Our First Valentines

My Valentine's Day was A-mazing! Aaron turned Valentine's Day into a Valentine's Weekend! I was sooo impressed with Aaron's romantic skills!

(I think they've gotten better since we've been married!!)

Originally, we decided we were gonna just grill some steaks, light some candles, and just have a romantic dinner at home. We weren't gonna fight the Saturday night resturant crowds PLUS Valentine crowds, which was completely fine with me! Meanwhile, Aaron had other plans in store! :) AND he kept it a surprise, which is sooo great because he hardly ever does them and I absolutely LOVE surprises!! Not like Aaron #1.

So, I came home from work Friday to find a dozen beautiful roses on our dining room table! Wow! Not like Aaron #2. Then, I got closer and saw that Aaron had rented a romantic movie!!! AARON.. RENT A ROMANTIC MOVIE.. did you get all that??? Not like Aaron #3. Usually, I have to talk him into watching a chick flick, and most of the time I loose that battle, but he did this all on his own! I was VERY impressed.. almost speechless even.

So we went to TGIFridays to get something to eat. After all this romantic-ness, Aaron fills me in on yet ANOTHER secret.. not like Aaron #4! We have dinner reservations for Valentines night at Grill 83, one of the fanciest resturants in downtown Memphis! WHOA!!!! What's even MORE impressive is that Aaron made these reservations 3 weeks ago! Now, all this planning and surprising may not be anything special to you, but this is coming from Aaron John Downs! This IS a big deal. But anyway, I'm LOVING this! So, after Fridays, we came home, cuddled o the couch, and watched Nights in Rodanthe. So fun!

So, Saturday night, we headed downtown. Grill 83 is located in the Madison Hotel. We got there a little early for our reservations, so we went to the rooftop of the Madison. It was gorgeous! It overlooked downtown and the Mississippi River. For a second or two, Memphis was a beautiful place and I had forgotten about the high miserable factor of the city (If you haven't heard, Forbes Magazine gave Memphis the award for the 2nd most miserable place to live in country). Only a second, maybe two. I totally didn't feel like we were in Memphis! We headed downstairs to Grill 83 and everythin about this place was incredible!! I highly recommend it! We had an AMAZING salad, a filet, and some chocolate stuff that resembled jello. It was pretty much the BEST steak I'd ever eaten! Seriously! Sooo good!! On the way out of the resturant, the host gave me a rose! We spent a good 3-4 hours downtown, hanging out and doing the fine dining thing. What a perfect way to end a fabulous weekend with my valentine!

Grill 83

So needless to say, Aaron did an INCREDIBLE job with Valentines this year! I love my bebs!!!

Birthday Party.. Filipino Style!

Tonight I went one of my prek-ers birthday party! She was turning a ripe old age of 5! I really wasn't too excited about going.. one of those "feel like I have to do" kinda things. So I went. Let me just say it was an eye opener! I stayed for about 30 minutes, and those 30 minutes reinforced my opinion that Americans are SOOO incredibly superficial!

I pulled up to this amazing home and rang the doorbell. I was immediately welcomed by the parents of my student. Expecting to come into a house filled with balloons, decorations, a huge cake, tons of presents wrapped in colorful birthday paper and big bows, and some sort of hot dog/hamburger combination to eat. Boy was I ever wrong! I walked into this home full of around 30-40 Filipino people. There were no balloons, no decorations, the cake was hidden away, there were a few presents out on a dining room coffee table stuffed in bags or left in the box. What was out for show was TONS of food, buffet style, including a huge turkey, a side of a cow, seriously!, oh and a roasted pig, head and everything! And did I mention this food was all homemade?? The mom told me, her and her husband had been cooking since early this morning. All this for her 5 year old daughter's birthday party! Wow!

So here I am, a young, white girl surrounded by these loving, beautiful people celebrating the birth of this young girl in a completely different way that I had ever seen growing up! I was so speechless. And of course, if you're a teacher you know that when one of your students see you outside of school, you're like a movie star! They can't believe it! Kids really do think you live at school. My little birthday girl friend immediately took my hand and wanted me to meet her family. "Hey so and so, meet Mrs. Downs." "Hey so and so, meet Mrs. Downs." She never took me to see her cake, her presents, nothing! The only way I knew the cake was there was because I had walked to the trash can and her cake was hidden away in the box away from the party. Crazy! So selfless. I know when I was young, the cake and presents and balloons were the center of the party! The food and family time was just a bonus, side thing, not here. Family time and fellowship was the center of the gathering. I love that! Her party was about celebrating her birth and her life, in a way that truly exemplified that!

So on my 20 minute drive back to the apartment, I couldn't help but think how superficial and selfish Americans really are! It's amazing how 30 minutes at a 5 year old birthday party will open your eyes to such a big idea! Just another thing to jot down on my "how to raise our kids" list...


And by the way, Aaron took his last test of Anesthesia school!!! Only boards left to go! WOOOO HOOOO!!!

Found it!

I found a new bathing suit! Here it is...

Isn't it soooooooo cute!?!?!?!! I gotta have it!! But I'm soooooo B-R-O-K-E right now, so I'm gonna have to hold off another month of 2, crossing my fingers that it's still available!

25 Things About Me

This is the new craze on facebook. It was fun! I could probably think of 25 more!

Rules: Get to know me. Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 RANDOM THINGS, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose some people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I take baths every night in a large, oval bathtub. I will never go back to the skinny tubs.. so uncomfortable.

2. If I had the option of being a stay at home wife, housewife, whatever.. I wouldn't do it. I absolutely love my job and would be extremely sad if I couldn't teach. It's my passion.

3. On that note... more times than not, I wake up in the mornings excited about going to work! I know. Weird.

4. When I was young, my parents told me that if I eat the crust on my bread it would help me whistle. I belived that until I was in college... towards the end of college. Wow.

5. School supplies are my favorite! I love new crayons, markers, pens, the smell of new binders, a fresh planner, love it all! Again, weird. I know.

6. My dog is like my child. She eats with us, goes places with us, and even sleeps with us. I would be completely devastated if something happened to her.

7. On Sunday, Monday, and Thursday nights, Desperate Housewives, The Bachelor, and Grey's Anatomy own me.

8. I love the idea of being organized, but it's not always easy to STAY organized.

9. I have an obssession with chapstick, lipgloss.. I have a lot of different kinds and colors. Gotta have it!

10. Me and my best friend from Kindergarten are still really close.

11. I could watch home videos for hours and hours! So exciting for me and the people in them, not so much for those who aren't...

12. Shopping is my hobby. I could do it every day, all day, if I had the money and the time.

13. I love Texas A&M and everything about it! I would go back in a heartbeat!

14. I am an extremely forgiving person and don't hold grudges. In my 25 years on this Earth, I have never been in a "fight" or argument with another girl friend. I don't do drama... unless it's on tv. :)

15. I want to be the room mom for my kids classroom, but I want to teach at the same school my kids are at. There's a problem.

16. I could possibly be THE worst decision maker in the world! Where to eat, what to wear.. I could spend hours trying to decide... that's where Aaron comes in. :)

17. Coloring is a stress reliever for me.

18. When I'm upset, aggrevated, sad.. I make myself smile. Corny, but it really does work.

19. I absolutely LOVE grilling!! Well, not me doing the grilling, but my husband, or anybody else BUT me.. but I love it! Doesn't matter the weather or the company, I love everything about it.. the smell, the atmosphere, the preparation for it, just the whole idea of it!

20. Sweeping is the worst!! I will clean the toilets before I sweep.

21. I have astigmatism. Lasik is in the near future.

22. I'm extremely jealous of people who wake up and are able to see the world without stumbling through the bedroom until glasses are found. Extremely jealous.

23. Sleeping is a must for me. I get at least 8 hours every night, sometimes 9. Not sure what's gonna happen to me when I have a baby.

24. When I was 2, my dad gave me toothpicks to stick in my mouth because he thought it was funny.

25. I always thought Blackberrys, Iphones.. were completely unnecessary. Then I got one. I can't live without my Blackberry.

It's almost Bachelor time!!!