My Birthday and Valentine's Day!!

Chad has it rough . . . my birthday was on Feb. 13th and then Valentines the next day. But let me tell you that he did great! He started out the week by getting me tulips so I could enjoy them all week. He even got me some for the office and some to keep at home, how thoughtful. He made me breakfast when I got up and then gave me his sweet card and the two books he got me.

Then we went into the living room to look at my new elliptical! I asked all the family to give me money instead of gifts and we pooled it all together to start up Club Gilbert!! I have really been wanting to get in shape, but I can't run (bad knees) and walking isn't enough of a workout, and the nearest gym is 20 minutes away. My elliptical was the answer (although it stinks that I can't use the weather as an excuse not to work out anymore). We've had it a few weeks and I really like it.

My friends at the office made me a birthday sign, a birthday cake and they all sang to me. After work, Chad and I jumped in the car because we had reservations for dinner at 5:30. I love surprises so I had no idea where we were going. I was so excited when we pulled up to The Melting Pot!! It is a fondue restaurant and so much fun. We got a four course meal(cheese fondue, salad, lots of meat and veggies to cook, and chocolate fondue for dessert), which we cooked ourselves. It was romantic, yummy and we were there for 3 hours . . . I love long dinners! When we got back to the apartments, we went to Matt and Jacque's place and they had thrown me a surprise party with more cake! What a great day!

Because of my birthday being on the 13th, Chad and I don't get each other prizes for Valentine's Day. We usually try to do something creative and inexpensive. We went to church and ate dinner there, but after church I had a surprise for Chad. I was planning on taking him to Barnes and Noble for a little game I planned, but realized on the way that we were about to get caught in a Mardi Gras parade. There were police everywhere and half the streets were closed. So after driving all over the place I finally decided to nix the B&N idea and try it at Target. It ended up great doing it at Target.

Chad and I each had 5 cards and a buggy. We each had to go through the store and pick out 5 items that reminded us of the other or stood for a characteristic that we loved about the other. Then we wrote on the cards why we picked these items and what we love about each other. After 30 minutes, we met in the lawn and garden section and showed each other the stuff we picked out. We gave each other the cards so we can keep them to remember this Valentine's Day. It was cheesy, but it ended up being really fun and a neat way to say "I love you" to each other.

These are the things that Chad picked out for me.

These are the things I picked out for Chad.