A Valentine's Weekend to Cherish

    Ok, so I've been trying my best to stay positive with this holiday coming up. Yes I'm 23 and all but one year I've been single for, so it should be no biggie right? I was nervous because all this would've been one year celebrations, and last year was my first V-day with a valentine type thing.  So while I've been very happy and content with where I am, I was still nervous, and this weekend turned into one that I'll always remember.
   
Fun Friday:
       I had a fun Valentine's Day Party with my students, and I had one student who had made me a shutter fly mug with a picture of her on it, and the year, and it was the sweetest thing ever. It was a fun day to see the kids get excited. I made them crayon hearts and gave them candy and such, and it was just a fun time.
             

 Well, after school my friend Talia and I decided we'd go to a movie. There was a cool "Valentine's Day" movie we really wanted to see. Check out the trailer here:

I loved that version of the trailer. Anyhow, I highly recommend this movie and the theater I was in for it was pretty full, and my aunt and uncle were at the movies as well at another theater and said "Old Fashioned" was sold out. So instead of seeing "50 Shades of Grey", I'd go see "Old Fashioned." It was funny, and I think my jaw muscles got sore from smiling soo much! Well worth the money =) If you want to go with someone give me a call =)

Saturday- Valentine's Day
       I got to bring my wonderful roommate to the airport for her last time home as a "single" lady, and like usual had a good conversation. The funny part of this morning/afternoon was I went to go work out. Of the 4 running machines, two weren't turning on, one was being used, so I used the treadmill that was still there…well about halfway through my run, it kept pausing, I'd start again and it would pause, so I said peace out to the work out room and caught some rays for awhile. While basking, my roomie from college sends me picture with a caption: I said yes to the dress! And I got even more excited for her big day! Then I had to get ready for a very special event: The renewal of my grandparent's wedding vows.
   Renewal of Vows Ceremony
         This was super special to be here for. For those who don't know, my Grandma Pat St. John has Alzheimer's and my Grandpa Irv and her moved to this fantastic retirement and assisted living facility. The first time I went there I couldn't stop saying, "This is like a cruise…on land…that's how awesome it is!!" My grandparent's have such an amazing love story, and love when they tell stories from when they were younger! I would've love to be there and see their love story unfold from the beginning, and here I get to see it for a second time. I heard that as soon as my grandpa found out about this, he was the first to sign up. It just shows me how much love he has for my grandma. There were about 5 or 6 couples who renewed their vows, but I could just see the love my grandparents have for each other and it was overwhelming beautiful. After the ceremony there was music, dancing, and cake. It was beautiful. And my favorite post ceremony moments was when my grandpa asked me to dance with him, and then later again. I loved dancing with my grandfather, and learning to two-step =)  Here's some pictures from the beautiful celebration.

I love grandma's expression of Noah bringing up the ring, so much life and surprise

Grandpa putting grandma's ring on =)

Grandma's turn!

                                                                                      

                                                                                                                   You may once again kiss the bride!

Selfie with the bride!

The boys and I doing angry faces…even though we're happy!

Dancing with Grandpa! "Sweet Caroline"

        Girls Night…Galentines (I don't like that name haha)

                 Ok, so I had to leave the celebration as everyone was getting dinner so I could get to church/ girls night (that I'd had planned before I knew about the renewal ceremony), and my Aunt Mj, came and gave me this card (see it below), and a necklace. The necklace is below as well, but it is a heart made of stone (rock). The rock is from the shores of Lake Superior, where I'm from and where my heart is and she mentioned how those waters always call me home, and it was really special to me. So thank you so much!!! And Fallon is the best…just a heads up…Ew!

                               

  So then we had girls night! We went to church, hung out chatting, and then went out for Chinese. We originally were going to take out and decided to stay and chat.  Then we went to my apartment, wrote some letter's and watched a movie…and of course had dessert! We watched The Song which is a modern day version of King Solomon's life. There were a ton of silly puns and play on words, but it was a good movie and I recommend it! If  you're a fan of Anthem Lights, you'll love it as well, as it stars Alan Powell from the band =) Here's the trailer! 

Oh and here's a pick of us girls at the end of the girls night =)

L to R: Talia, Kayla, Jess (me)

 Sunday Funday!
      Sunday, I dropped Kayla off and headed to church, where I got to host for the 4-6th graders! It was so much fun, as we finally got back into The Story.  Then the big day was finally here! Noah (my cousins child) turned 6 a few weeks ago, and for his birthday I was going to take him on a "date with Jess," as he loves going out and dressing up and such. He'd had his outfit picked out since he found out about it and had anxiously been awaiting the day…and it was finally here! So I picked him up and we were off. We went to Chipotle for lunch, where he got a taco kit and I got a quesadilla.  Then we got in the car to play a round of mini-golf. He got 3 hole in ones (some of them were a few strokes into the hole in one slot…but it counted) and I got one hole in one. Then we were going to go to this super cool place for ice cream…and we go there and found out it was closed Sundays..so we went to Cold Stone. In the car we played the ABC game and on our way to Cold Stone, we couldn't step on cracks, etc. Then we went to Barnes and Noble where he got to play with the trains and pick out a few books.  By then we were exhausted and headed back to grandma's for a nice evening…Noah even ended up jumping in the pool…too cold. It was a wonderful weekend! Here's a collage from our outing!

   I am just so overwhelmed by the love of Jesus, family and friends during this Valentine's weekend! It was better than I had expected it to be, and I will remember it for ages! Sorry, this post was a little more like a biography or journal entry, but I it was special and memorable and I thought I'd share! I hope you had a great weekend and felt loved whether you're single, engaged, been married 25 years! Let me know how you celebrated =)
      Love,
           Jalynn (Jessica Lynn)

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