Blessed.

My husband really hasn't ever been good with gifts. I love the man more than anything, but he is not good with holidays. I think I've finally realized that it's just simply due to the fact that gifts don't rank high on any of his love languages, and so sometimes it just doesn't cross his mind. When it comes to birthdays, he would much rather have a bunch of people over for a BBQ than to actually receive a present. I don't mind having people over for a BBQ, and I don't need a big gift, but for me, I feel loved when someone has thought about me even when I'm not there... as much as I wish that I could tell you that gifts or recognition of holidays aren't important to me, they are. So there have been a few arguments in this house over mother's days and birthdays where Justin either did absolutely nothing to acknowledge the day, or got me something that he knew I probably wouldn't like because he had waited until the last minute and just grabbed whatever was left...which is how one year I ended up with a "Happy Valentines Day to My Husband" card.

So, I wasn't expecting much for our anniversary yesterday. Justin's softball team had their second to last game. He had missed the first four games of the season, and I knew he didn't want to miss that game. So, I just asked that he find someone to babysit Lizzy so that I could at least come to the game too, and my sister-in-law Kelsey agreed since she lives just down the road from us. Earlier this week, Justin was told that he'd have to work all day Thursday AND Thursday night. This inevitably happens. Literally, any time we've made plans for a date in the recent past, Justin has had to work late/overnight/go out of town.

Anyway, Justin called me yesterday morning and told me that he did not have to work overnight anymore, and that Kels was coming over a little early so we could also grab a quick bite to eat--he said that while we were only going to someplace fast like Taco Bell, but that he wanted to at least be semi-presentable, and asked me to set out some clothes for him. I was thrilled just to be able to get to do dinner with him, regardless of where we were going.

He got off work, and we headed out. I quickly deduced that we weren't going to Taco Bell. We ended up at Callahan's Lodge.

photo credit

Blown away does not sufficiently describe my reaction.

We were seated, and Justin told me that Stump (our brother in law, who is also named Justin) and Kelsey had given us a gift card to Callahan's for our anniversary, and had helped Justin conspire to get us there. Justin also told me that he had called and said that he wouldn't make it to his softball game that night.

::Swoon:: I about cried right then and there. It just felt nice to be picked first, you know?

I told Justin that this all meant a lot to me, but that if we were done with dinner in time, I had absolutely no problem with going to the softball game. After all, we still have another date night/movie night on the books that was originally our joint anniversary/Justin's birthday fun. I think Justin was pretty thrilled about that...and even after being forgotten about several times at the restaurant (the hostess actually ended up being our waitress because she could not seem to get a waitress over at our table. This happens to us a lot at places like Callahan's--I think they assume that we're young, and won't tip as well as the older couples, which then makes my sweet husband irate and tip ridiculously high percentages because he wants to break that stereotype. I love things like that about him.), we still made it to the game in plenty of time.

Guys, it was a dream. Perfect. Literally just what I needed....today, I'm feeling so blessed. Blessed to have the sweet husband that I do. Blessed to have friends and family that are generous beyond measure. Just blessed.