{"id":11206,"date":"2014-02-16T19:50:19","date_gmt":"2014-02-17T01:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=11206"},"modified":"2014-02-16T19:57:51","modified_gmt":"2014-02-17T01:57:51","slug":"valentines-weekend-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=11206","title":{"rendered":"Valentines Weekend 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I had so much fun at <a href=\"http:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=11103\"  title=\"Paint the Towne\">Paint the Towne with my coworkers<\/a> last month that I wanted to share the experience with Brian. April suggested we do the couples painting event on Valentines Day. I wasn&#8217;t sure that people would go for it, but I managed to round up six other couples (besides us and the Phelpi) who were game. <\/p>\n<p>I guess I shouldn&#8217;t have been so surprised. After celebrating over a decade of Valentines I was open to doing something different. I guess others were as well. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12531725533\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3711\/12531725533_0223aced7a.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Our group consisted of (from left) the Smiths (Chad and Laura), the Holts (Stacy and Cari), the Rheas (Leo and Tammie), the Phelpi (Cory and April), the Wirtzes (Aaron and Reby), the Richardsons (Brandon and Amy), the Farmers (Brian and Sherii), and of course us (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.fb.com\/flipandching\"  title=\"Flip and Ching\" target=\"_blank\">Flip and Ching<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12531509893\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3766\/12531509893_e72fb05c56.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here are some more photos from Friday night.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12531864914\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3704\/12531864914_2168586a8e.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Our painting is supposed to match, but Brian wouldn&#8217;t cooperate. LOL.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12531504293\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5498\/12531504293_cab87f3441.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Other couples fared better I think.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12531841574\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3741\/12531841574_4092cd40c8.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We took breaks to snack while we waited for paint to dry.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12531367125\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7305\/12531367125_e6883b9a40.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We also took time to admire each other&#8217;s handiwork. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12531473333\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3773\/12531473333_5c6eeb146e.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12531837064\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3695\/12531837064_248d6889ac.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>These two were so lovey dovey all night.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12531468373\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3808\/12531468373_e82138a02b.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>They were the most harmonious couple of all.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12531332915\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7361\/12531332915_c171b2565d.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This is Sherii painting on her husband&#8217;s canvas while he wasn&#8217;t looking.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12531264213\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3787\/12531264213_a32ace74c1.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>People really got into painting. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12531822314\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3808\/12531822314_7145d17ed3.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Brian did too. I&#8217;m so glad I got to share this experience with him.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12530752443\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/v4s.yimg.com\/sj\/2854\/12530752443_be164d001a.jpg\" width=\"500\" class=\"pic\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a picture of our group as we were just getting started.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12531095764\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7442\/12531095764_2119786273.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We saw the Rheas and the Farmers again the following night at the 20th Annual Wichita Heart Ball, a gala benefitting the American Heart Association.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12553710843\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/v4s.yimg.com\/so\/7383\/12553710843_fdf08ac10c.jpg\" width=\"500\" class=\"pic\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Before I share more pictures of people, here are some pictures of the food that we got to enjoy last night.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12552159244\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3751\/12552159244_2e184bbea5.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12552173315\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7310\/12552173315_ed551ce18a.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12551853973\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2845\/12551853973_7f2ee5e222.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12551693865\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3728\/12551693865_587461310c.jpg\" width=\"500\" class=\"pic\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12551780113\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5497\/12551780113_13ced2c15b.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The tables were set in the most elegant way and all of the food looked and tasted great. I enjoyed everything, even the asparagus. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12552914085\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3702\/12552914085_97e19cee59_c.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a photo of us in front of the red carpet and a selfie during dinner.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12553247243\/\"  title=\"20140215_204831.jpg by Ching, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3791\/12553247243_8ba634863d_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" class=\"pic\" alt=\"20140215_204831.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s post-dinner photo of our group: (from left) the Heitkotters, the Shermans, the Rheas, the Farmers, and us. The dinner was great but the company was fantastic. I couldn&#8217;t think of a better group of people to hang with at the gala.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12553501845\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3831\/12553501845_4dfa6ef45b.jpg\" class=\"pic\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As if the decadent desserts weren&#8217;t enough, they had chocolate fountains at the event also for our post-dinner snacking enjoyment. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12553651665\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5542\/12553651665_b37ee67000_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" class=\"pic\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a photo of Sherii, Tammie, and me as we enjoyed our drinks and the live music. There wasn&#8217;t really much room to dance. Mostly I just wanted the silent auction to close to see how much damage we&#8217;d done to our bank account. LOL.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12554875454\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7386\/12554875454_9f8e829fb7_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" class=\"pic\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a couple of official event photos.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12554485013\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7348\/12554485013_c057064dd1_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" class=\"pic\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A selfie of Brian because he just couldn&#8217;t help himself.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12554868314\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7453\/12554868314_dc2293c90b_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" class=\"pic\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Our neighbors Raj and Shilpa were co-chairs of the event.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12554386195\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3706\/12554386195_fe7d64184e.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s my favorite photo of me from last night.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12554781043\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5478\/12554781043_77b512d898_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" class=\"pic\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s my favorite photo of Brian from last night.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/12554723735\/\"  title=\"Untitled by Ching, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3700\/12554723735_97730491d3_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" class=\"pic\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Doesn&#8217;t he look absolutely amazing in his tuxedo? And to think that he resisted the idea at first. When I initially told him that we got tickets to the Heart Ball, I conveniently left off optional and told him that the event was strictly black tie. He wanted to wear his black suit with a black tie &#8212; I guess to satisfy the &#8220;black tie&#8221; requirement. LOL. I insisted that he wear a tuxedo not just so he&#8217;d fit in at the part but also because I haven&#8217;t seen him in a tuxedo since our wedding and I&#8217;d been dying to see him in one. <\/p>\n<p>He reluctantly went to the store with me but immediately warmed up to idea after trying on a tux. All it took was seeing how sophisticated and handsome he looked in one. He saw his dashing selection in the mirror and there was no turning back. The guy who didn&#8217;t want to wear tuxedo now wants to wear his tux everywhere. I&#8217;ve created a monster. He&#8217;s actually thinking of wearing his tux to National Sales Meeting in a couple of months. That&#8217;s going to throw some people for a loop for sure. All of his coworkers will be wondering why he&#8217;s so dressed up. They&#8217;ll be like, &#8220;What&#8217;s up with Brubaker? Is he getting an award or something?&#8221; LOL.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, now that we&#8217;ve got our weekend recap out of the way, you&#8217;re probably wondering what Brian got me for Valentines Day. I&#8217;m not really the roses, chocolates, or jewelry kind of girl. You&#8217;re talking about someone who got six personal training sessions for Brian on my 35th birthday. For Valentines Day I wanted to see my husband in a tuxedo and that&#8217;s exactly what I got. Actually, he far exceeded my expectations. Last night I felt like I was with the sexiest man at the ball. I felt so special &#8212; like the luckiest girl in the world. Not only is my husband caring, smart, funny, and thoughtful, he&#8217;s good looking to boot. He is the whole package. And, he looks amazing in a tuxedo. Now to work on his British accent. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I had so much fun at Paint the Towne with my coworkers last month that I wanted to share the experience with Brian. April suggested we do the couples painting event on Valentines Day. I wasn&#8217;t sure that people would go for it, but I managed to round up six other couples (besides us and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1340,1690,262],"tags":[1389,2274,1607,2277,2276,2275,2273,337],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11206"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11206"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11216,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11206\/revisions\/11216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}