First Kiss & Valentine's Day Pins!

Hello my lovely readers!

First I want to share with you that it has officially been 4 years, 

since Joseph, my husband, and I have met.

4 years ago on this date 1.18.08, we had our first 'real date w/ a goodnight kiss.'

The night before, he brought me the Ranch dressing.

The night before that, we went for sushi.

Here's our story {I typed up/put on the knot.com}

*It's fairly long*

If you're not interested/already read it, skip ahead to my Valentine's Pins!

Just a small town girl...

Jennifer grew up in a once very small town, Victor.  She lived right by the school and her best childhood playmates were her two younger sisters, Brianna & Amber.  Yes, you would find her at 16 playing barbies with them...and yes, maybe it was a Friday night!  You also may have found her with a hairbrush in hand, singing and dancing to Tiffany, NKOTB, or the occasional Disney song in the backyard on hot summer nights.  She loved school and dancing.  At 18 she went off to college to become a teacher; it was at SUNY Fredonia where she met some amazing people and to this day, she's still very close friends with. 
In May 2003, she graduated and by the end of August, began her teaching career at Livonia Central Schools.  She loves teaching and truly enjoys teaching her students not only grammar, spelling, excellent themes & literary concepts, but also how to be great human beings.  She puts her heart into everything she does and while she did love life, she had a tendency to take life a bit too seriously...
In the fall of 2007, a fellow co-worker suggest she audition for Rochester's Dancing with the Stars: Teaching Edition.  To her suprise, she actually made the cut! For several weeks she learned to cha cha, waltz, fox trot and to literally put herself out there for all of Rochester to see.  As much fun as it was, life still didn't feel complete...until one snow day in early December, when two strangers began e-mailing one another. 

Just a city boy...

While you certainly wouldn't find Joe playing barbies on a Friday night, you'd find him causing trouble of some sort in his neighborhood!  You've just got to love the story of the 3man sling shot....Joe and his younger brother Dave both grew up in East Irondequoit.  Joe has and always will be on the go--staying busy with sports, enjoying the outdoors, hunting, spending time with friends and family.  His grandparents are right from Italy, so family and tradition play a huge role in his life.  He ran track, was on the football team and held part time jobs.  He also loved his dogs--which worked out well for Miss Sadie Lady who would come into his life one day!
Right out of high school, he was quickly eager to spread his wings and see what else the world had to offer. He spent a lot of time traveling around and making his money selling perfume and cologne from the trunk of his green Mazda 626.  With this company, Joe was able to explore and even live in different areas.  In 1998 he moved to Boston, MA and experienced a real city!! He was great at what he did and continued working hard onto his path of success.
By December 1999, he was ready for the life in Dallas, Texas.  It was here, that his true schooling took place.  A man named Johnny Whitworth saw Joe's potential and continued to give him advice in life and business.  "Here what'do."  He taught Joe that if he believed in himself and always worked hard, he'd get anywhere and everywhere that he wanted in life.  He also taught him that if he found a great girl, to treat her right and to never let go...and Joe did just that, the night he met Jennifer.
In 2001, Joe decided to move back to Rochester. Since then he's worked his way up through the car business, currently working for Doan Chevy's finance department.  It was important to Joe to be near family and he knew that he'd soon one day have his dream house, dream girl and complete his idea of having a family of his own.

How we met

shy?
It really was the modern day version of corresponding...so what if she wasn't receiving a message in a bottle, but rather an inbox letter telling her a little more about this intringuing individual.  From the very beginning, he wasn't like all the others...in fact, it wasn't until early January when she wrote him asking, "Are you shy?" And for those of you who know him, this question was hardly necessary ;) 
Mr. Jew
Our first phone conversation last well into the night, making it a hard 5am wake up call for her the next day...but that was ok, since she was full of excitement for their very first date at Tokyo--both of their favorite sushi restaurants, and yet neither of them could ever find someone to enjoy it with!  He showed up right on time, with a single pink Gerber Daisy in a small vase for her.  Suprised at how incredibly handsome he was, she quickly thanked him, took the flower, set it down inside and hopped inside his Tahoe. 
It was a quick ride over to Henrietta.  He had warned her that he had been coming to Tokyo for so long, they called him by his first name...but in their tongue, it came out "Jew".  They ordered edamame and tons of sushi--she was so excited! She should have realized then, that him not eating his sushi at dinner was a sign of true love; who doesn't finish their sushi?? She felt like a pig devouring every last bite of her favorite mexican roll.  He was nervous and felt something he hadn't in a long time...after dinner they played Guitar Hero and talked...they would sit for hours in her driveway talking about everything and anything under the sun.  The first date ended...no kiss. Hmm, it made her wonder what he really thought.
Ranch Dressing
The very next day she was playing the role of Martha Stewart baking away in her kitchen for her students' ELA party the next day.  She had just put a frozen cheese pizza in the oven and took the Ranch dressing out of the fridge and it dropped to the floor, popping the cap off.  Sadie was of course, waiting for any morsel to drop and she licked that ranch dressing--ew.  Her cell phone rang and it was Joe, he was "in the area" and wanted to know if there was anything she needed.  In the area, she thought to herself...he lives in Greece and I'm in the city...interesting, needless to say, he walked in a little while later with a bottle of Ranch dressing in hand, to a kitchen covered in brownies, cupcakes, snickerdoodles, and muffins.

She enjoyed her pizza with the Ranch dressing, and they talked for a bit on the couch.  It was getting late and she thanked him for stopping by, and they exchanged a friendly hug on the front porch.  WHAT am I doing wrong? No kiss?  I really don't know where this is going...he probably doesnt like me...
She went to school the next day, went to ski club and attempted snow baording once again and called him on her way home.  He asked her out to eat Friday night and she agreed, thinking she'd give it one more shot but if he's not into her, she'd be able to tell that night.
Lamplight Kiss
He picked her up in his red Porsche that Friday night and she could feel every little jolt of the fast car from the previous night's encounter with snowy hill. She was tired and sore from tumbling down the beginning snowbaording hill, but she was determined to have an enjoyable dinner...little did she know, this evening would be the turning point in her life, in their relationship. 

They enjoyed the delicious white wine, shrimp cocktail, and Delmonico's famous steak.  The conversation felt magical, they couldn't stop smiling and exchanging flirtatious glances.  Dinner was over in a blink of an eye and plans were made to meet up with some of his friends to play Rock Band.  He held her hand as they walked out to the car and just before he opened the door they stopped underneath the lamplight. She looked up at him and in that moment, the entire world stopped and as they kissed for the first time, she saw what she had read about so many times before in her chic lit: fireworks. There they were.  From that moment on, it's been nothing but full throttle--she was his and he was hers. They had done it--they finally found each other.

***

Ok, so if you're still with me, here are a few pins to prep for the mushy lovey holiday

Valentine's Day!!

I haven't done the mantle for V-Day before, but I am simply loving these ideas:

Source: casaresidence.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: seasonalhome.wordpress.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: organizeyourstuffnow.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: harriganhowdy.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: squidoo.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Maybe I could make this?

Source: ms-smartie-pants.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

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Do something cutsie/romantic:

Source: Uploaded by user via Jennifer on Pinterest

And something super sweet for husband:

Source: etsy.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: befickle.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

And some sweet treat lovin!

Source: blog.ascoisasdealice.com.br via Flora on Pinterest

Source: hellosugar.tumblr.com via Lotte on Pinterest

Source: bettycrocker.com via Aimie on Pinterest

As you may know,we love cooking dinner in.

Stay tuned for special meals you could prepare for {or with} your honey.
Single?
You should still celebrate you.
Remember love yourself first, and only then can you love another too.

Have a fantastic Wednesday!

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