After Classical Conversations was over on Monday, Kayla and I made our usual stop at Starbucks (i.e. reward for enduring another week of CC without her friends from home), and then we headed to Michaels to pick up some Valentine supplies.
Oh ~ the endless possibilities found on the scrapbook paper and sticker aisles!
We had lots of fun and came home with as much creative potential as $20 can buy. I made cards for Robert, Cooper, and Kayla (Kory is overseas!), and Kayla made cards for some of her friends back in MA. We had to be creative in shifts, though, because I wanted my cards to be a surprise for the next morning.
I love making surprises for them to wake up to on special holidays, and it was really fun making them these cards ~ which is another gift of sabbatical ~ a bit of time and space to do things you might not otherwise.
After Kayla woke up, she helped me make heart-shaped pancakes. We happened to have a GF pancake mix in the pantry, but we wanted them to be pink. Since there was no food coloring in the house, Kayla had the idea of adding red sprinkles (left over from Christmas cookies!) to the batter. They quickly dissolved and gave us our desired pink batter! Add eggs, fruit, and syrup = fun Valentine breakfast!
And now for the flair…
For some reason, this pastor’s wife and homeschool mama has been obsessed with owning a pair of platform pumps, which really don’t fit with my current ministry and homemaking lifestyle, but still…they are so pretty on, and so feminine, and so yes ~ I’ve been a little consumed with getting some. Maybe since I saw Natalie Morales wearing a pair on the Today Show? I don’t know. Kory once told me I looked like her, and I took that compliment, and have been riding high on it ever since.
I do happen to attend more than your average number of weddings in a given year, so surely I deserve owning a pair!? (“What you deserve…. is hell,” I hear my beloved teacher of the book of Romans, Cas Monaco, saying in the back of my mind.)
Well, finding a pair that is not totally and completely outrageous is more difficult than you might think. Where in the world does Natalie shop? I mean all I have been able to find are Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Lopez versions that are hideous colors and scandalous heights.
See what I mean?
Well…I had about given up on this “vain things that charm me most” pursuit, when I decided to click on the Zappos link that appeared in my Facebook sidebar one day, and THERE THEY WERE ~ a seemingly modest, reputable, brand named, pair of black, leather platform pumps, for a decent price. I really didn’t even hesitate in entering my debit card number, and taking advantage of this obvious answer to prayer.
Just kidding. I really didn’t pray about shoes, but I don’t necessarily think there’s anything wrong with it, and I do believe it may have been a little grace upon grace to me ~ a fulfilling of even a silly, girlish desire of my heart.
When they arrived, the heel was a tad higher than I anticipated, so I put them on and wore them while preparing dinner to see if I could walk somewhat gracefully in them. I guess my husband found the sight of me peeling potatoes in heels amusing and started snapping photos.
And then I decided to pose for a few more…
…and finally decided that I would keep them.
Their arrival was just about a week before Valentine’s Day, and though you can’t see them in this pic, I did wear them on our super-fun Valentine date last night. They also make me about as tall as Robert, but I’m sinking in the mud by the tree here, so it’s hard to tell.
Robert did all of the research required to find an amazing downtown restaurant complete with a four-course Valentine-themed meal and lively, yet romantic atmosphere. The weather could not have been more perfect either. It was still warm enough to seat people on the patio and leave the large glass doors open to the hip Austin avenue outside.
After the delicious meal, and even a bit of wine sampling, we walked around downtown a while ~ i.e. more opportunity to see of I could really pull off those pumps, and then got coffee at a local cafe before heading back home.
I’m happy to report that I did not fall flat on my face, or stumble at all for that matter.
And what did we find to talk about on our 20-something-th Valentine’s day together? Well…the fourth chapter of Ephesians, what we’ll do differently when we return home from sabbatical, King Saul and Doeg the Edomite killing the priests of Nob, the importance of and Scriptural exhortation to love and be committed to the church, what this sabbatical has done for our individual souls, our marriage, and family, if and when seminary is in my future, and more.
Proving that wearing platform pumps is not necessarily inconsistent with being the pastor’s wife. ☺
Hello, hello, hello!! I came by to see how your time away is going. Well it looks like you are relaxing and enjoying one another. What a blessed thing to have time to do nothing and not feel guilty or do something and take as much time as you need.
Love the pumps!! They are YOU.
Enjoy~ Cinnamon