Happy Valentine's!

One day is simply not enough to show my wife how much I love her. So I guess I'll just have to spend the rest of my life showing her. I think I can live with that! I remember our first Valentine's Day together....

We were not yet married, but were certainly heading in that direction. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, it was that first Valentine's that convinced me that Ashley was crazy about me! It was pretty early in the morning (well, early for a college student) and I was sleeping-in (as most college students do), but was awakened by some noise in the kitchen downstairs in my little townhome in Lynchburg. My roomate was quietly talking with someone, and the air was full of the delicious smell of breakfast. I got my act together, so to speak, then went downstairs to investigate. Sure enough, Ashley was downstairs fixing breakfast for me. Scott (my Texan roomate, who was the best roomate I ever had in college) was helping Ashley get everything set up for me.

Now, as if that wasn't enough, sometime that day I was not allowed to go into my bedroom upstairs (although I don't exactly remember the time frame). Ashley was setting something up for me. Once I was finally allowed to go in, I was instructed to find all the Hershey's kisses that were hidden around the room.

This sounded really fun because it involved chocolate, but I was not ready for what I was about to find. With each and every one of those kisses was a little piece of paper sticking out of the top (as is usually the case with Hershey's kisses). But these were not the papers Hershey put in the kisses. Ashley had removed every last one of those papers and replaced them with little pieces of her own paper. Each little paper was a quality or trait of mine that she admired. She had diligently unwrapped and rewrapped all of those kisses (there were at least 30 or so) and put her little notes in them. (I don't know which was more difficult, unwrapping and rewrapping all the candies, or coming up with 30 or so qualities of mine).

I'll never forget that first Valentine's.

What did I do for her? I'll never forget that either...

I had it all planned out...beginning on February 1st, she got one rose with a handmade card. She got one every day for fourteen days. The last day was very special because it completed the whole bouquet. She had those flowers on her dorm room wall for the longest time.

I actually still have the crayons and envelops I used for the project. Actually, I think the kids have used the crayons by now...they may be non-existent. Anyway...she loved it.

And then I had to top it the next year. I'm not sure what I did that year. I do remember what we did our first Valentine's together as husband and wife. We drove down to Lynchburg from Clifton Forge and biked on the Blackwater Creek trail. We biked about 6 or 7 miles without thinking about how we had to turn around and bike back. So it ended up being about 12 or 13 miles. We were absolutely worn out, but we had a blast!

Ohhhh, sweet memories. I love you Ashley so very much, and am so proud to be your husband. Happy Valentine's Day, my love!