Jeremy and Amanda: Time Flies!

It's been more than a month and I am finally writing again. Christmas and New Year's was so fun but went by way too fast. It was nice to stay home and fore go traveling but we missed my family dearly and look forward to Christmas next year in California. This week has been nothing but fun as well! On Wednesday I attended a Valentine exchange party at my friend Stephanie's house. She is so creative and a great party hostess. I had never thought of such a party but it was so fun and something I hope to either host or attend again next Valentines. So, 11 of us met at Stephanie's with 11 valentines in hand. Everyone was so creative and it really was fun to see what everyone had made. We then spent the evening exchanging valentines "speed dating" style. Many of us didn't know each other so it was nice to have a short amount of time with each person to get to know them and find out about the valentine they had made. Steph's valentine was so cool. She made awesome "surprise balls". You'll see in the pictures below that she took tons of time to roll each of us up some fun presents using at least a roll of streamers for each ball. Overall the night was well worth the effort of making the valentines.
On Friday my wonderful husband sent me our favorite flower... orchids! It was so nice to receive it at work. Then on Saturday he took me out to lunch at a new restaurant called Vento. They serve wood fired pizza, amazing salads, and yummy gelato in a very unique atmosphere. I can't wait to take friends and family there! Then (as if it could get any better) he surprised me with tickets to Ballet West's production of Swan Lake. I know that sounds miserable for him but I loved it. He treats a lot of the dancers so he actually enjoyed watching them and I am sure they will appreciate knowing that he went to see their performance. It was so fun and made me long to have little girls that want to dance. That night we finished out the evening spending it with friends from our ward. The Grandon's hosted a dinner party for about 12 couples in our ward. The night was filled with good food, good company, and great conversation. It was so nice to get to know some of the couples in our ward a little better. We really have some great friends here.
Valentine's Day was spent at church and with my favorite person... Jeremy. I made him a special dinner. We had ginger soy shrimp, veggies, and rice. Ginger carrot salad and finished it off with chocolate molten lava cakes. The weekend was so wonderful! Can you tell I am still living in Bliss??!! I am very fortunate!

Also this weekend Brette ran her first half-marathon! I am so proud of my sister! She had a knee injury and still pushed through the pain! She is pretty impressive! I wish I could have been there to cheer her on but I hope she knows how much I love and admire her. I truly have the best sisters in the whole wide world!