Relishing in His Goodness: Love and All That Mushy Stuff

It turns out that my kids still have candy that they've not eaten from their Christmas stockings, y'all. So, for the first time in all my years of being a mother, I skipped the traditional Valentine's Day flair and inserted a memory-making experience in the form of passes to the Georgia Aquarium, instead. I discovered a deal the aquarium had going on, for resident passes. One day admission gets you unlimited visits for the rest of the year. Score one for mama and her cubs!

We enthusiastically headed to Atlanta to celebrate our Valentine's Day together. I know, I know. I can almost hear the grumble of fellow Georgia residents, " You naive woman! Why would you choose to take your children to Atlanta on a holiday, of all days?" The traffic WAS a little bad, but it's bad everyday of the week, to be fair. This country dwelling mama, who isn't typically accustomed to traffic and already has chronic anxiety to boot, navigated those crowded streets of Hades like an absolute rock star. A triple C-threat. Cool, calm, and collected. <insert one rad photo of me looking like Rosie the Riveter here in your psyche as you read about my empowering independence>

I actually quite enjoyed the scenery as we sat in the midday gridlock. The great big blue sky offered itself a graceful backdrop to a jagged and towering skyline as every car on I-75 did the cupid shuffle to and from their destinations. I found myself confidently whispering under my breath, "I don't need a man to drive me through chaos. I got this."

The folks at the Georgia Aquarium embellished the joint in all things mushy and convivial; hearts galore along with splashes of pinks and reds throughout. We appreciated this festive touch.

My animal-loving girl was absolutely in her element and could have easily stayed the entire day.
She has watched every episode of The Aquarium, featuring The Georgia Aquarium, several times. Getting to see the top of the tank, where the vets and trainers observe and treat the animals, made my girl tear up with excitement.

Gabriel and Karma showed up near the end of our visit, so we ventured through a couple of exhibits with them. My favorite part of the visit was simply getting to observe my lovies being in a blissful state of aquarium reverie.

We ended the day with dinner before heading home where I discovered, to my surprise, my mailbox contained one precious Valentine from my bestie, who mailed it from England. Included on the envelope was one postage stamp of the Queen, to add to my stamp collection. Eeek!

Yes, I am unapologetically one really geeky stamp collector. There, I said it. AND, I finally have one of the Queen! Woot, woot!
I feel quite loved, and I don't need Valentine's Day to make me feel as such. My blessings run deep and abundantly.

Here are a few more photos from our day: