And that's how it's done.

Up until recently, I always told juC that I am a woman that needs to be wooed. Even though we are married, I still want the wooing to continue. No matter how much I tried to explain how he could do it, I realized that I just needed to show him by example. So back in January when we decided to go down to S.C. in February, I put a plan in motion.

The plan: to have a romantic overnight date in Charleston with juC with out him having any idea.

For Valentine's Day I gave him a card saying that "due to circumstances beyond my control", he wouldn't be getting his present, but he'd get it at a later date. He assumed that the "circumstances beyond my control" was all the snow we'd gotten that made it very difficult for me to get to the store to buy something. He didn't know that the "circumstances beyond my control" was actually the fact that we weren't going to be in S.C. until later in the month.

I talked to my mom and sister, and they agreed to watch little JT. This would be the first time we'd be leaving him overnight.

My sister-in-law was kind enough to get us a room at the hotel she used to work at. I made reservations at a fancy restaurant in downtown Charleston. I plotted and planned. I wanted him to have no idea we were going overnight until we were already gone on our date. I packed a bag of clothes, toothbrushes, contact solution, and other things and managed to get it hidden in the car with out him having a clue.

So last Saturday we left for our "day date" to Charleston. For all juC knew, we'd be back at my parents house by 6. While we were eating lunch, I gave him a card informing him of my devious plan. I was going to wait until later in the date, but I was just too excited to keep it a secret any longer. He was most definitely surprised!

After lunch, we went shopping. (Every good, romantic date involves shopping.) Then we went to our hotel to get gussied up. We went to downtown Charleston and swung on the big swings at Waterfront Park.

Then we walked around downtown and checked out all of the old buildings and churches. (My favorite part of downtown Charleston)My feet were sufficiently hurting by this point, since I made the mistake of wearing high heeled boots, so it was a good thing it was time for dinner at this place.The food was AMAZING, and the massive creme brulee I got for dessert was even more AMAZING. And the fact that I ate it all by myself was even more AMAZING!

We definitely enjoyed the time to ourselves and getting a good nights sleep with out having to worry if we heard the baby crying. Little JT enjoyed his time with out us too, I think. I just wish that when juC and I got home the next day that little JT didn't run straight past me to his daddy. I guess we know who he loves more.

And now juC knows how wooing is done.

busy bee

there are a few things that have begun to occupy my time these days.

there is of course the obvious, that occupies a good majority of my time. whoever thinks that being a stay at home mom is easy has obviously never been a stay at home mom.

the next thing that's been occupying a lot of my time is my new hobby.my friend megan taught me how to crochet. a craft i never expected to take up. it's addicting. and my plan is to make a throw to spice up our living room with some color. unfortunately i did a couple of rows before realizing i was making a mistake. luckily i dont plan on entering it into any crocheting competitions, nor do i plan on having a master crochet-er inspect it, so it's going to stay as is.

and the other time occupier as of today is a book. yes, after a very long book sabbatical, i'm reading "a girl named zippy". only because someone actually thought i was cool enough to invite me to join their newly formed book club.

i'm only on page 20 and i'm hooked! truth be told i was hooked by page 7.


something that's been occupying my time that i still can't believe is the gym.

never did i want to join a gym. never. in fact when people talked about joining a gym, or their gym membership, i'd say never. but then i had a baby. and i needed the gym. not just for my body, but for my sanity. and i'm not going to lie to you, i'm glad i did. and once again i've learned to "never say never."


and the last but most definitely not least occupier of my time (aside from the obvious laundry, cleaning*, beautifying of self) is of course my dear sweet husband.

(too lazy to flip picture)

when i think back to all of the guys i dated, i think about how lucky i am that he's the one that i married! he makes things fun. he makes things entertaining. (except when he treats me like he's my older brother) he treats me so well and when he occupies my time he does his best to make it fun for the both of us.

the end-ish.

*even though my house isn't technically "clean" i do clean on occasion.

-ed

i love my husband clean shave-ed.

i love my husband (creepy) beard-ed.

i love my husband weird sideburn-ed.

but i'll tell you what... i'm really loving him right now goatee-ed.

you can't tell me he doesn't look good. you can try...but i won't believe you.

today, for valentines day, he got me some lotions (is he saying i'm ashy and smell bad?) and was so thoughtful to get me ones that weren't too strong (i'm a picky smeller, ya know). then he took me for a drive. (i LOVE drives!) and we ate at cracker barrel. (seriously people, some good ol' comfort food). and i reminded him that just 3 short years ago, he broke up with me right before valentines day, so he didn't have to do anything for me. (he loves when i bring up the past "bad" stuff)

it was a fabulous valentines day with my sweethearts. (i can't forget little j.t. too!)

Christmas comes this time each year

(which happens to be my most disliked line from a Christmas song)

this time of year means one thing (among all of the important things). shad asking me what i want for Christmas but not being willing to get it for me. i say, if you don't plan to get what i want, don't ask.

but i digress.

while shad and i were dating, i often spoke of my love for animals, and more specifically for cats. i've always been a cat lover, from a very young age. just ask my mom. and the whole time i lived at home growing up, i had a cat...or two. that's just how i rolled.

shad however, was not a cat lover. and often spoke of that. so when things got more serious between us, we would often "fight" (we've never officially fought) about whether or not we'd have a cat in our marriage. i, of course, said YES we will. while he emphatically said NO we won't.


that is, until one fateful night, shad walked me to my car. and there, standing beside my car, undearneath the glow of the moon, he lovingly told me "you can have a cat when we are married." "promise?" i asked. "yes, i promise." he replied. i was sold. i'd marry him!!


fast forward to a couple nights ago. when he asked me the yearly "what do you want for Christmas" question. i responded...."a cat." to which he responded "no, we are not getting a cat." to which i responded "yes we are." to which he responded "no, we are not." to which i responded "you promised." to which he responded "no."


and last night, shad again asked me what i wanted for Christmas.


i declare, boys will say anything to get you to marry them!!

wmd and date night

as you all may know by now (and if not you can read HERE) LoW and i are in the midst of a civil war. so in an effort to keep her off of my land (ie. blog) i'm bringing out the big guns. LoW hates when people post pictures of feet. so i've gone one up and posted a whole video of feet. that should keep her away for awhile.

now that that's taken care of...

the plan: secretly find a babysitter for little j.t. so i could take shad on a date with just the two of us.

the problem: my friend who offered to do the job got sick.

the solution: my nice cousin, chris, was completely willing (thank goodness!)

i told shad not to make plans saturday night. (not that he would have any other plans.) we left the house with little j.t. and drove over to my cousins house. along the way he was asking if we were going somewhere that he had to be social (heaven forbid) or if we were going out with my cousins. so i dropped off little j.t. at my cousins house and we were on our way. but my mind was full of thoughts.

"what if he starts crying and crying and is so upset and there's no one familiar around to comfort him and he won't stop crying. and then he won't eat and then he keeps on crying and is inconsolable and chris is miserable the whole time?!?!" what if? what if? what if?

he was completely fine the whole time. in fact, he didn't even miss us!!

and shad and i were able to "enjoy" our fuddruckers. (the place i refuse to go any other time because i don't like their food and that is still the way i feel) and we were able to do it with no fussy baby who we'd have to keep putting a pacifier in his mouth. and we didnt have to eat as fast as possible. in fact we were able to just sit there after we were done eating.

it was great. i've mentioned before that my parents instilled in me the importance of still dating after you are married...and i believe in that now more than ever!