Because of all this I can honestly say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this year was the BEST Valentine's Day EVER!
We were originally going to go on a double date with our best couple friends, Chad & Stephanie. They decided (kind of last minute) that they would stay home and have a quiet night to themselves while they still can (Steph is pregnant & due any day now!). I was feeling a little overwhelmed so I asked (in a REALLY not nice, more of TOLD kind of way) Mark to plan a date for us. I had already gotten a sitter lined up for the kids (Thanks Ted! Love you brother!) so for me it was not even an option to just stay home. Mark graciously said that he would be happy to and Valentine's Day arrived.
My day semi-started around 5 or so in the morning. Mark has had a head cold for a week or more & his sick-snoring woke me up & that combined with the neighborhood dogs barking I couldn't fall back asleep. I decided to see if I could get any more sleep out in the living room. I sleepwalked to the couch & got about 2 more hours of sleep. When I got up to start getting ready for church I saw a bouquet of a dozen white roses in a vase sitting on the dining room table. While Mark didn't know he knew it white roses are one of my FAVORITE flowers!
We went to church together after we all got dressed in our Valentine's Day best and Mark left after sacrament meeting to finish preparing for our date that evening. I had a couple meetings after church so Mark came back to get the kids so I could attend my meetings. When I got home, he went to pick up Ted. All this time I hadn't really wondered what he had planned and at this point I didn't have anymore time to wonder. We were out the door & on our way to our first destination. Before church Mark had "let slip" something about Chandler Fashion Center so when we started driving north to the 60 instead of south to Chandler Blvd I kind of wondered what was up. Once or twice he asked me if I wanted to know where we were going and I said 'no'. When we got off the 60 at Greenfield (the exit for my sister Erika's house) I momentarily wondered what was out there BESIDES my sister & her family! We turned south rather than north and again I was immediately stumped about what was happening. We drove south until off on the east side of the road I could see three large crosses standing in front of a church & then I knew. "We're going to your church?" I asked. "Yep" he replied as we pulled into the parking lot. One more time he asked if I wanted him to just tell me what we were doing and one last time I said no. "I honestly don't care much what we're doing. We're out together, that's what I wanted." I told him. We got out of the car & headed into the new sanctuary.
As we entered the foyer we could hear beautiful music and a woman handed Mark a program and told him there was plenty of seating still. I had a very brief moment where I wondered if maybe we were attending a concert when I saw the front of the program in Mark's hand; "Vow Renewal Ceremony". I was shocked and truly surprised. I'd had zero idea! When we were seated the music ended quickly & the pastor stood. He invited all the couples to stand and say their names along with when & where they were married. We were impressed to hear 3 couples who were married for 50+ years, one had been married almost 62 years! By the time the microphone came to us it was pretty apparent that we were the "newlyweds" in the group. After all the couples spoke the pastor began a beautiful sermon with scripture from 1 Corinthians 12. He then spoke about the ways we can keep love in our relationships. It was wonderful & lovely. There was another musical number & then it was time to recite our vows. I'm sure I shed a few tears on our original wedding day but it was NOTHING compared to the flood that I cried on Sunday. I was so moved by the sermon & so touched by Mark's love for me that I didn't even attempt to keep my tears in check. I heard someone say once that tears are joy leaking out your eyes & I was feeling MAJOR joy! Unfortunately I didn't come prepared for such a flood & I had no tissues in my purse. Thankfully a woman behind us could see my predicament and she passed Mark a tissue for me. When the vows ended the pastor said a wedding blessing and a few other remarks that are hazy at best in my remembrance then the ceremony was concluded. Before we left we had our picture taken before the altar & we spoke a little with the pastor and some of the other couples who'd taken part in the renewal ceremony.
We got in our car and made our way to our next stop of the night & I was preoccupied for the whole drive so if you want to know where we went other than the name you'll have to ask Mark! We pulled into a parking lot about 15 minutes after leaving the church and the first place I saw was an Applebees. I knew that couldn't be where we were going but I made a smart aleck comment to Mark anyway. Our actual destination was Broadway Palms, a dinner theater! Just the night before (or, more accurately, that morning at 2 a.m.!) Mark had come across something about dinner theater & found that the Broadway Palms still had tickets available for the evening performance of "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". There was a nice buffet dinner complete with dessert (SUPER yummy pecan streusel & Boston creme pie!) and we were seated at a table with 3 other couples & 2 older, single people, a man & woman. While introducing ourselves they told us that they had been in line together chatting for 10 minutes or so before being seated and it was only when they arrived at the hostess podium that they realized they were seated at the same table, directly across from each other! Their names were Harlin and Nancy and it was really nice to chat with them throughout dinner & then during intermission. The play was ADORABLE and when it was over (really before we even started eating!) Mark & I were talking about going again and what we'd like to see next!
As we were driving home we both agreed that we'd had a really wonderful time & that we wanted to go out more often. It was really nice to spend the evening together, just the two of us. I can honestly say that I am more in love with Mark now than I was before and that is almost 100% attributable to the AMAZING date he planned for us. I felt so special the whole night, knowing how he values me & that he would marry me all over again-he'd even plan it this time!
One item that is big to me but kind of small in the grand scheme of things. I've been working to get into better physical condition and just a few weeks ago I was back to a size where my wedding ring fits me again. I hadn't been able to wear it since about 6 months into my pregnancy with Lizzie so it felt really nice to know that while we were renewing our vows I was wearing the ring Mark gave me when we exchanged our vows 5 years ago!
Because of all this I can honestly say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this year was the BEST Valentine's Day EVER!
