Truly Terrific Valentine's Day!

Hi Friends,

What a great day! Sometimes I have celebrated Valentine's day with friends and we watched chick flicks, ate chocolate and rejoiced together (while maybe secretly being bitter about being single). Now in reality, I know that most of the celebration we consider "Valentine's Day" is a Hallmark holiday - and that most of the bitterness and grief associated with the holiday comes from societal pressures to be married.

I also know that the Lord created man and woman, and that he did so because it wasn't good for man to be alone. So to some degree, our wishing to be dating or married is not surprising and our sadness in not having that is something God understands.

All that being said - today was one of my favorite Valentine's days ever!!

My parents drove in late last night for a brief LA weekend with their favorite daughter. :) This morning we met for breakfast at the Corner Bakery and then drove down to Santa Monica beach to enjoy a few hours in the sand. It was pretty cold (probably 45 degrees, with the wind) but clear and sunny and beautiful and you would not believe how many people were there enjoying it. It was really nice to just chat for a few hours, read, and relax together. After our beach time, we drove back to my apartment, changed our clothes and got ready for our evening plans. My friend Amy was planning to join us and when she arrived we headed out for our evening activites!

**I should first mention that the Olive Garden commercial that has the parents visiting their daughter at college and taking her and her roommates to dinner totally represents my life - my parents used to visit and take me and my roommate out to dinner at all the stops in my life, from college to Greenville to Baylor. I've always appreciated their generosity, and I know they love meeting the others in my life.**

SO - we invited Yen Ling and Amy to join us, but Yen Ling already had plans. These gals are good friends of mine at UCLA and I was really glad that Amy was able to join us! We decided to go to "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and then Buca di Beppo for dinner. The movie was GREAT - so fun and we laughted a ton. It was really fun to have the chance to laugh like crazy and see a sweet (PG) movie that I will eventually totally want to own. :) We were at the City Walk, at Universal City/Studios, so there is a ton of shops and restaurants, etc. Its a really fun area. The wait at Buca was about an hour, so we had drinks and chatting at Jillian's while we waited and then headed back to the restaurant.

The food was spectacular and both Amy and I were able to bring home leftovers - which was like an added bonus!! We told stories, laughed a bunch, and really hade a great time.

All in all, it was a great valentine's day. I love spending time with my parents and my last visit to Phx I didn't have much time with them, so it was really great to just get to hear about their lives, love on them and be loved in return. What a joy.

So I hope you felt loved today, friends, and at the least, I hope you know that the God of the Universe knows you and loves you.

Blessings!