What If We All Chose To Love?

There are some really stinking creative people at Google. I love the Google homepage on holidays and during fun seasons. My all-time favorite was yesterday. In case you missed it, it was the most adorable video of a boy trying to impress and show love to a girl (you can watch the video below, courtesy of YouTube).

Showing love is a tricky thing. It all depends on who you are and who is around you. Everyone shows and receives love in different ways. Sometimes roses and chocolates work. Other times stuffed animals, dinosaur sweaters, diving helmets, and balloons work well. But sometimes, what someone really needs is to have another person come alongside them in what they are doing or going through. To me, that shows the most love.

I was criticized by my father and all the girls at work about being "cynical" about Valentine's Day. If you know me, I am anything but cynical. However, I don't think Valentine's Day is a big deal. One of the best pieces of advice I've gotten as I have been preparing to get married is that "Love is not a feeling, it's a choice." And I choose to show love every single day, so why should Valentine's Day be any different or any more special? I chose to make yesterday more special, because I knew that's what others around me needed, but I don't need it to be. Everyday I choose to love Josh, regardless of what he's going through, his mood, or how much he shows me love. Everyday I choose to love the troubled teenage girls I work with no matter of what attitude or piece of furniture they may throw my way. Everyday I choose to love the random people I encounter because you never know what they're facing and how much a smile may help. Everyday I choose to love, so therefore, to me, everyday is Valentine's Day. And therefore, February 14th isn't a big deal.

A friend's blog post about Valentine's Day shared the tragic love story of St. Valentine and the legendary origins of Valentine's Day. She also challenged her readers to share their favorite quotes, stories, or memories about love. I don't have any of those to share at this time, but instead, I want to leave you with a question...
What keeps you from loving those around you as if everyday were Valentine's Day? Because I think that if we all made the choice to really love those we encounter today, the world would get a little bit brighter for tomorrow.

*You can check out Meghan's blog about Valentine's Day by clicking here.
 

Adventures in Mouse-Hunting

Yesterday I asked Josh to take me out on a date that night since I had work off and didn't have to be in to work til later today. However, it didn't turn out quite like I was hoping for. This past week Josh not only had three mice-spottings in his kitchen (including seeing one on the counter), but he also caught four. So, yesterday afternoon I came over with a friend and we planned a few hours pulling out the fridge and oven and catching however many mice were left and cleaning up after their nasty-ness. Seven hours later we finally finished. Cleaning mouse poo and mouse nests out of the bottom of the oven was not quite the romantic night I had envisioned...

The fridge was the first to be pulled out. There was mouse poo and some holes in the wall, but overall, not too bad. Josh patched up the holes and we cleaned that up pretty fast. Once we pulled out the oven though, we quickly realized that this project was not going to be done anytime soon.

Behind the oven was incredibly disgusting amounts of mouse droppings, dead insects, and mold. Gross. That was Josh's project. My job was to pull the drawer out of the bottom of the oven and search inside. I cannot even express how horrified I was to find a few nests in the spaces on either side of the drawer and more mouse poo than I ever thought possible. That was my project to clean. Not even the thickest hazmat suit could have made me feel comfortable enough to clean that up. And all I had were gloves, two plastic forks, a vacuum, and Clorox wipes. I had to shimmy under the oven and reach back with the forks to get the nests and carefully get them to the trash can without dropping mouse poo all over the kitchen floor. I was whining, making disgusted noises, and almost crying, and what was Josh doing? Laughing at me. That was one of the most disgusting things I've done, and he thought it was one of the funniest things he's seen. As you can tell, it was quite the romantic night.

After a trip to Lowe's for mouse traps, caulk, tools, and laminate floor tiles; five hours of patching holes and cleaning under (and inside) appliances; and two hours of cleaning floors, counters, and dishes; we were finally done. I don't think that kitchen has ever been that clean since it was built. But there's still more to do, and Josh will have his landlord do the rest.

But after all was said and done and we were resting on the couch, we heard scratching and scurrying. But no mice were to be found anywhere. My theory? Since all the holes were covered and caulked, there's mice who are now stuck inside the wall. Take that you nasty buggars! At least (hopefully) they can't get back in his kitchen... So here's to hoping!

The gross-ness behind and under the oven

The mouse nests... Ewww!!!

Josh working hard to patch holes and make it so the mice can't climb up the sides of the cabinets. 

The disastrous kitchen

We fortified the kitchen to make sure if mice were running around, they couldn't get out to the rest of the apartment!

Behind the oven and Josh's handiwork. I'd like to see the mice try and climb up to the counters now! Ha! 

Paparazzi

About a month ago, Josh and I had our engagement photos taken. It was so fun getting all dolled up and having a camera in our faces. Awkward at times and cold, but so much fun. We were supposed to have them taken on a Friday afternoon that was sunny and bright and beautiful. But Josh suddenly had to move into his new apartment that day, and our photographer was so gracious to re-schedule for the following day. He made a joke to dress warm and that the weatherman predicted snow, but when has he been right about anything all winter? Well, he was this time! I woke up to a true winter wonderland! It was cold, but oh so pretty. The snow was fresh and lightly sparkling in the clouded sun. Which made our faces sparkle even more.

I got an email from our amazing photographer this week with the link to all our photos. It's so fun to look through them and to start designing our invitations. Even though Josh is nearly a foot taller than me (even with high heels on), I realized that we look really good together. Despite the awkward moments of having a camera in our faces trying to capture romantic moments, it's clear to see that we really love each other. And it's clear that we are quite beautiful and handsome too! ;)

Now I know how the celebrities feel with paparazzi following them around all the time. Okay, not really, but it felt we had our own paparazzi that day! Not to mention his assistant (who also happens to be his beautiful wife) and our entourage (consisting of the Maid of Honor and Best Man).

Instead of using the rest of this blog to explain our pictures to you, I'll let you decide for yourselves...


*Check out our amazing photographer, Sawyer Pangborn, through his website here, or facebook here! 
**Like the photos that you see and want one for yourself? Let me know and I can get you one!