For my Aunt Brigitte :)

So I'm a little high maintenance, it seems. It is my first Valentine's Day as a married woman, and I wanted a little romance. Is that too much to ask?

Here's how it started. At church last week, our Pastor gave a "Husbands, love your wives" kind of sermon. It was actually super great, and Micah even took notes. He's so cute. I tried to do really good and NOT point out the parts Micah especially needed to listen to. But the pastor said something that was kind of bothering me already, so I mentioned it to Micah. He said that husbands need to take control and continue to DATE their wives. Women love it when men take the initiative to suggest and plan a whole date. Saying "wanna grab something for dinner tonight?" does NOT count. No, I mean like a REAL date, with dinner and maybe a movie or dancing or driving through a pretty neighborhood and looking at the houses. And I don't want to play ANY role in the planning of it. Surprise me. So I mentioned this to Micah, and he said, "Don't worry, babe. I promise I heard that part."

How would you have interpreted that last statement? I took it to mean that Micah would take me on a date sometime soon. So when the next weekend came and went without a date, I was a little disappointed. But I figured that since Valentine's Day was coming, Micah might do it then.
Well Micah hadn't made any plans for Valentine's Day. None at all. I KNOW Valentine's Day is a complete fabrication and it shouldn't be a big deal, because you should express your love and appreciation every day of the year, but I can't help it. I love love. And I love Valentine's Day. I just do. Micah has known that since the day he met me. So by Monday, I realized that if I wanted a date on Valentine's Day, hints were NOT going to work. So I straight up asked Micah what we were doing. He, of course, said he didn't know but that he'd try to make reservations for dinner the next day. Well of COURSE there are no more reservations anywhere good during the actual dinner window. So Micah called to tell me that, and I just got disappointed. He asked if he could cook for me on Saturday, which theoretically sounds romantic, right? But in reality, it's not like I'm going to sit on my butt and watch him cook. I'd probably end up cooking most of it, and then feeling like I needed to do the dishes, too. So anyway, I kind of got all girly and we hung up, and then I realized I was being all girly and called back to apologize. He's already buying me a present, and a nice dinner at home IS actually a sweet gesture, even if I DO end up doing the dishes.

So our first Valentine's Day, we're staying at home and cooking steak with herbs, bacon and garlic mashed potatoes, creamed spinach stuffed tomatoes, and berries with chocolate ganache (a la Rachael Ray). And my husband IS very wonderful. He just forgets sometimes that he married a hopeless romantic that needs a grand gesture every now and then. :)