Valentine’s Day

I love Valentine’s Day.  I Always have.  I imagine I always will.  I don’t think I have ever been on the “I hate Valentine’s” bandwagon.  I refer to it as a bandwagon because odds are- when you’re head over heels in love with someone- you’re not going to get annoyed with the sappy, romantic antics of V Day.

I think I love Valentine’s so much because I’ve always had a person male in my life to make it special; whether that be a boyfriend, best friend, father or dog.  Yes, I said dog.  Copper is one of the most important males in my life so of course he counts.

I have a few special Valentine’s memories…

When I was 14 my dad gave me the cutest stuffed bear for Valentine’s.  Copper would later tear a hole in the foot.  And my grandma would eventually sew it back together for me.  Here is said bear several years later:

Later, in college, Dad sent me flowers on Valentine’s. I specifically remember we had a snow day during my junior year of college.  My roommates were off doing who knows what and I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard the door bell ring at the apartment.  Who would venture out in the storm? It was the delivery man – he had a gorgeous bouquet of red roses.  I assumed they were from my boyfriend at the time, but no, those came a day later! Much to my surprise and excitement, they were from my dad!  His flowers made it through the blizzard.

This year, and every year I can remember, my grandparent’s sent me a Valentine’s card with a special note & surprise inside. Yesterday, I opened an envelope:

While I know it’s important to celebrate the love year round… I value Valentine’s day because it gives me the desire to sit on the floor for two hours and write sweet notes on miniature cards… and then bag them up with M&M’s and Reese’s so that Andrew has several individual bags of his favorite candy with reminders of how much he means to me included inside.  I’m probably not going to have that desire, nor will I fill that dorky, year round.

I love the pink, the red, the hearts, the flowers. I love the conversation hearts – even the ones that now have sayings that I’m almost too old to understand .  I love the cheesy cards and the over-played diamond commercials.  I love the feeling of love all around and the reminder Valentine’s day serves to men, who need it much more than women, to show their girlfriend/wife/daughter/sister/best friend how much they value her – just in case they forgot to tell her the other 364 days of the year.

Happy Valentine’s Day Friends, Family & Fellow Bloggers <3

Snow and more snow

I am not sure if you watched the news over the weekend and saw footage of the snow storm that hit Denver and surrounding areas, but if not, I can give you a quick summary.  It was the largest snowstorm for the month of February in Denver’s HISTORY.  The total snow measured in Denver was 15.9 inches, but locally people were reporting higher snow totals.  Snow drifts in my area (downtown Denver) were up to 3feet.  Ridiculous. Thank God I got a snow day from work on the Friday it all hit.  The snow started on Thursday night around 9:30pm and continued until Saturday morning at 10am.  Friday was a snow day for most of the region.

I took some pictures though they don’t really do the storm justice! (All pictures taken via IPhone4 Camera+)

My parking lot…. and Copper’s back

Sidewalk

So glad I have garage parking!

Copper trekking

I built a little snowman on my balcony! Overlooking downtown

And finally, my little Shiba Inu enjoying the Denver snow

While I love taking pictures in the snow and I enjoy getting a snow day (but not the stress that comes bwhile waiting to find out whether or not I will have a snow day!) — the aftermath of a large scale snow storm is terrible.  Freezing days, icy roads, ice build up that lasts for days, dirty cars for days (or weeks), and dirty, dirty streets do not make for a beautiful city.

I am definitely ready to go back to Denver’s mild winter temperatures, sunny days and dry spells.

2012… so far!

Since I’m terrible at updating regularly I thought I’d post some pictures and a quick summary for those of you who are not on Facebook.

Over the weekend Andrew and I went horseback riding with his parents.  The weather was warm, the snow was melting and we had a great time!I love to ride and it had been years since I’d been able to. What a treat! We had so much fun.

As for the update… I have a bunch of news!

I’m finally applying to nursing schools.  I’m applying to 5 different schools.  Two in Colorado, one in Wyoming, one in California and one in Massachusetts.  I should have decisions from 4/5 of them by mid-March.

I am also a new employee of a hospital here in Denver! Well, south of Denver.  I will be working as a UC/CNA in the Intensive Care Unit.  I’ll be working nights so that will be interesting and quite a transition.  I will still work with the kids 4 days a week… or three… depending on how the transition goes.

I’m running again.  Or trying to! I’ve been sick for a couple of weeks but was finally able to get back to the gym yesterday and ran 2 miles.  Today, I ran again and then did the bike.  It felt great! I can’t wait to get back to running higher mileage

 Finally, the best & last bit of news… Andrew and I are back together   And I feel happier than I’ve been in a long, long time.  I’m constantly thanking God for helping to restore our relationship.  We’re now working towards a healthy, happy, loving 2012!