WARNING: V-Day Lovers Don't Read This

Ok, is it weird that, as a woman, I don't like Valentine's Day? I guess "don't like it" isn't the right way to put it. I guess it's more that I'm indifferent. It's like any other day to me. I don't look forward to it, or expect a big surprise, or even do much planning for it of my own. And I know what you're thinking, clearly I had a bad experience when I was younger when I was alone, or going through a breakup, or had a crappy boyfriend who didn't treat me right on that day... but no. Since high school, I've ALWAYS had a boyfriend on Valentine's Day, and with the exception of one year, they were all really good guys. Even the one exception year wasn't a bad one, it's just not a guy I would brag about.

So what the heck am I lacking that every other girl on the planet has, that makes me not care about this holiday? I have no idea. I used to think it was because I didn't buy into the whole consumerist Hallmark holiday idea, but I really don't think that's it. I mean sure, it's kind of ridiculous that it's pretty much just a day for all greeting card, chocolate, flower, spa, and restaurant companies to triple their year-to-date revenues in one day, but that really doesn't affect me, so who cares? If anything, it's a day of economny boosting that we desperately need in these times.

I've never been a very openly affectionate person, so maybe that's it. I'm not a big fan of public displays of affection, and aside from holding hands and an occasional hug or quick kiss, I've never participated in much of it myself. One of my biggest all-time pet peeves is going to the movies and seeing a couple of teenagers a few rows down in the middle of a heavy petting session while I'm trying to watch what's going on on the screen. It's distracting and inappropriate, and some stuff you just keep private. So maybe I just don't like that that kind of thing increases tenfold on Valentine's Day.

Today is February 11th and Tyson and I haven't even talked about making plans for Valentine's Day. A bunch of our friends have nice romantic evenings planned, or are celebrating early this weekend with some day trips or fun activities, but not us. I'm sure Tyson will do something sweet for me, as he always does. He is really good about spoiling and pampering me, despite me telling him I don't expect it. And I do make it hard on him, because Tyson IS a very affectionate person, and I'm sure it's frustrating to deal with someone like me when it's in your nature to be romantic. But aside from whatever sweet thing that Tyson has planned, I envision that our Monday night will be much like any other Monday night -- dinner in front of the TV watching HIMYM and Hawaii 5-0. And you know what? That sounds pretty damn near perfect to me.

One positive thing I will say about Valentine's Day... In recent years, I will admit I have come to look forward to this day for one reason in particular. My brother, one of the most infuriating, annoying, headstrong, obstinate, and disagreeable people in my life, does a complete 180 on this day. My parents have really raised this boy right, and I have to say, Erin is one lucky woman to have Justin as her boyfriend. In addition to the wonderful day I'm sure he will have planned for her, Justin will get me, my mother, and my grandmother all a Valentine's Day card and gift. He writes the sweetest, nicest things a sister could ever hope to hear from her brother. Seriously, his words always make me cry. And the gifts are always so thoughtful, which is a welcome change for a sister, especially when rest of the year at any gift-giving occasion he relies on me to think of and buy the gifts for our family members. One year he bought me two of my favorite movies on DVD, and last year, in the midst of some very stressful wedding planning, he gave both me and my mom gift certificates to a spa so we could go get a massage together. He is the best, and honestly I think Tyson and my Dad secretly hate it when he trumps them like that! ;)

So there's my Valentine's Day rant. I definitely don't mean to bring anyone down with my V-Day negativity. It's just not a holiday for me, and it probably never will be. In fact, if any of my single ladies wanna hang out on this day, feel free to holla at me. I'll be the one in the sweatpants with a TV tray watching whatever crazy antics Marshall, Lily, Barney, Ted, and Robin get into this week.

I'm So Bad at Blogging...

Ok, so I've been really lax lately with the whole blogging thing. My goal is to write a couple different blogs today to get adequately caught up, but not make the entries too excruciatingly long. We'll see if that actually happens...

So a couple of weeks ago, Tyson and I had our big housewarming party to break in our new house (even though we've had several get-togethers and football parties there already since we moved in). We had a huge turnout, way more people than we were expecting, and we had SO MUCH fun! We had people from both sides of the family come to visit, including Tyson's grandparents from Atlanta who drove three hours to see us, and several friends and even coworkers. It was so awesome getting to see everyone and visit and share our excitement. And I was so proud of Tyson and I for pulling off a good party with good food and fun!

As if Tyson and I haven't been busy and on the go enough, last week I had to go on an unexpected business trip for work to....Las Vegas! Yeah, I just had to go, haha! My company is in dire need of a new accounting and operations software, and the front runner in our software search just so happened to be at an air conditioning/heating/refrigeration expo in Las Vegas. So the company sent me and another coworker out to Sin City to get some more information and talk to the program developers. We stayed at the Bellagio overlooking the Bouldvard and the Fountains, and had an all out amazing time. Below are a few pictures from our trip:

This is the view from my 18th floor hotel room at the Bellagio.

Another view of the city, this one from the 3rd floor of the Hilton Las Vegas.

This inside of my room at the Bellagio.

The beautiful Fountains at the Bellagio.

Vegas at sunset.

The Bellagio from Las Vegas Boulevard.

The lobby of the Bellagio.

While we were there, we ate at Circo, a fantastic restaurant in the Bellagio. I had a duck-stuffed pasta with orange cream sauce, and I had a carmelized banana dripped with chocolate fudge for dessert. We also went to Margaritaville, did a little gambling at the slot machines, went to the minus5 Ice Bar, where everything is made of ice - the walls, the tables, the chairs...even the glasses they serve your drinks in. It's negative five degrees inside, and you have to wear a fur coat and hat to go in! It was such a COOL experience! (Pun intended.)

This is Tammie and I in the ice bar all bundled up!

We got back in time for SBXLV....for those of you who can't decode my abbrev speak, that's the Super Bowl. Again, we hosted a little get-together at our house, and I have to say, there were many highlights for the day, but the main one was NOT the game. First off, my brother's girlfriend, Erin, brought Just Dance 2 for the Wii, which was a huge hit for the girls. Such a fun game! And then probably most importantly, our friends Chad and Andee brought their sweet, sweet baby, Kenadie. (Collectively, we refer to the trio as Chanadie, haha.) Anyway, Kenadie was our core entertainment for the night. She is the happiest, most curious, funniest toddler ever...even our friend Graham, who is not a kid person, said he would like to take her home for a few days. She is the cutest!

So that's just a few things that have been going on with the Patricks lately. We have a lot of things coming up in the next few weeks too, so there are no signs of slowing down! This weekend we are going to a rodeo with some friends, next weekend is another fun outing planned (but I can't mention what it is yet because it's a surprise to someone who might read this...), the next weekend is a family trip up to Gatlinburg to get in some last minute skiing and snowboarding before the season is over, and the next weekend is my best friend's wedding! Only 22 more days until Abbey and Tanner tie the knot, yay!

I will try to get better about this whole blogging thing. I really do like to write and I love to read my friends' blogs just to stay up to date on their lives, so I'm sure there are people out there, even if not many, who like to stay up to date with ours. But as you can tell by my blog content, we've just been so busy lately! Hopefully things will start slowing down soon. Might not make for as interesting reading, but maybe it'll be an outlet for my more creative side. I know it's hiding in me somewhere! Til next time...