Just The Two Of Us: Birthday/Valentine's Weekend

We are continuing to enjoy our lives here in Austin, Texas. Collin is loving his job at GM as a programmer. He has been working crazy hours lately, but continues to work hard at his job and does terrific. That is so typical of Collin to never quit until the job is done. He gets along great with his team and supervisor. I recently got a full-time nanny job working with an adorable, sweet baby boy. He is a very happy boy and makes my job easy. :) I really like the family that I work for. They have been so generous and kind to me. On my spare time, I do crafting with friends from my ward.

From one of our many craft days. :) I decided to make canvas involving melting crayons.

My flower bouquet creation.

We made Valentine's cookies for FHE in the beginning of February. I gave them to friends and girls that I visit teach. We made so much!!!

Here is how they looked decorated.

A family plaque we made to help us remember our family's birthdays.

It feels like the year 2016 is going by fast. I can't believe we are now in the month of February! It has been such a nice winter here in Texas. The weather has mostly been sunny in the upper 70's low 80's. I'm certainly not complaining about this spring-like weather, although I am hoping we get rain soon.

I was glad that the weather cooperated for us on my birthday/valentine's day weekend. We had the whole weekend to not only enjoy the nice weather, but also each other. :) My birthday is the day before Valentine's Day, so I guess you can say I get extra spoiled. ;) On the day before my birthday, I went to friend's house for a girl's day. One of my friends brought me a delicious, funfetti cake and later, the girls all sang happy birthday to me. I thought that it was so sweet and thoughtful of my friend Velvet to take the time to make a cake for me.

Since my birthday was on a Saturday this year, we had plenty of time to celebrate both my birthday and Valentine's Day. The day started off very low key. Collin told me that it was up to me on what I wanted to do throughout the day. I am a very indecisive person, but finally decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go sight-seeing in Downtown Austin. It was a little crowded due to Valentine's weekend, but overall a very good day in Downtown Austin. We took a walk down a park and relaxed by the Auditorium Shores. I decided to eat dinner at an Indian/Asian restaurant called Masala Wok. My favorite dish there is the butter masala so we both ordered that. After dinner, we headed back to our place. Collin said that he was going to make a "surprise dessert" and told me to wait in the bedroom for an hour as soon as we got home. I figured that's what he wanted to do for me and decided to go along with it. We came home to our apartment to find that it was festively decorated with balloons in the hallway and streamers on the ceiling. Since the decorations weren't there before we left, I wondered how they got there. Then "SURPRISE!" Our friends jumped up and shouted "Happy birthday!" Collin had arranged a surprise party for me. I could not believe it! I had a few hints here and there, but had no idea that the party was being planned. Here is the video of me being surprised:

I was glad that my friend Hailey recorded this moment. I was completely caught off guard! I had never been surprised like that. Ever.

Collin and my friends were being sneaky the whole time. ;) It was very well planned. After the surprise, we played some Just Dance and Fruit Ninja on our new XBox. We ate some ice cream cake that Collin ordered from Baskin Robbins. Now I know what he meant by "surprise dessert." :) It was truly the best birthday ever! I had always wanted to be surprised on my birthday and boy did I get a surprise.. Everyone did a great job in not only getting the party arranged, but for reaching out to make sure I had a happy birthday.

We made it to Valentine's Day the following Sunday. We went to church in the morning and enjoyed a nice lunch that the primary held for the teachers. It was super sweet. When we came home, I gave Collin his gift, complete with Mike and Ikes, apple cider, and a card. His gift was "The Sword in the Stone" Disney movie that we later watched together that evening. Collin made a shrimp pasta for our dinner, along with the apple cider I gave him. Dinner was special, but what is more special is the hands who prepared it. Collin has been such a good husband to me for the past few years. During my birthday weekend, he cleaned the house, gave me amazing gifts, and ended it with a sweet surprise. He's the sweetest and I am glad to him as my eternal Valentine. I look forward to more Valentine's adventures with him.