The past few celebratory days (e.g., our birthday, Christmas, etc.), we just give each other a house thing present or something store bought, which there’s nothing wrong with that and those presents are fun too, but there haven’t been too many handmade gifts of late. 1) We both have our hands full. 2) Free time is hard to find these days. Thus, when we were talking about Valentine’s, we both talked about how we miss those handmade gifts, but because of time, we both understood.

Ben is such a sweetheart and he had a nice little surprise up his sleeve for Valentine’s. After we had spent time cuddling and celebrating with the girls, we got our own quiet time together. First, we spent time eating a special meal I made for the occasion, and then he gave me my gift. He busted out this red paper and started reading me “Tus Pies” by Pablo Neruda, in Spanish of course. I love it when he does that! Naturally, I couldn’t understand it though I knew pies and could make out some things here and there, so after he read it in Spanish, he read me the English translation. It’s a pretty hot poem and if I could blush, I totally would have.

The surprises just didn’t end there and with the whole “tus pies” theme, he handed me a big painted pink box (no wonder the garage smelled like spray paint!) and when I unwrapped it, I saw the cute shoes I had been eyeing. Then after that, there was one more surprise, and he busted out some oils because he was going to give me a foot massage! Seriously, he’s such a romantic! I was pretty giddy from being spoiled.

I was so stuck for awhile on what to make (or give) Ben for Valentine’s, so this idea didn’t come to me until the day before and thankfully that night he was at his Rare Fruit Growers Association meeting, so that gave me time to work on his gift. I had purchased an invisible ink pen with a black light a few weeks prior and decided that making him a “Round the Clock Invisible Valentine Card” with lots of sweet (and naughty) messages would be fun surprises for him. So on Valentine’s morning, right as he was walking out the door for work, I handed him a brown paper bag with his surprise.

I was excited knowing his messages would start at 9:00 am, so I knew he’d text me once he got started with the first one. It’s funny because he texted me saying he could tell there was a message and he was trying hard to read the indentation, and that he didn’t realize to use the black light until after. D’oh! He’d text me almost every hour after he’d get the newest message and it was fun staying connected that way throughout the day. It was a simple gift, but I just wanted Ben to know how much I love him!

I know some people are jaded about the commercialism of February 14th, but it’s still fun to have a day set aside to go the extra mile. I appreciate the everyday ways of showing love and I appreciate the extra miles too.