surprise. 
Sunday (today), started off slow, went to church which was good and spent the day making Heath a homemade card and some homemade truffles.  Not knowing when exactly I would see Heath, just assuming he would come to work at some point, I tried again, to not have any expectations.  Around 6 Heath showed up with food in hand.  I figured he would just buy food to go and bring it in, but not Heath.  He went above and beyond and made scrumptious coconut shrimp and bacon-wrapped scallops with a side raspberry vinaigrette salad.  It was delicious!!  Again, I thought this was it!  I brought out my truffles and he tried one of each flavor (peppermint, coconut and plain chocolate) saying each one was good.  As I was preparing to settle in to the rest of the evening of work he asked me to close my eyes.  I immediately got really nervous and excited at not know what was next.  When I was allowed to open them there was a beautiful necklace laying  in front of me.    Pictured below =]

All  I  can say is that every other woman should be jealous of the fabulous boyfriend I have! Haha, kidding.
My advice about Valentine's Day is to have no expectations what so ever because then you will be blown away by anything he may or may not do.  If Heath had done nothing it wouldn't have changed my opinion of him or made me feel less loved.  But because he did do something I felt exceptionally special and cared about.  I love Heath and I look forward to each day that I get to tell him that.

Debt-Be-Gone!

As I get closer to finishing college forever I realize there are things I must face about "the real world" that I have ignored until now.  As Heath and I discussed our future together we came to realize that I have more debt than I realized.  I had to take out a loan to pay for college and now that I am close to being done I realize that I have to pay it off.  A loan is not free money, instead it will come back to bite you in the butt later on.  Sadly, in my naivety I didn't save a penny during college.  Not until Heath came along that is.  Now, my debt may seem small in comparison to those who had to take out loans for a private school, but the ways they affect me are still great.  Heath and I know that when we get married we will have bills to pay, bills that up until then our parents have graciously paid for.  So our goal is to pay off my debt before we get married.  As severe as that seemed to me at first, I now know the benefit of it.  With faith in God I have no doubt that we will be able to fully pay off my debt as fast as possible.  Already we have lowered it faster than I thought we would.  Heath has been so loving and kind in accepting my debt as his own and working with me to pay it off.  God has truly blessed me with someone who sees the value in not having outstanding debts and to be wise about the ways you spend your money.  These are all things that I just never gave much thought to. 
So far Heath and I have been utilizing craigslist.com to sell instruments, electronics and whatever else we can manage to find.  We have also been using half.com to sell old books, CD's, and DVD's to get a little profit that adds up quickly.  So my question for you is, do you have any special methods for making money quickly?  If so, I would love to hear some recommendations as I am constantly trying to save and make money where I can.  Both Heath and I work and every penny that isn't going towards expenses is going straight to my debt.  I am so blessed by Heath and it hurts my heart to know I am the one who is bringing the burden of debt into this relationship.  But the lessons I am learning and the knowledge I am gaining about Heath is something I am glad to learn now instead of later in life.  By dealing with these issues now we save ourselves the potential of pain and frustration in our future.  =]

"The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up"

I had a wonderful weekend. On Saturday I was able to get work off and go visit Heath's grandparents with his family for his grandpa's 75th birthday. We got there and Heath, his mom-Rhonda, and I all chatted with his Grandma while his dad-Darren and Grandpa were working on some stuff out in the shop. We then went to lunch at Mcgraths Fish House and had yummy seafood. Then afterward Heath, Grandma and I all played Scrabble and went for a refreshing walk. While driving home Heath and his parents and I all stopped to eat dinner at this wonderful Mexican restaurant, I was so full after!

Sunday my mom came down and went to church with us. The sermon was awesome. We went through a section of Psalm 119 and it was really powerful and full of impact. We then made a huge lunch of Coconut Chicken, Bread, and Cesar Salad. It was so scrumptious. Then my mom headed home and I went off to work.

Monday meant going back to school, I had to lead discussion for English 436; we're reading the book Middlemarch by George Eliot (female pen name). The book is great. We're wrapping up the book this Wednesday, and the ending was perfect (I read ahead). Then I had Writing 201 in which all the students came in and sat down and we're all sitting there until about 5 minutes after class should start when we realize there is a sign outside the door that says the class is cancelled today haha. If only I had noticed that beforehand I would have saved some time. Then I was able to have leftover coconut chicken with Heath for lunch before walking to my Anthropology 380 class - where we watched the first part of a war movie called "No Man's Land."

Today, Tuesday, I walked in early to meet Heath at the Library where we went over the reading for our English 206 and 203 class. Then we walked to English 206 where we were studying for the midterm we have on Thursday and took a quiz!! Now we're sitting in English 203, Shakespeare, where we also had a quiz and are now discussing Timon of Athens - a play I have never read or studied before.

Tonight Heath and I get to do laundry and then we're going to make dinner for our friend Christy. My mom gave me this awesome Stir Fry recipe and I'm going to attempt to make it for the first time - hope it tastes good!!

Heath and I started watching "The Day the Earth Stood Still" last night, and I must say the movie isn't very good. It's all about preaching how we are ruining the earth and the only way to save Earth is that if we change--but that humans never change. A bit far fetched and the directing/script/acting/cinematography isn't even good to begin with.