Little charms.

I bought myself a little Valentine's present ... initials of my favorite peeps ... LoVe them!

Valentine's Day.

So ... Valentine's day came and went and it was quite possibly my best one EVER, which may sound a little odd since I don't really have a "special" Valentine to call my own. (You can gag if you need to.)  In fact, about a week or so before Valentine's day, I was out with one of my girlfriends and we were looking at cards.  She was looking for her husband and I was ... well, just looking.  I got a little emotional as I read some of the sweet sentiments on the cards and said to her, I wonder how many more Valentine's will pass before I have someone that I want to buy a card for.

But then the day arrived and I could NOT have been in a better mood.  Now that I work in an office environment with other people, I decided to make up little goody bags for the people I share space with.  I gave the girls a little hot pink cello bag filled with chocolates and stickers and I gave the guys a bag filled with candy and a car that said, "I think you're wheelie cool."  I felt like I was back in elementary school - SO excited to pass out my Valentine's!

My sisters, Spring and Courtney, had invited me to join them for lunch at a place in Provo called "Cubby's".  Apparently it is a h.a.p.p.e.n.i.n.g. joint!  My gosh, we had barely walked in and Spring was hugging one gal, waving to someone else, and smiling to a cutie in line who she also knew.  When we went to find our seats, Courtney disappeared and was off hugging a friend that she knew.  (Don't mind me ... I didn't know anyone.)

On the way down to Provo, I just felt giddy.  Like, stupid happy almost.  I had the Christian radio station on (that always evokes emotions anyway) and I just felt so blessed for all that I had in my life. I felt so fortunate to have so many wonderful friends that I loved and a great family that I loved, and kids that had been "my favorite and my best" Valentine's for so many years!!!  My eyes welled up a little bit ... I was filled to the brim with gratitude for the love that I had in my heart.

Valentine's Day is about love and that's what I was feeling overwhelmed with.

When I got home from the afternoon with my sisters, Haley and Sophie and I went up to Salt Lake to the Gateway mall.  There was a big event going on called "1 Billion Rising" that I wanted to attend.  I just love being with my girls.  I'll take any and all of them, any time I can!

And then to top off the day ... I stopped by my friend Vicki's house and she and her husband were making up a luscious dinner for a friend who had recently lost her husband.  We took it up to her house together and then afterwards, Vicki invited me to stay for dinner with them.  (Not the first time I've been a third wheel with the Browns.)  It was like dining in a fine restaurant.  I told John that his steaks are a close second to Ruth's Chris (which I'm pretty sure are the best steaks on the planet).  It was absolutely delicious and the end to a rather practically perfect day.

#happiestvalentinesdayever

LoVe day.

(Chloe as Cupid)

Happy Valentine's Day!
(eat lots of chocolate ... and enjoy!)

xoxo

Snow bunnies.

A friend of Sophie's needed to take pictures with film for a photography class.  

(imagine that)  

So Sophie, Josie and their friend, Maren 

came to play in the snow in our backyard.

When I looked out my kitchen window, 

and saw the smiles on their faces, 

I had to grab my camera too.

Love these girls.

This.

I saw this image on Pinterest and my eyes got really wide, seriously, they did.  I haven't seen anything like this before.  An old door hanging from a tree, creating a table for an outdoor meal. 

the chairs ... the dishes ... those flower boxes

It kind of blows my mind in a sweet, surreal, peaceful, I want that setting sort of way.  I wasn't even sure where to "place" my PIN on Pinterest so I put it on my LOVE this because I do ...

I LOVE this.

Babysitting.

A couple of weeks ago McCall asked if I would watch Logan and Libby for a few days.  I was happy to do it.  McCall and her sister-in-law Brandie were planning on driving down to San Diego to empty Brandie's storage unit and get everything moved into their townhouse before her husband came home from his deployment this month.

I can't even remember now if I ever got dressed that weekend.  There was lots and lots of lounging and laughing and loving.  And one of the things that I got the biggest kick out of was Libby's dressing up.  I think it was the second day they were over that Libby came downstairs with this get up on:  

I busted up! Of course, then when I tried to take her picture she wouldn't smile for me and got all 

mopey because I was following her around trying to take her picture.  I asked her where she got the clothes from and she said from Sophie's floor.  (Soooooo many choices laying on Sophie's floor!)  

I had also sorted the laundry, so there were piles on my bedroom floor as well and that little girl had a hey day putting on different things - all day long, and then every day after that.  I had to be sly to get a picture of her though, because she was just not havin' it.

Here are a few shots I managed to take with my not so great camera phone:

(yes, we watch a lot of shows and eat pretty much all day long too.)

Whenever Libby comes to visit now, she always goes upstairs to check out what clothes are laying on the floor for her to put on.  The last time we were tending, there wasn't any laundry on my floor so she opened up every one of my dresser drawers and pulled clothes out.  When I walked into my bedroom and saw it, I just smiled.  How could I possibly be upset when it is soooo much fun for her and brings us soooo many smiles?  (Not keen on her getting into my jewelry though ... we need to work on that.)

(I'm mildly obsessed with the first picture in the head-dress.  She's pretty stylin'.)