Valentines Day and Surprises...

...but not Valentines surprises.

I guess the very nature of a surprise is the unexpectedness. 
The funny thing about a surprise is it can be met with widely varying reactions.  Surprises like many received yesterday for Valentines, those involving flowers, sweet notes, and chocolate, are met with a flood of happy emotion.  This emotion usually results in big smiles, hugs, kisses, and even happy tears.  On the other hand, surprises like the one I just received, those involving things not being where you would expect them to be, are met with overflowing terror.  So imagine my surprise terror upon finding a LIZARD under my desk on the power converter of my laptop.  This terror manifested itself in the form of multiple loud shreks, a mad dash to the other side of the apartment, and a breathless phone call to my husband, who is away studying, to come home and capture the beast.   He may have had to remind me to breath and I may have told him I was about to wet my pants.  Thankfully, my Valentine and knight in shining armor came quickly to the rescue and lured the beast into his trap. 

So in addition to all the mushy, gushy reasons I love my valentine, I'm now adding beast catching abilities to the list.  I'll just forget the part about him worrying over the lizards ability to breath once contained.  The fact that he only mildly chuckled at me on the phone makes him pretty much the husband of the century.  He so could have rubbed this in my face.  Instead we took a picture and released the creature back into its natural and rightful habitat.

In other news, we had a laid back Valentine's Day.  I wasn't feeling like making a big deal of the Hallmark holiday this year.  Plus, we go to NO this week, so 1. Will has hardly been home and 2. I'm holding out for a dessert at Sucre.  Yesterday morning Will lit a candle and left a sweet note for me to wake up to.  Saturday I cooked a nice meal (new recipe coming soon) that we were able to enjoy together between study sessions. 

Today, the 15th, is actually the a more meaninful day in our relationship.  It was five years ago today that I first told will that I loved him.  We call it "Jamie Loves Will Day". 

Back down memory lane....

Will had already told me that he loved me, but at the time I wasn't quite ready to say those words.  Will encouraged me to wait until I was ready.  That I did.  It only took me 4 months.  Will was exceedingly patient and only asked me about it once during this time.  When I decided it was time to tell him I wanted to make it special.  I think I may have even waited a little longer so I could tell him on Valentine's.  In true Will and Jamie fashion we decided that year that we would make our gifts to each other. 

As I recall we weren't able to spend the actual day together that year because I was having to study for a big exam.  Even though we weren't able to be together that night Will went out of his way to have a friend deliver a box of chocolates and a single red rose to my dorm room.  He cheated slightly on that one, but I wasn't going to say anything. 

The next night we celebrated together at Will's parents' house.  We started the night with a meal of homemade spaghetti and watched the always romantic Disney's Lady and the Tramp.  For Will's gift to me he made a magnet consisting of a red construction paper heart layered with a white doily and a teddy bear sticker.  He's not the most crafty.  But who cares, because then he played and sung a song he had written just for me. 

Sigh...I'm married to a song writer.  He writes songs about me.

Sorry, back from la-la land.

When it was my turn I started off by giving him a crossword puzzle I had made with clues that were personal to our relationship (places we had been, things we had done together).  Crosswords had become significant to us.  We worked one together almost everyday in college when we met up for lunch in the Tiger Den.

I also made him a box of filled chocolates.  Lastly, was a jar of little notes about what I liked about him.  With the jar were a couple of special wooden hearts.  After having him read each one I told him there was one more.  I had something up my sleeve, literally.  I pulled out the last heart and told him that "like" wasn't a big enough word anymore (that's what he had told me).  I handed him the heart and on it was written "I love you".  He was so surprised, in the happy emotional way.  It was a very special moment. 

We have only grown in our love for each other since.  That growth is what causes my valentine to drop everything he is doing and come running at my beckon scream. 

Happy Jamie Loves Will Day, babe.  You're my favorite.


Love always,

Your girl