Valentine's Day and a Bit of Randomness

 The older I've gotten, the less I like social media.   I always have had a bit of a love-hate relationship with it, but the pendulum is swinging far more towards the hate side lately.   As long as I have missionaries who use it as their main communication tool, I will stay on it, but I've been trying to keep it more at arm's length lately.   It's partially because of how easily it can morph into a time-suck, but also mostly because I just don't feel all that fulfilled looking at it.  The politics on there drives me bonkers and I think that both my Instagram and Facebook feeds are filled with the same 30 or so people who post frequently and a whole bunch of stuff they throw into my algorithm to suck me in.  

Blah, blah, blah...I could go on and on. 

But  I can't really remember why I started pontificating on social media in the first place. I guess it's where my brain went when I sat down to write and I just did, but I can't quite think of the direction I was going with it. Perhaps it's to remind myself why I like blogging so much.   And I do.   After nearly 18 years of it, I still find that it's a far more satisfying outlet to me than Facebook or Instagram ever could be.  I really, really enjoy the opportunity to share photos and stories together and it's a record of our very average lives.  And that's the way I like it. 

Yeah, that must be why I started talking about social media...so I could say  Blogs > Facebook...and it's not even close.

And now onto the main purpose for this blogpost today...

Today, I am sharing about our Valentine's Day.    We are pretty low-key when it comes to holidays around here and this one's no different, but deserves to be remembered anyway, so here I am.  

First off, I was very excited to find these raspberries at the store the week of V-day!  I really, really love raspberries.  Like if I run out of fresh raspberries, I always have some in my freezer that I pull out and enjoy almost as much.  I literally eat them almost every day  (unless I'm traveling and don't have access) and so seeing this heart-shaped container at the store made me unreasonably happy.  How much cuter can you get than my favorite food in a heart shaped container?!  

And what's a  holiday without me sending a few seasonal postcards to my favorite peeps?! These postcards were designed and printed by my postcard friends, Kelly and Alison, and I thought they were stinking adorable! 

OH, and I guess this Valentine's Day wasn't quite as boring as usual.   We actually had a date with friends and went to a dinner/dance at Thanksgiving Point.  

I say "with friends", but I should clarify that they are actually my sister, Kristina's, friends, not mine.  We have become friends with the C family (who invited us), but it was the first time we'd met the other two couples, who had all recently moved to Utah from California.   They both instantly knew I was related to Kristina (since our Crain genes run strong), but it was more of a get-to-know you activity for us. 

 

Luckily, they are delightful and I would say that we are now beginning to be friends with them as well.  I didn't take photos of the food, but the food was all delicious and gluten free (for me).  

It was a bit crowded and the live band was WAY too loud for my taste...

But it was a fun night with some great conversations, yummy food, and dancing with my Hunny!   All in all, a fun way to spend V-day!

And in the spirit of the randomness of this post, I'll finish off with a recent meal I made.  It wasn't ON Valentine's Day, but it was close to Valentine's Day and it took me all afternoon to make, so it was definitely a LABOR OF LOVE.  That counts, right?!

It was Mediterranean Bowls, with roasted cauliflower, marinated chicken, pickled onions, kalamata olives, fresh cucumbers, toasted garbanzo beans, feta cheese, sundried tomatoes, and HOMEMADE hummus.   I was particularly proud of the hummus, which I made from dried beans and some gourmet tahini.  It was all epically delicious and I made sure that Glen knew how much to appreciate it.  😁  

You want some now too, right?   I'm on it!   Just call me when you come to town and make an official request and we will enjoy it together! 

Thanks for reading through my randomness today!  Hope you have a lovely week!  💗