Project 52 Date #7

So as everyone has to do with crazy work schedules, you kinda have to adapt and overcome and be flexible, so this year for Valentine's Day we celebrated on the 15th! It was my night to plan and our paper from the jar of dates said to write love notes to each other. So I let JT know about the love note part but all the other stuff I wanted to do was up to me!

I kinda scoured the Internet for interesting, cheap and inventive Valentine's Ideas to make it special at home and came up with a few things that I have been planning. I took to all my craft supplies to make an interesting, semi creative love letter and actually had alot of fun with it. I also make valentine felt fortune cookies for each of us to write notes in during our dinner.

So yesterday afternoon I let JT know that we were getting take out from one of our favorite restaurants, Bistro de Asia, to pick out his favorite and write it down for me. I picked out a dress that he bought me YEARS ago from a friend of mine, set out all the accessories in a separate bathroom, so that we could get ready separately. I placed and picked up our order while JT bathed Jocelyn and put her to bed. I got out our nice dishes, served up the food (made it look less like take out), got some candles, wine glasses, flower and some other accessories to personalize the table. Oh and I found this questionnaire that JT and I took 4 years ago about what we wanted for dates and in our love life with our spouse, it was a nice little personalized touch from the past!

So all that was set up and ready to go, I got dressed and met Jonathan in the dining room, and boy did that man LOOK GOOD :) Okay I'm bias but he really did look great! So we sat down enjoyed our dinner, while talking about this questionnaire and what has changed in our opinions on dates over the past 4 years which was alot of fun! Then we started talking about our past valentines and pieced together all the things that we could remember from them ... and learn from them, LOL. Then we read our love letters.... I wanted to be able to read mine to him but I knew that I wouldn't make it through it, so I had him read it but there were some that he couldn't make it through either :) It was a really special time to read what we each though of each other and how much we loved each other.



Then came the homemade felt fortune cookies... we each had 6 and I supplied paper and pens and we had to put 6 things down and stuff them in our fortune cookie for the other to read! This was by far MY FAVORITE part of valentines. He did such a wonderful job writing down meaning things that he could do for me, such as teaching me how to cast a line (fishing), host a girls night at our house for me, etc etc And even though this was on the fly and he didn't have much time to think of things, he really knew what it was that would make my heart melt!

So Valentines Day this year was a huge hit and we had alot of fun. Oh and the best part (there were alot of good parts) was the jewelry he got me. it was from , where Haitians are making jewelry from cereal boxes. Even better is that a friend of mine in Corpus has been collecting these boxes so we have been a part of contributing to this cause. Mine were made by a young 15 year old boy, who lost his father in the earthquake, who is trying to learn a trade to help take care of him and his mother! Knowing that we are contributing to this great cause was an even better part then the present itself :) Good job babe!




So this year was Mia's turn for Valentine's and all I get is instructions to write a love note and to dress nice and be ready by 8. So I write my note(on a handmade card) and bust out the slacks and dress shoes and get ready for dinner. She asks me for my menu choice and then banishes me to the bedroom until she has everything ready. So finally she lets me out and I find the dining room decked to the nines! She's really gone all out and everything looks amazing. There's alot out on the table, dinner looks wonderful and there's some interesting things on the table that I don't recognize. We sit down to dinner with some quiet country music in the background. Dinner is amazing and we relive some old valentine's memories and go through some old lists we've made of things about us and where we were in life at that time. We finish our meal and now it's time for the love notes. Mia's is incredible. It's handmade and has little notes in envelopes all over it. The notes are very moving, she almost cries a couple times and so do I. My note isn't as extravagant or touching but I tried! We finish off dinner with some felt fortune cookie game that Mia made. Basically you write to the other person something that you'll do for them and then drop it in the fortune cookie. We've got 6 each to open. Opening them was alot of fun, we went back and forth opening them. I'm not gonna lie, I got some pretty good fortunes to cash in on! we talk about how this turned out to be possibly one of the best Valentine's ever and with that we called it a night.

Love is... the small things! (Week 7)

Love is… the small things.

When I was thinking about what I was going to do for this week’s love is, I realized that it was very close to Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day, to me, is about feeling loved. Whether you are married and being loved by your husband, or single and being loved by your amazing friends and family, everyone wants to feel loved that day. So I started thinking, who needs to feel loved THE MOST this Valentine’s day?? My heart led me straight to the Women’s Shelter. I don’t know a lot about the Women’s Shelter, but I do know it’s for victims of family violence and sexual assault. The thought of being in a women’s shelter around Valentine’s Day just breaks my heart. These women need to feel that someone out there loves them!!

My husband and I talked about it and we decided to get some goodie bags together for the women and children and deliver them the Saturday before Valentine’s Day. I spoke with several people from the shelter about how many women and children they usually have on a given weekend. I wanted to know what type of needs they were looking for or what would be sufficient Valentine’s Day “goodies.”

I headed to the store and bought ALL sorts of goodies. I got Valentine’s bags and filled them with body lotion, body spray, nail polish, and these cute eye masks. I also filled the bag with chocolate candy hearts. I got the kids these plush stuffed animals, sippy cups, and bath books. For the older kids I got them Spiderman and Princess Valentines. Last we bought 3 boxes of Valentine cookies for everyone to munch on. I know to us it might just be a bottle of nail polish or a few chocolates lying around…but to them, these small things could mean the world.


Saturday, February 12, the hubby, Marek, and I headed to the Women’s Shelter to deliver everything. Although I didn't get to see any of the women and children, or their faces as they opened their gifts, I know that they felt a little more loved that day.


I definitely think we will do this every Valentine’s Day, because everyone deserves to be loved!!
Regina

Project 52 Date #6

DATE #6

This week's date was a little off the beaten path so to speak. No ticket pulled from the jar, instead we had a double date out with some new friends.

Chance and Tarah Durbin are some new friends of ours that we've started getting to know better. Chance and I were in the academy together so we know each other fairly well but our wives are still getting acquainted so what better way to do that than a double date!

I thought some live entertainment would be nice so I did a little research and found out that Wednesday nights are open mic night at Executive Surf Club. The food there is good so I thought a little live music would be just the thing. And I would have been right if not for the Antarctica inspired cold front that rolled through town about noon and dropped the mercury into the 30's. Ah well, such is life. So we picked the Durbin's up around 6:30 and cruised downtown for dinner. As always the food was good and the company was even better. We had some great conversations over dinner about kids and how we met and Chance and I couldn't help but throw a couple funny work stories in too. After dinner we decided a little dessert was in order so we introduced them to two of our new favorites. Yup that's right TWO dessert places. First up, LollyCakes (right next to FiveGuys Burgers...yes blatant plug inserted here) for a couple mini-cupcakes. And then around the corner to Camille's for some hand-dipped ice cream goodness. They hadn't been to either place yet so it was cool to introduce them to something new. We had a good time getting to know them better and sharing a lot of laughs over a good meal and I'm sure we'll be doing it again sometime soon!

Mia Says: This was a fantastic out of the box date! I really appreciate that Jonathan planned the date, researched the date, planned a babysitter and all the little details. He did a great job and we had a FANTASTIC time with the Durbins! Great job honey, just wished we would have remembered to take a picture :)

Love is… giving second chances (Week 6)

Oh boy! This week’s Love is… was a BIG one for me. I feel this is something that God has put on my heart for quite some time. Why have I waited so long?? Maybe I’ve just been ignoring it?? Maybe I was just trying to put it off and put it off? Or maybe God’s perfect plan wanted me to wait for the perfect opportunity to present itself.

Once it was my turn to write about Love is… I still struggled with making this decision. Knowing that my decision would be final today, I didn’t get much sleep last night. I tossed and turned and honestly almost changed my mind. However, this morning I woke up and remembered that what I would be doing would help so many people…so why am I so scared? Finally, I told Satan to back off and as of Tuesday, February 08, 2011, I am officially an organ donor!!

Phew! Even writing that sends so many emotions through me! Why is that? I think it comes down to we as humans not wanting to think about death and what happens to our body, our family, and everything in between, once we are gone. It’s a scary thought, for me. However, knowing that I can give someone a second chance at life…why aren’t we all organ donors??

When I realized that I wanted to do this, I of course discussed it with my husband. I had to make sure he was okay with this, which he was. I then talked to my mom about it over dinner one night. Ever since I was little she always scared me about being an organ donor. She would say the doctors don’t work as hard to save you if they know you are a donor. I decided to take the opportunity to do some research and get all the facts in order to comfort her with my decision. I explained everything and she seemed okay with the idea. Maybe she will become one in the future.
Did you know:

*There is a critical shortage of organs, tissues and eyes available for donation. There are more than 96,000 patients in the United States awaiting transplantation—more than 7,000 are Texans.

*Every 13 minutes, a new name is added to the national transplant waiting list. Every day, 17 people die waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.

*The Glenda Dawson Donate Life – Texas Registry is the official state organ, tissue and eye donor registry.

I am currently at work writing this blog and I decided to take a break and get some tax stuff done. I couldn’t log into Air1.com and get my tax contributions for some reason, so I decided to call. I was speaking to a woman named Tammy and she helped me figure out what the problem was. Before we got off the phone she asked me if I had anything that I needed prayer for. I said, “um…well I became on organ donor today!” She got quiet all of a sudden and I began explaining how I came to this decision and how Satan tried to stop me and I started getting a little emotional. Then she said “Well, coming from a family that’s been through this, I just want to say thank you so much.” I was so emotional at this point that I didn’t know if I should ask her about her situation or just say bye? I ended up just saying thanks for the prayer and for the help. After I hung up I just felt so happy. That whole conversation was just a God thing…a true blessing. He was definitely working and it was the confirmation that I needed to know that this is what God wanted for me.
So how do you feel? Don’t you think everyone deserves a second chance?

Regina

Love is... showing it (Week 5)

First off, I just want to say that I am so excited to be a part of this amazing concept and alongside such
wonderful women. Already the “Love is…” for this year, and for what’s coming in February, has changed
my life. I can’t wait to see all the love we will spread and what this year has in store for all of us.

I am so very blessed to have two amazing women in my life. They would do ANYTHING for me. They
have always been there for me growing up, but I don’t think I ever really noticed how much they do
for me until I had my son, Marek. Anytime I need help with him, a last minute sitter, or just a mommy
break, I can count on them. I can honestly say that I would be lost without them in my life.

To my mom, Maria, and my sister, Rheanna…I love you both more than you will ever know.

I wanted to start my first week of love is by “showing” a big THANK YOU. Although we might say “thank
you” on a daily basis, how often do we really show it?

I really wanted to show my mom and sis how important they are to me. My mom has said on occasion
that she feels I don’t make enough “girl time” for her. She might be right. I have a full time job, a child
to care for, a 52-dates-a-year commitment to my spouse, amazing friends that I want to see all the time,
and of course ME time, right? As much as they do for me, why aren’t they on this list??

So I decided to set aside a day where it will be just me, mom and sis! Through tons of schedule
complications, and weather permitting, I figured out a perfect day and started to plan events. I sent the
girls an email the day before saying to be at my house by 4pm and to not eat!

4pm sharp they both showed up asking questions. I wouldn’t tell them anything, only to wait and
see. The first surprise…I had a Henna Tattoo artist come over to my house and she gave us all Henna
Tattoo’s! My mom and sis were so excited! I’ve never mentioned it to them, but they said they’ve
always wanted one! Woohoo! After the artist left, I told them we had to hurry and go! They thought I
meant me and Owen go somewhere and they stay and watch Marek!! Haha! Silly girls! This is your day!


Surprise TWO…we jumped in the car and headed to Hester’s! I told them about it on the way and
they were really excited to finally go there. They have never been and I knew it would be a perfect
place for them to try. Unfortunately it was closed. Not sure if it was due to weather, but I was pretty
disappointed. The girls didn’t seem to mind. I asked them where they wanted to go next and they said
Cracker Barrel, because now they were craving breakfast.

We had a great dinner and I explained what I was doing. How I appreciate them for everything…I
even got a little chocked up. Third surprise: after dinner we headed to Elite nails for pedicures!! I let
them pick out whatever they wanted. Mom just go color, but Rheanna got a French tip. She has a big
homecoming dance tomorrow, so it was perfect timing.

The next surprise…we headed to the movie theater. We got there pretty early so we just spent the

extra time enjoying each other’s company.

At the end of the night they seemed to have had a great time. They were surprised and excited with
everything. I hope they know how much I appreciate everything they do. Even though I say it all the
time, I think it was so important to really spoil them. I plan on setting aside a “date” every month for
just the three of us.

Is there someone you need to spoil???

Regina

Project 52 Date #5

Oh yah that's right, we had a BAKE OFF tonight
Mano y .... Womano :)


Our date tonight was to have a bake off, where we each baked something and had it "judged" and during the baking play Battle of The Sexes.
At first I was a little bummed about the start of our date.... JT baked during the day so that I would have full use of the oven, but that was part of the date... to bake together! A little discouraged I realized it was easier that way because JT could concentrate on playing the game with me while I took over the kitchen :)
He went for the traditional pineapple upside down cake while I went for a brand new never tried before and tweaked a little bit cupcake recipe! While I baked JT started the Battle of the Sexes game and we were both amazed at our knowledge level, we did pretty good I think!
After I finished baking, we took both desserts to our judge (my mom). She liked both of the presentations but was already leaning towards JT as the winner with a classic. After she sampled both of ours, I ending up winning but only by default. JT's dessert wasn't cooked all the way.

JT Looking nervous when the judging started

So we went back to the game, which seemed to go on forever because during the second half neither one of us could get one right but in the end I won, by a WILD card, that said congrats take your player to the finish line! So both of my wins were by defaults, but I'll take it. This was a great date and I had alot of fun! Thanks babe for being a good sport!

JT Says: Great date! But I'm not interested in talking about my baking issues(I almost won...dang you Betty Crocker!) or how I've lost yet another board game to my lovely wife. Just Kidding....sorta. Had alot of fun and baked up something I had never tried before. As for the board game, well, lets just say I've added another title to the long list of games I won't play with Mia cuz she always wins........

Love is.... picking up where someone else left off! (Week 4)

This blog I have been looking forward to writing all week!
Ever heard the term, "It take a village to raise a child" Well that is the way it is sometimes with my marriage. It takes a village to help it grow sometimes.

I have always been surrounded by amazing friends but the best ones are the ones that will call, email or text JT and say " Mia just said she would love to do this" or "Mia would really love it if you guys went to do this" etc etc. It's helps our marriage grow leaps and bounds I assure you! For example, one fantastic friend gave me a date jar, full of 80 dates that didn't include one movie or one TV show. It was all interactive time with my spouse in and out of my home. She also made one for herself but it was a little less fun because she wrote them all so she kinda had an idea of where the date was going as soon as it began.

So I called her husband (she knew I was calling him for something, but I told her not to ask!) and asked what his Valentines Day plan was. I knew that there was a specific date in the jar for the night but I asked if he wanted to add a little bit more to it to make it a little more special and also make it a surprise for her as well. So I told him about this craft idea I had, and all the other date night elements to go along with it (music, food, etc). I bought all the craft stuff (because I'm doing it for JT too) and have it all prepped and ready and he is coming over one day to have a craft day with me to prepare something special for his wife.


I know that I personally steal all my good ideas from other people, blogs, websites etc, so I figured I would pass it along this time to someone that probably didn't research Valentines ideas like I did. But I'm not stopping there. If anyone else wants to join in on this craft day, I have plenty supplies for everyone. I would love to have you over and help you plan something special and simple for your spouse or loved one! For those of you that live far away, I can tell you all about it and even mail you some of the stuff I have to make it simple for you. This is my Valentines Day Gift to you :)