Saturday, February 13, 2010

The Best Valentines Day Ever!!!

I have been looking forward to Valentines day for weeks now. I was so excited to spend it with Ashley. We decided to celebrate it yesterday, Friday, instead of Sunday because of our schedules. Thursday I hurried with my preparations. Most of which was a thorough cleaning. We're talking chemical warfare here. I had Ashley's gift and as usual it was something a little non-traditional for a Valentines Day gift but I figure by now she should expect that my gifts may be a little different.
I picked up some flowers for her. I was so, so proud of them. They looked so good. I picked the vase and created the arrangement, small white daisies with one large purple daisy in the middle (Ash isn't a fan of roses).
The plan was that Friday afternoon Ashley would let herself into my place while I was still at work. She would then cook us dinner and by the time I got home I would quickly shower off work and join her. During my lunch brake I sped home and created these notes for Ashley to find while she was cooking in my kitchen. These are just a few. I had them spread throughout the house.



When I arrived home after work Ashley was still working on dinner. After I cleaned up she was just putting the final touches on the dinner when on of the decorative ceiling paper things fell into the candles and caught on fire. I was in the living room still having not seen the set up as Ashley wanted it to be a surprise. Well surprise! She called to me, "Patrick you're house is on fire!!!" I laughed, then looked towards the kitchen and through the sheet barrier she had hung I could she the flickering of flames!!! I ran in and put out the flaming ball. It was so funny! No damage was done just a lot of ash and smoke.


Once the flames were out, we sat down to eat this. A cornish hen, potatoes, green beans, and little whole carrots! It looked so amazing and tasted even better. Seriously, it was really good! I ate the whole bird. Yummy!

After dinner, we opened our gifts for each other. Ashley got me a curry cookbook that looks really good. Lots of pictures. I do love curry! She also got framed me my favorite picture of us at Cannon Beach in Oregon. I think I'll keep it in the kitchen where I spend a lot of time. Below, is Ashley right before she opened my gift. A deep fryer! She had told me months ago that she would ever buy one because she would use it too much. She put in the clause that if I ever had a desire to have one I better get it before we're married. I thought it was perfect. She loved it. I'm sure it'll get a lot of use.

Later, for desert Ashley once again surprised me with this spread. She wouldn't let me peak but told me that she was very excited for it (she went light on dinner so save sufficient room). I on the other hand stuffed myself at dinner and didn't have much room left. In case, you can't tell from the pic. It's chocolate fondue and a spread of hostess snacks and fruit to dip in.

It was Ashley and my first Valentine's Day. And it was perfect!!!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Yate's Cider Mill...

I took off yesterday afternoon so Ashley and I could go play. We had planned a full day of adventures. My mental schedule was something like this...

1. Go have lunch with Ashley (to a place of Ashley's picking)
2. Head on over to the Cider Mill and get some hot apple cider and a donut (yum!)
3. Drive an hour North to a small Bavarian town filled with little shops and tasty treats
4. Find some place to have dinner
5. Return back to my place to carve up some pumpkins

This is was actually happened...

1. I went to pick up Ashley, only SURPRISE, Ashley had cooked me a great warm lunch. It was a pot-pie like dish except no crust but on top was a flaky pastry that had been baked separately. It was very good.
2. Ashley and I then talked and had just a good time that we ended up staying in the house for a few hours.
3. We made it to the cider mill and had a great time. We decided we would make it North with enough time to really enjoy it so instead we walked around the paths for a while.
4. We stopped and ate some Indian food (the kind from India). Including some rice that tasted as if you took all of Christmas (tree, presents, Santa, and even Rudolf) in a blender and liquefied it then cooked the resulting sauce with rice. It was a little odd. If you have a hard time imagining it then imagine eating rice that tasted like a bowl of potpourri. In any case here are some pictures.




Sunday, October 18, 2009

Sweetest Day...

Michigan celebrates a holiday called Sweetest Day, which is much like Valentines Day only on the third Saturday of October rather than February. Yesterday, I woke up to a phone call from Ashley telling me good morning and to walk out to my car. Putting on some loafers and I opened the garage door to see a rolled up pink poster board. I walked over and picked it up and was surprised to find that it weighed, I think, a good 15 to 20 pounds. I carried it inside and unrolled it.


In case you can't read some of it here is what it says...

Hello Sugar Babie,
Happy Sweetest Day!
hony you have charmed me &
you are better than I
could ever wish. I know
we are ment to be together.
Baby yor a juicy slamin
hot hunk! You always
know plenty of ways to
bring me mounds of joy.
I have an extremely grand time
with you Mr. Hot pants.
Let's chews
to stick together now & later.
I love you to pieces!
Kisses, Ashley

Isn't it so amazing! Reading it with her still on the line I laughed so much at her choice of words. I love how she calls me "Mr. Hot Pants"! Hey, what can I say... if the pants fit...

Really, I'm very, very lucky to have Ashley in my life. She is absolutely amazing!!!



Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The Detroit Institute of Art...


I'm not very good about posting and I'm not going to try and catch up right now. I just wanted to post some pictures that I like. A couple weeks ago Ashley and I went to the Detroit Institute of Art. I had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful day. I think my favorite thing was a table that had a projected image with audio of a three course meal from a century or two ago. I'm not sure why I liked it so much. It just made me hungry but I thought it was cool to image myself eating back then. Anyway, here are some pics from that day.