Be mine?

From my valentine!

How great is it that there is a day set aside to celebrate LOVE?

Valentine's day is not the most important holiday.  In fact, a lot of people hate it.  A lot of people think it's just another excuse to spend money on candy and cards and that type of junk.  And people think it's a slap in the face if they are single and don't have a special someone to spend it with.  But seriously...

I am in love with love.  Not just him + her love(or her + her, him + him, whatever you choose.), but all spectrums of love!

It made me so happy to write out 14 little valentine's cards for Ayla's preschool class.  How great is it that every child gets their own card telling them that they are awesome and that they are thought of?  And as I cut out heart shaped pieces of melon last night I couldn't help feeling giddy.

Watermelon and Honeydew Melon

I love seeing heart balloons floating around.  I love seeing vases of flowers and men carrying colorful bouquets.  I love chocolates and pastel colored hearts with sweet sayings on them.  I love construction paper hearts and hand-written "I love you" notes.  I love seeing affection between people.  I love love love seeing people in love.

In a perfect world we would tell people how much we love them on a daily basis.  We would treat people with kindness and appreciate our friends, colleagues, and strangers.  

This is not a perfect world and there is not a single perfect person among us so I LOVE that we have February 14th set aside for us to embrace LOVE!

Though it is pushed down "lovers" throats and the main focus on the holiday seems to be on couples, it certainly does not need to be that way.  This valentine's day take time to simply LOVE.  Love what you have, love what you do, love those around you.  If you take the time to feel the love that is out there you will surely reflect that and others will be able to feel it too.  Spread the love!

"It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. ...  If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around."

Things that I love today {and always}:

• My beautiful little girl- the beat to my heart!
• Our home.
• My mom, she's my strength when I feel I have none.  And a life-long best friend!
• My dad.  Some of my qualities I love the most come from my dad.  He made me who I am.
• Brandon and Chad.  The coolest guys.  And not just because they are my brothers.  They are honestly great guys.  I would want to be friends with them even if I didn't have to be.
• My step parents, Kurtis and Syl.  They make my parents so happy and I love to see the love that my parents have for them.
• Step-siblings.  Aaron, Adam, Rachel, and Haleigh.  I don't know them that well.  They weren't chosen by me.  But I have sure grown to appreciate the role they play in my life and I genuinely look forward to seeing them when I get home.
• My job.  I have the best job.
• My boss Mark.  He's not just my boss.  He's my friend.  A great friend.
• My boss Tony.  Seriously, he takes such good care of us.  He's a much more caring guy than he leads us to believe.
• My coworkers.  Some more than others :)
• My car.  I'm glad that I have one.
• My boyfriends mom.  Debbie.  It's easy to look up to her for countless reasons.
• My boyfriends dad.  Movie Star aka Rick.  He is so warm and fun to be around.
• My boyfriends siblings.  Even if Brent is keeping a tally of strikes against me (reasons not to let me join the family) I still love him!  And especially Charity.  Someone else to look up to and someone who is so great to talk to!
• The littlest Lees.  Jaycee, Brynn, Sydnie, and Logan!  I love those sweet kids!
• My friends.  Though they seem sparse these days, I really do love them.  I love our conversations that are few and far between.  They always remind me of the pieces of myself that seem to get lost in motherhood and busy days.
• My extended family.  And Facebook!  I love the connection to my extended family that I have through Facebook.
• Ayla's teacher.  I love her emails where she refers to her as "Sweet Ayla, darling girl, cutest girl", etc.  She is so great with Ayla and her welcoming smile every morning makes me happy to leave my little girl with her.
• Kyle.  I am so in love with Kyle.  He makes me so happy.  I am so thankful that I found him.  He has taught me that the love I have always dreamed of is real.  He has taught me about trust.  When I thought that boys were mean, and dishonest, and unfaithful, and that they jump ship when you are drowning, he proved me wrong.  He makes me laugh.  The real belly laughs that make it so I can't breathe.  He makes me feel safe.  He makes me excited for the future.  He helps me better myself in so many small ways (and some really big ways) every day.  He loves my daughter.  The way that she looks at him and they way that she asks for him and shrieks when she sees him, those things confirm that I have made the right choice.  We are the luckiest girls.  Kyle is the biggest blessing and I am so grateful that we get to love him and that he loves us back.

Happy Valentine's Day!  Go spread some love!

One of the many reasons that I love Kyle.

From: Kyle Lee
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 11:09 AM
To: Tonja E. Keene
Subject: RE: duh duh dun dun duuuun 

Sounds fun…. I love you. Is it to early to say that?

From: Tonja E. Keene
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 11:01 AM
To: Kyle Lee
Subject: RE: duh duh dun dun duuuun 

Awesome.  Maybe you can text me sometime and we’ll make some plans.  If you want to text me.  253-334-0557.   No pressure.

Tonja Keene

Inside Sales Administrative Assistant

tkeene@pinnaclesecurity.com

801-705-9786  ext.  20381

Cell:  412-708-4266

   PINNACLE SECURITY
    1290 Sandhill Road
    Orem, Utah 84058
    801.437.1020 - Corporate Office
    801.437.1030 - Corporate Fax

     www.joinpinnacle.com
    www.pinnaclesecurity.com

From: Kyle Lee
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 10:59 AM
To: Tonja E. Keene
Subject: RE: duh duh dun dun duuuun 

Cool. It’s a date then. Well I mean not a date date I just mean like it’s a date on the calendar. Well unless you wanted it to be a date date then I mean well if you want it to then maybe if your ok but I mean it doesn’t have to but ya

From: Tonja E. Keene
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 10:58 AM
To: Kyle Lee
Subject: RE: duh duh dun dun duuuun 

Yeah, that sounds like it would be really fun.  I mean if you want to, I would totally want to hang out.  Only if you want to though.  Yes

Tonja Keene

Inside Sales Administrative Assistant

tkeene@pinnaclesecurity.com

801-705-9786  ext.  20381

Cell:  412-708-4266

   PINNACLE SECURITY
    1290 Sandhill Road
    Orem, Utah 84058
    801.437.1020 - Corporate Office
    801.437.1030 - Corporate Fax

     www.joinpinnacle.com
    www.pinnaclesecurity.com

From: Kyle Lee
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 10:57 AM
To: Tonja E. Keene
Subject: RE: duh duh dun dun duuuun 

Yeah maybe. I was thinking it could be kind of fun maybe. But just maybe likeonly if you want to ya know like just maybe sometime like ya 

From: Tonja E. Keene
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 10:56 AM
To: Kyle Lee
Subject: RE: duh duh dun dun duuuun 

Like… together?  Outside of work?

Tonja Keene

Inside Sales Administrative Assistant

tkeene@pinnaclesecurity.com

801-705-9786  ext.  20381

Cell:  412-708-4266

   PINNACLE SECURITY
    1290 Sandhill Road
    Orem, Utah 84058
    801.437.1020 - Corporate Office
    801.437.1030 - Corporate Fax

     www.joinpinnacle.com
    www.pinnaclesecurity.com

From: Kyle Lee
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 10:52 AM
To: Tonja E. Keene
Subject: RE: duh duh dun dun duuuun 

Hey wanna hang out sometime?

Patience.

Mornings are always hectic for me.  I sleep in a little later than I should, I take too long in the shower which means my hair will be a little wet when I leave the house because my thick hair takes 8 million years to blow dry, I don't take enough time on what I'm wearing, I forget my earrings, I am making Ayla's lunch last minute, Ayla is watching her "Super Bass" music video that she loves so much, then I'm trying to brush her hair into a messy bun while trying to strap her into the car seat at the same time...  You get the picture.

This morning we were in the car and running late and I was hitting EVERY RED LIGHT!  And every other car was going SO SLOW!  I kept saying, "OH MY GOSH!" and "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! GOOOOO!"  From the back seat Ayla said, "Paincience, mom!"

Patience is a word that I have explained to Ayla about 3 times in the past week.  I say, "Baby, you need to be patient!  That means you wait and you don't cry.  You be PATIENT."  That's the best way that I can describe it to my barely-two-year-old.  She'll repeat the word to me in her cute little voice, "paincience".  She throws the pain in there, which I think is appropriate for the word and it's meaning.

I once had someone laugh at me and say, "I love how you talk to your daughter, you treat her like she's an adult!"  In a way this is true.  I don't really baby talk to her.  I talk to her like a friend and even though I use big words, I explain them the best that I can for such a little person.  Some times I wonder if that is a good thing to do.  I say yes because she is 2 years and 3 months old and she has an astounding vocabulary!  She remembers and a lot of the time seems to actually understand what she's saying.  I love my intelligent little girl!  (Don't worry, we still have fun and I do realize that she's only two, I am not pushing her to be a grown up or depriving her of anything just because I don't use a high-pitched voice and use little words and add "y" to the end!)

This morning when Ayla said, "Paincience, mom!" I had to laugh.  I cracked up and said, "You, little miss, are way too smart for your own good!"  But she sure hit the nail on the head.  I was running a little late, but I still had time.  I did not need to be hitting the steering wheel and freaking out because the car in front of me was going the actual speed limit.  Some times I need to remember to breathe!  Good thing I have my little girl to remind me.

I love my little "old soul".

Ayla and I got to join the Lee family on a recent trip down to Arizona.  I wish I took more pictures, but I was having too much fun to remember to get my camera out of my purse apparently.  We got to attend a wedding and a mission farewell.  It was so much fun!  The weather was fantastic!  I sure wouldn't mind spending my winters in Arizona every year...  We all got sick except for Debbie and Kyle, they lucked out!  Even being sick the trip was still great.  I sure love his family.  I couldn't ask for a better group of people to spend time with.  Ayla and I are so lucky to have these people in our lives.  I know they didn't pick us, that was on Kyle, but they have opened their home up to us and they make us feel welcome (even if it's not the case, they don't show it!).  We love the Lee family!

Jaycee and I at the Mesa Temple

Ayla folding her arms and being reverent!

My Kyle and my Ayla :)

Taking a walk around the Temple

I love them!

Cute kids!

Enjoying the sunshine!

Those are really the only pictures that I got of our trip down south!

**************

The current theme of my life is patience.  It is a virtue I do not possess and one that I hope to acquire.  All of this work that I have been doing on myself, and the work that I need to continue doing and improving on everyday, will pay off.  It will!  I will achieve the goals that I have set out and this patience and all of this waiting, it will be so very worth it!

In the great words of Tom Petty.... "The waiting is the hardest part."