Valentine's Day

Brien is so wonderful about holidays, I know that you all must have been wondering, "What did he do for Andrea for Valentine's Day?" Well I won't keep you in suspense any longer. Brien had been in Nebraska for a training the week before Valentine's and we decided that when he returned on Feb. 9th we would use his per diem allowance and stay at a hotel rather than at his parent's house. This was our Valentine weekend get away. I met him at the Hotel Monaco in SLC at about 9:30pm Utah time. We did not have a suite, that was a bit too much, but we had a regular room with a king-sized bed, so I didn't roll over on to Brien in the middle of the night. It's a boutique hotel and has a very art deco feel. It's prides itself on being very pet friendly. For Jack they provided a bed, food and water bowls, and a few little treats. When I arrived we walked around downtown and then when back to the room were I had the salad he (actually Dennis, FIL) bought me for dinner. It was a relaxing night.

The rest of our Valentine's was on the 14th. Brien made me breakfast, I had a card waiting on my dashboard, and he sent me a bouquet at work. It wasn't your typical bouquet, it looked like a great bunch of wildflowers. Brien only worked a half day, then he came by the school and we went to lunch; nothing fancy, just the soda fountain counter at Ecomony Drug, but they make great sandwiches. For dinner that night I made Chicken Paprikish.

Cut up 4 chicken breasts, cook them with a little salt and pepperand a dash of paprika, set them aside;
cook 1 large diced onion in a little olive oil, add a clove of garlic, 3/4 cup chicken broth, 1 tsp paprika;
after that simmers for about 5 minutes toss in broccli florets (about 1 1/2 cups) and add back in your chicken.
Simmer the concoction for 20 minutes stir in 1 cup sour cream. It's ready when it's warmed through.
Serve on pasta, I prefer Barilla with the extra fiber.
Serves four.

Brien created dessert. He used our heart shaped brownie mold (the only silicone bakeware we own) and put in homemade raspberry ice cream (pink) with homemade vanilla bean (white) on top. He served it in little champagne glasses with a mixed berry sauce, tres yummy.

We decided that since we are going to Disneyland this week that we wouln't spend much for this holiday. I did get Brien another set of cufflinks. He has a couple of shirts with french cuffs, and until now he only had the cufflinks I gave him for our wedding. He picked our several pairs, then I chose these to buy for him. One of the boys in his teachers quorum even complimented him on the fashion choice today. He had on a tie that has stripes in a matching shade of green and navy blue; he was stylin'.

I will try for a few more updates before we head to the place where dreams come true later this week.