My Furry Valentines

We spent months talking about whether or not we should add another (furry) member to our family. I was afraid that it would be too expensive, too much work, and not enough love. How wrong I was. Love can only be multiplied, not divided.

I can't imagine not having a family of four now. My boys - all three - are my favorite "people" in the whole world. They make me smile and laugh every day and I love sharing my life with my silly family/coworkers.

A long time ago, probably when I was a freshman in high school and just starting to crush on boys, my mom warned me against falling in love with anyone who didn't love cats. Whatever, mom, I know I thought, it's just high school. I brushed her off, thinking she was crazy and ridiculous...and then fell head over heals in love only a year later with someone who quite possibly loves cats more than I do and ultimately spending the rest of my life with him. I guess I lucked out. Seeing how he loves on our furry children (see exhibit A above) brings me so much joy and is one of my favorite things about my husband. I guess my mom might have known what she was talking about. Okay fine, I'll say it...you were right, Mom.

Happy Valentine's day to the three loves of my life...and let's keep having the family snuggles. I like them a lot :0).

A DIY Valentine's Day

Ben and I are homebodies. Perfect date night is staying in with carryout and snuggling up to watch a movie with the furry children. But...sometimes, a special occasion calls for a little more thought and whimsy. With Valentine's day coming up, I wanted to reimagine what a romantic night in could look like...

A throwback to childhood, indoor camping with candlelight music.

Twinkling lights for when the dreary clouds obscure the stars.

The warmest, richest drink after days of gray and snow.

Swirls of cream cheese frosting atop decadent red cake.

And a toast of something bubbly to enjoy amongst the softest blankets and pillows.

A love note...accented with sparkles.

And a cat curled up, ready to join in the snuggle party. (For the record, he performed a very stealthy photo bomb here...had no idea he was even in the picture, until I looked at it on the back of the camera. But that's just Aslan, always looking for his next photo op :0)

Welcome to February and have a happy weekend!

Benanna Pancakes

I'm sorry I didn't get you anything for Valentine's Day, he said to me before leaving for work this morning.

What are you talking about, I replied. You took me out to dinner on Sunday night. I'm the one who didn't get you anything. I made you banana pancakes...I trailed off.

Because the truth of the matter is that I made him banana pancake batter. He turned it into banana pancakes.

And that, right there, is why I know he is my better half. And why Ben + Anna is better as Benanna. Because we finish each other's banana pancakes.

After almost nine years together, Valentine's day is no longer about roses and chocolates and mix CDs (although I have a great one of those from our first Valentine's day together - and it is timeless). My fifteen-year-old self would be horrified that we let those things go these days. Because that self thought that love and romance was all about chocolate and roses.

These days, I'm grateful for every moment that we get to spend together. Our life is not glamorous. It is not filled with champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries. We do not make time for extravagant romantic dinners or dress up to go out on Saturday evenings. Our love story is written in grocery shopping dates and snuggles in sweatpants on the sofa as we laugh together at our favorite shows or the antics of Aslan (while we give voice to his thoughts) on a Friday night. It sparkles with random kisses, welcome home hugs every day, kitchen conversations, and cheering each other through the joys and challenges of being a twenty-something. Knowing that my best friend has my back and feeling proud to have his gives me a bigger thrill than 100 bars of 85% dark chocolate.

And those are the things that I remember fondly on Valentine's day, but would rather celebrate every. single. day of the rest of the year.