This past weekend Steve and I didnt have really anything planned (which was nice) so we took it easy, got some stuff done around his place and enjoyed the weather outside.
Friday: we got together, Steve came by and picked me up, then we headed to his house and we made some ravioli (Can you tell we eat pasta quite often?- what can we say, we like it, and its easy...) this was a mushroom and sausage (I think) ravioli, it was very good. we also had one of our favorite desserts, Ice cream (with chocolate on top, of course... chocolate syrup, chocolate covered almonds, and pieces of a chocolate bar... MMMM...) We watched a movie called "Fireproof"
It was a really good movie. I really did enjoy it.
Saturday Steve came and picked me up after his Toastmasters meeting, we went down to his house, and he wanted to excercise.. (i really wasnt int he mood, but figured I'd better, sure enough i felt better as I was exercising and afterwards) we went for a walk/jog around the neighborhood as well, it was very nice out. :)
We both were absolutely starving when we got back, and made the most delicious sandwich, putting all kinds of stuff on in. -- i dont know if it truly was that amazing, or if I was jus That Hungry, but either way, I loved it, and then of course I got sleepy... I turned on a movie, and Steve wanted to do some stuff out in the yard, so I sat this one out, I watched a movie, and fell asleep... :) then later we watched "All the Presidents Men," had Asian noodles for dinner (another easy favorite of ours) then had root beer floats :) mmmm...
Sunday:
Church, then we had sandwich for lunch, and then we were out in the yard for a good portion of the afternoon and made a big dent in the garden area (well at least I think it looks much better)
then we read some, and then had breakfast tacos. :)
So, Steve decided to Surprise Taylor with a late Valentine's Day Dinner on the weekend after Valentine's day and do something really nice for her. I (Steve) did not want Taylor to know what was going on, so I had told Taylor to dress up as if we were going out to do something and that I'd pick her up at 4:30. In the meantime, I prepared a nice meal which consisted up heart shaped ravioli with some smoked salmon, a salad, and prepared an apple pie (which was made all from scratch). Prior to leaving to pick Taylor up from her house, I had laid out my clothes I was going to dress up in because I had planned to bring her back home to eat and have everything prepared to do so. A few minutes after I left to pick Taylor up from her house, I gave her a call and told her I was a few minutes out and that I was on my way. I rarely call her to let her know I'm coming to pick her up and I usually text her to let her know I'm leaving my place, that way she knows that she has about 20 minutes before I get to her place. I wanted Taylor to think I was actually out and about doing something, other than home making something. When I called Taylor, I informed her, I still needed to change and was running a little behind, even though I was getting to her place a few minutes ahead of the 4:30 timeline I had previously set. So, I was able to pick Taylor up and bring her home, where I was able to quickly change and put the ravioli in the oven to heat, at a very low temp. while we went out. I had to take her out again so our food could heat up, and prior to getting on the freeway, I pretended that I forgot my wallet at home and needed to go back. Once we got back, I pretended to look around for a little bit while Taylor waited in the car, at which point I asked her to come in and help out to find my wallet. At that point I decided to go ahead and surprise Taylor with bringing the food out of the oven, along with the salad and salmon from the fridge. It was a nice surprise, especially since Taylor thought we were going out to do something. We also watched a really nice movie that night called Courageous, we both enjoyed it and had a wonderful Valentine's Day that we were able to make up. Taylor also had a wonderful Valentine's Day gift of a cook book holder and a mouse-pad with a lot of our pictures on it, which was very thoughtful and kind. I did not expect anything from her and it was wonderful to receive those gifts.
Taylors perspective:
I had known for several weeks that Steve was planning on something for me for Valentines day for that weekend after, we had discussed we would actually do our valentines day the weekend after, because the weekend before he was going hunting and whatnot, then we did get together on that Tuesday, but Steve wanted to do something special for me.
So over the course of about a week, he initially told me to dress up.. something nicer.. one of my nice dresses then a few days later he said, well no, not one of the nice dresses, but a casual dress, he told me "like the yellow dress you wore when we had sushi that first time.."--( i was shocked that he remembered what i wore... but was so nice... anyways--) I told him that was a summer dress, but i'd wear something nice. :) -- So the days went by... he told me he "had to get things set up" and told me that he would be at my house at 4:30 to pick me up...
Friday afternoon I was at work, I looked at our calendar (we share a calendar on Google Plus...) and I Gasped and said out loud (i was at work) "OH NO!!!"...
There it was... plain as day--- on the calendar for 7pm, at the American airlines center.. "Lady Antebellum Concert"-- I couldnt believe that I saw it... I couldnt believe that he put it on the wrong calendar...--- really not like him to put something on the wrong calendar... (he also has a calendar thats just his calendar... ) anyways... so I didnt k now what to do, I told the girls at work what was going on... I was debating in my head, whether to either tell him that he put my surprise on the shared calendar, or if I should just pretend that I didnt see anything, the more I thought about it, the more I truly thought that it was just a ploy...
the one thing that really kept me from believing that it was the concert, was the fact that I knew Steve had to "set stuff up" all day saturday... and I knew he was up to something on saturday, because I know he enjoys our time together, and he wouldnt give up that time together if he didnt have to.. If it was the concert then he would still spend that time with me, and then we'd go to the concert...
So, I decided not to mention that I saw it on the calendar...
BUT... Friday evening I did casually try to get a feel for if he would react when I would mention the concert... after work, Steve came to pick me up, and as we were driving, the station was playing a Lady Antebellum song, and I casually said "man, the stations are playing alot of Lady Antebellum songs, probably to get ready for the concert sometime this weekend..."... he agreed... in my head I was just thinking "its not phasing him, so thats either not it, or hes just doing really good acting..."
we went about our evening.
Saturday, I just hung out at my house all day, still no idea what he had up his sleeve, i knew he was busy all day, but no idea what he was up to. he made sure I knew hed be at my house to pick me up at 4:30, so I assured him i'd be ready to go that way we could go on our way...
He called me to tell me that he was on his way... (normally he texts me to tell me that he's leaving his house) he calleed at 4pm, saying that he would be at my house in 15 minutes, he was running ahead, but running behind.. ( i didnt know what the heck he meant..) then he said "I've got to go home and change clothes, I didnt have time to go home and do that..." Ok, so in my head : hes been elsewhere setting stuff up and getting things ready...
so sure enough he showed up like hes been out and about all day, busy busy... kinda out of breath.. -- so i was all ready to go, my dad teased Steve a little, since we all had no idea what hes been up to, and just saying that it seems like its a "big surprise..."--- anyways, finally we were able to leave, we headed out, and we headed to his house, he told me "ok, Im going to run inside and change, I'll be back in 3 minutes or less..." so he ran in, changed clothes, came back out, gift in tote... so i KNEW we were going some place... Then we were off, we headed out, we started going, and then he realized he forgot his wallet.. so we circled the neighborhood, and then got back to the house, he ran inside, to get the wallet, after about a minute, came back out, and said, "hey, will you come in and help me find it..." So got out of the car, and kinda looking around, he was focused in the kitchen area .... he said something like "hey look..." --- and he pulled out a plate of food from the oven, I thought it was appetizers or something (i very much had it in my mind we were going someplace..) -- so then i realized that it was real food (pasta) -- so he put it on the table, pulled out salad, and salmon and then he pulled out a handmade apple pie. (something that he and I have been working on together... but he did this one all on his own, it was so wonderful... (gonna admit it all brought tears to my eyes, it was the sweetest thing anyone could have surprised me with... already made dinner, and just have me think that we were doing something else.... after a few minutes and realizing we were in fact staying at his house and eating, I took off my coat and then we werent hungry yet...
So he had bought a movie (I'd heard some great things about ) "Courageous"-- we sat and watched it for awhile, then we had our wonderful meal, then afterwards we continuted the movie..
The food was delicious. :) I really did enjoy it and was completely surprised, He did an absolutely wonderful job.
As far as his gift goes, I was extremely excited to give him the gifts i got for him, I got him 2 items, one was a cookbook stand.. (something he definitely could use..) i know when we're cooking together, its hard to keep that book open to the right page, so this will be so much easier. :)
Then I "made" him a computer mouse pad... one with our pictures on it and such, I really did like the way it turned out, so i was very excited about giving it to him, I figured he'd be able to use it at work :) (Sure enough he is, and got lots of good comments on it.)
Steve's gift, well he had me a little worried that I wouldnt like it, apparently some people informed him that it was a bad idea, and it was like giving a woman a vacuum cleaner or blender or something.
It was work out clothes, but i LOVE them, its shorts and a shirt, the shirt is a really pretty turquise-y color, and the shorts are black with that same turquise color stripe down the leg, anyways, they fit and i love them. :) he did a wonderful job. I even wore them the next day when we worked out. :)
It was such a wonderful valentines day. :)
Can you believe that Steve and I have been dating for 7 months and we have yet to go to a movie... in theater? Neither of us were super interested in any movie in theater for the past several months, but when I saw the trailer for a movie, I told him I wouldnt force him to go, but I'd be seeing this particular movie... but maybe with one of my friends or something... he told me he'd love to take me to the movie... This movie was coming out valentines weekend... but he told me he'd take me the weekend after valentines day... (i was very much ok with...maybe less of a crowd...) so this gave him a few weeks to "prepare" or whatever to go see this movie...
So on this evening, Steve came, picked me up, then we went to his house, he worked out, I made some dinner, then we were off to go see this movie....
As you probably can guess it was a "chick-Flick"..... "The Vow"
I was excited to go see a movie... It occured to me that the last time I went to see a movie, I was with my friend, Nikki, and she and I went to go see a chick flick, and she told me about eharmony.... and that night I signed up for it... (thats what started the whole thing with Steve and I :) ) anyways, sorry for random thought...
So we went and saw the movie, Steve said he enjoyed it... I know I did.
We had fun :)
We already have plans to see a "Guy" movie. :) haha :)
For Valentine's Day, Taylor made a wonderful "Zesty Italian Chicken With Veggies over Rice" dish for when Steve came over to visit. It was a wonderful surprise for Steve, especially since he did not expect Taylor to do anything for Valentine's day. Since Steve had family in town and went out on a hunting trip the weekend before Valentine's Day, he had asked if he could do something special the following weekend on Saturday and surprise Taylor with. It was a wonderful evening and exchanged cards and had some of the box of chocolates that Steve had brought over for Taylor. I (Steve) hope that I can surprise Taylor as much as Taylor surprised me with dinner and as special too :)
On Saturday, Steve's family came into town and everyone went to Cooper's BBQ in the Stockyards in Fort Worth. It was a lot of fun and always nice to have some great bbq. Steve's little brother had never been there, so it was a neat experience for him. The next day Steve's family went out to Madisonville, TX to do a night hunt of some wild pigs. Although it was really cold, everyone had a really good time and enjoyed the use of the high tech equipment, especially since they used night vision and night vision scopes with suppressors. It was a one of a kind experience for Steve and his family and when Steve got back, he told Taylor all about what had happened. On that Monday, Steve took Taylor out to lunch and the resturaunt gave Taylor a nice flower due to Valentine's being the next day. (Steve took Monday off because they stayed up all night Sunday night and didn't finish hunting until about 1 A.M. that morning and didn't get back into Fort Worth until about 11:00)
While Steve was out doing Manly things... like hunting pigs with night vision and heavy duty guns, I spent the day (Sunday) cleaning and organizing my closet. I know its very interesting... probably more interesting than the hunting trip that Steve and his family went on (just kidding) but it was very nice to get my closet re-organized and to get some things done around my house.
We went to go see the play, "Giant" at the Wyly Theater in Dallas. -- The play was based on the Book "Giant" by Edna Ferber.
Taylor has been reading the book, and the movie is one of her Favorites.
It was a must see... even though the reviews on it were a little rough, we still had to go see it.
It was a musical - The movie is not a musical, so thats what made it different to see..
Steve and I have been watching the movie a little at a time, because it is a 3 1/2 hour long movie .
The play was good, i feel like they left some stuff out that I wish that they hadnt... they managed to kinda get the story in there, they sang about what happened.. but was kinda hard to follow the singing was very fast on some of the songs, but overall we had fun. It was at a theatre that i'd never been to, never even heard of before going to the play - it was newer, I think, it was definitly different, nothing like Bass hall - it was nice... it was a smaller theatre, the seats we had were up as close as we could get, up on the top level, it really was some great seats. :) we had a good time :)
(Steve was only able to get a photo of me, we were trying to get a pic of both of us, when we were informed to not take photos.) :)
We pretty much explain everything in the following videos / pics.... Steve planned this trip, and surprised Taylor with it. :) Taylor was very surprised, and was very excited.
