Romantic Valentine’s Day, A Couple of Trips and Surprises!

WOW! It’s been a long time since I’ve been here! As always, I’ve been very busy but…I think things are going to pick up a little with my ability to blog!
I got a new laptop!!!

I’m sooo excited!!!

I spent a little more money than I had intended, but I got absolutely everything I could need. I convinced myself that I deserve it because the last time I bought a laptop was 10 years ago and I’ve been suffering with it all this time. I was good…so I was good to myself.

Now, when J wants to play video games and I want to be online, I can still be with him. Before this, I would be reading or something else because I absolutely hated being in the computer room alone and I hated using my laptop to TRY to connect to the internet.

Best of both worlds!

I still won’t be on nightly because he and I spend a lot of time actually together doing things but sometimes, it will just work out and make sense.

That makes me happy!

Okay…so what’s been going on with me?

Valentine’s Day was AWESOME!!

J and I have never celebrated Valentine’s Day. No cards or flowers or even dinner. Maybe a “Happy Valentine’s Day” text or saying it before work or something but never made it anything special. So this year, I was expecting more of the same.

Early on in our relationship, it would bother me that we didn’t make it a special day and I was a touch jealous of the other women I know who were having all kinds of romance and my day was “just another day”. I got used to it though and soon just let the expectations go out the window so there was no disappointment.

(I made myself feel a little better in the early stages by reminding myself that HE wasn’t getting to experience ME in a hot little nighty either…it’s not just the women who benefit from this particular day.)

This year, the “big day” started out like any other. A “Happy Valentine’s Day” and a kiss goodbye before heading off to work.

I had to work a little late and thought nothing of it because, as I said, in my mind, this had become “just another day”.

When I got home, he asked if I wanted to go out with him. We left and instead of going to the bar where we normally hang out, we went to a really nice wine bar that I LOVE, he ordered a yummy dinner and a WAY too expensive bottle of wine saying “It’s a special day. Let’s treat ourselves.”

That was the first experience I had ever had with him referring to Valentine’s Day as “special”.

I smiled all night while we drank the wine, laughed and talked and really just enjoyed each other’s company. It was beautiful, romantic, unexpected and AMAZING!!

We’ve done other things since I last posted too….

A FUN trip to Colorado for some snowboarding, hot tubs and fire places…complete with wine, sushi dinners and good friends.

Last weekend we went to Arizona where I met some of his friends and connected with friends of my own who I haven’t seen in YEARS.

One night in AZ, he was busy with work stuff so I decided to take myself out for a nice (really nice) dinner and I would meet him later. He finished up early and met me at the restaurant but he had already eaten so I offered to buy him a glass of wine while he watched me devour some amazing (and I do mean amazing…I’m going to try to make it) salmon. He took me up on that offer and we, again, just enjoyed…it was so nice.

When the check came, he took it saying he wanted to buy my dinner.

I warned him…I really had treated myself well.

STICKER SHOCKER!

He paid anyway saying he wanted to treat me and he was sorry he couldn’t have taken me out to dinner instead of me having to start out the evening alone.

I just consider that really, really nice.

I feel very blessed .

I have really been noticing lately what I believe is the key to why J and I are so happy together:

We don’t expect anything of the other. We don’t let each other down because we don’t want more.

I don’t expect to celebrate Valentine’s Day, so when it happens, I am happier than I would have been had he been the kind of guy to always buy flowers.

If I expected flowers, one of two things would have happened:
1. I would have been let down.
2. He would have bought me flowers like always and it would have been nothing surprising.

If I expected him to always surprise me every year, I can promise…eventually, I would have felt let down.

Instead, I expect nothing and get surprised.

If I expected J to take me out for a nice dinner when I want one, I would not have received the surprise of having him pick up the tab on a day when I, on a whim, decided to treat myself.

If I expected anything, I would have missed the surprise.

So many times in our relationship it is the lack of expectation that allows the surprise.

I know he does this for me a LOT…I wonder if, in my own way, I do the same for him.
I’ll have to think about that some. I sure hope so. If I don’t, I’m going to work on that because in my eyes, he deserves to be surprised too.

What about you? Are you surprised? Are you open to surprises? Are you one with a lot of expectations? Are you open to dropping those expectations?

Hmmm….something to ponder.

Hope you all are well…I miss writing and I miss hearing from you!

Much Love,
Mercedes