Valentine's, Love, Flowers, and Random Acts of Kindness

I had a Valentine's Day this year that ranged from stressful to

The Best Valentine's Day Ever!

When you care for people, you are affected by their lives.  This year I have a friend who is battling cancer, and others who are finding their way through other health issues, while

others who are building and shaping their families and marriages.

Our lives are marked by prayer and seeking the will of God and resting in His perfect

grace and mercy as we follow Him.

Just look at the flowers I received.

There is a very cool story behind these flowers.

Doug and I had gone to a Valentine's Day lunch at Applebee's Restaurant.

We chose that location because that was where we had our first date, 

the second time around.

A brief story on what I mean by that.

We dated the last part of our senior year in high school.

We met at a dance sponsored by a local jewelry store in Perry, Iowa.

The dance was for the seniors in various high schools around the area.

Doug and I were from different schools.  His school was Guthrie Center

 and mine was Scranton High School.

This was the first chapter of our story.

We continued to date the remainder of the school year and through

 "The Summer of '69."

Sounds like the title of a great song, right Bryan Adams?

At the end of the summer, we went our different ways to enter college life.

We did not see each other for 40 years.
During that time,

we led parallel lives, marrying and ending those relationships about the same times.

 After graduating from high school, I lived in Missouri where I attended college.

Then I went back to Iowa for a short time.  From there it was to Oklahoma, 

then to New Mexico, to Indiana to raise my children, and back home to Iowa

to start over at 50 years old.
In Iowa...

I worked, spent time with Mom and Dad and my siblings, raised my son,
and built a good life.

Then everything changed, when I reconnected with that guy I dated in high school...
 40 years later.
We called our time of separation the 40 years of wandering in the dessert.
Yes, it is in reference to the Bible story of the children of Israel wandering for 40 years.
If you aren't familiar with it, you should read it.  It is in Exodus.

I had been traveling 52 miles one way, each week to a Bible study in the town where this guy lived.

I had been doing that for a couple of years.

A friend and I had carpooled together to Bible Study Fellowship. 

 Then at the beginning of the study of the book of Isaiah, we decided to drive separately.
A while before the beginning of the new bible study,

Doug had discovered I was back in Iowa and had been calling and wanted to meet.

It was a good thing for me that he was persistent. 

(To say that he had been calling for a while is a huge understatement.)

So, since I was driving to his town anyway, I said "yes" to a lunch rendezvous.

After 40 years, on a Wednesday, September 15th, Doug and I met for lunch.

We had our first date the second time around at Applebee's.

I thought ,"It's just lunch."  But it turned out very differently.

Long story, short...we married the following year on September 17th,
 and are sharing our lives the second time around.

Yes, we have a flamingo connection, too.

That is another story.

Now, back to the story of "The Valentine Flowers."

This is an equally exciting story,
also about God's plan for our lives and His love.
He demonstrates that He cares for us.

 Valentine's Day 
is a day to express love.

Six long stemmed roses.

The six long stem red roses was my first gift from God on Valentine's weekend.

Back to the Applebee's story about lunch.
It was Saturday, and Doug and I went to lunch to celebrate the lunch date we had
after 40 years of being separated.
We had a delicious lunch and planned a movie date right after, The Revenant.
The movie is not for the faint of heart.  I had my hands over my eyes for a lot of the movie,
peeking through my fingers to watch some of the scenes.  I must say, though, the movie was based
on a true story.
The theater was just round the corner from the restaurant.
We stopped for some candy at an Aldi's store right by the theater.
We made our purchase and were returning to the car, when I noticed a young boy standing
directly off to the side and slightly behind me.  He was a young boy, maybe 7 or 8 years old.
He had the bouquet of red roses in is hand.  He handed them to me and said they were for me.
I asked him what he wanted for them, and he said he didn't want anything.
I looked further behind me, and his mom and little sister were watching us.
His mom smiled and said it was a random act of kindness.
What a wonderful surprise!
Doug had told me that they were a gift from God.

There is another bouquet of flowers on the table.
I received these on Sunday, the actual Valentine's day this year.
Sunday started out typically by getting up and attending church.
We had started to attend a different church in town.
The message was on types of faith.
The second type of faith the pastor preached on was sustaining faith.
He gave two examples of this type of faith.
The first was you have a family member or friend who is battling cancer
 or some type of health issue.
The second one was for people who need prayer for their families, homes, and marriages.
You or they need sustaining faith through these situations.
Doug said, that is for you.  We know people who are in those battles.

We came home for lunch and hung around the house for the rest of the afternoon.
I had a yoga class for an hour at 4:30 in the afternoon.
When I was finished with my class, I stopped at our local Hy-Vee grocery store to pick up
a package of hamburger buns for supper.
Doug was grilling!
The store was packed with shoppers loading up their carts with groceries, candy, and flowers
to make their day special.
All of the checkout lines had customers waiting in lines of 6-8 people.
The bakery was busy, and the floral shop had customers waiting to make their purchases.
I went to the speedy checkout.
There were two cash registers in this lane.
I was at the second cash register waiting to make my purchase.
There were a couple of people at the first register, and three college girls in front of me.
There were several people behind me.
I saw someone approach me very quickly.  He shoved a bouquet of pink carnations in my hand,
and said to tell the cashier they are paid for.
It happened so suddenly, I barely saw his face.  I saw him speedily exiting the store.
One of the girls in front of me said she had heard of that sort of thing happening but had never witnessed it.  The three girls thought it was very cool.
The man behind me in line said, "God thinks you're special."
He seemed as overcome as I was by this random act of kindness.

These are the two bunches of flowers I received over the Valentine weekend.
It is called a random act of kindness.
After pondering this, I thought that with God nothing is random.
God is purposeful in everything He does.
Doug told me that I didn't really get it the first time, so God was telling me again
through the second bouquet that He loves me.
He knows my thoughts and concerns, and He is here with me.
He loves me!

I made several bouquets of flowers to give to my family and friends for
Valentine's Day.

I baked a batch of mini muffins from a boxed cake mix

according to the package directions.

I used a star tip and piped a rose pattern on each cupcake

with a tub of prepared frosting.

I used strawberry because of the color, and delicious flavor.

I purchased some mini Valentine pails and some Styrofoam balls.

I cut some strips of green tissue paper.

I wrapped the paper around a toothpick.

The cupcakes were attached by inserting toothpicks into the Styrofoam ball,

then through the cupcakes.

The tissue paper fills in the gaps.

This is a late Valentine's Day with Garrett, Liz, and kids.

Notice my bouquet of flowers!

This is a picture of love!

A bouquet for my sweet daughter-in-law, Liz.

Grandpa and our adorable little granddaughter, Madi.

Yes, this Valentine's was a confirmation of God's love for us.

Cupcake Bouquet-Celebrating Bonnie's Retirement

Cupcake Bouquet!

Celebrating Bonnie's Retirement

One of my friend's had a retirement party.

Who doesn't like a party?  It was a time to reconnect with fellow peers.

I had "retired" 5 years earlier.  Well, not so much retired but got married.

It's kind of the same, depending on how you look at it.

I hadn't seen some of my friends for a while, so I braved the 70 mile trip through some snow, which changed to rain, and then resulted in a few slick spots on the road.

But I made it!

Bonnie worked at AHS for about 12 years,
while I was there 10 years (to the day I started).

We worked together in a call center answering phones and taking applications for home warranties.

If you have ever worked in a call center answering phones all day, you can relate 

to the bond we have formed.

Long phone calls.

Monitoring.

Not ready time.

Great phone calls.

Not so great phones calls.

"Let me put you on hold while I transfer you."

Cubies.

Lunch breaks.

Prizes.

Trips.

Breaks.

Training.

And, did I say long phone calls?

(Great topics for breaks).

And knowing that we all bonded just because we were there.

What happens in 12 years?

Life happens, and we were there for each other.

During that time we experienced getting to know each other and our families.
Our families grew as we had kids, and grandkids, got engaged, got married,
got unmarried, experienced joy and experienced grief.
We had birthday celebrations,  

potlucks, and met after work at local restaurants.

It was good for the soul to see everyone celebrating this milestone

in Bonnie's life.

I made Bonnie a
Cupcake Bouquet of Flowers...

Begin by mixing a packaged cake mix according to the directions on the box.

I liked strawberry for the color and flavor.

They really did smell great!

Scoop into a cupcake tin lined with cupcake papers.

Bake according to box directions and let cool.

For the flower vase, I used a metal container.

Coordinate color of tin with frosting color.

Then I put a Styrofoam ball into the container.

I wrapped the ball with press and seal wrap.

To make the cupcake roses, I used a Wilton 2D cake decorating tip.

I like the flavor of canned frosting and the texture and consistency
worked well for this application.
No need for food color with the strawberry flavor frosting.
 Cut the corner of the plastic bag, then insert the decorating tip.
Add the frosting into a the bag.

Start by squeezing the frosting in the center of the cupcake,
and make a circle outward.

You really can't mess this up.

The roses will be individual...as in nature!

Let the frosting dry so you can handle the cupcakes when you put them into the vase.

Use 2 toothpicks inserted about 1/2 inch apart into the Styrofoam ball.
Point them upwards so the cupcakes and frosting do not fall off.
Add the cupcakes onto the toothpicks evenly onto the Styrofoam.

Cut some green tissue paper into 4-5 inch squares.
Layer 3-4 pieces then run a pick through the middle.
You need an end on the toothpick so the tissue paper stays on the pick.
There are several types of cocktail picks.

Twist the tissue paper around the stick

and put it into the gaps between the cupcakes.

Ready to take to the party.

I wrapped the bouquet in a bag tied with a ribbon.

to keep them from drying out.

The Gang!

Happy Retirement, Bonnie.
See you at our next get together...