A few days ago, I was grabbing a simple $3 worth of green vegetables for dinner. In the short time I was in the store, my car battery died. Boo. So, I made a few calls, and it was decided my sister-in-law would be my rescue ride. BUT, she couldn't get to me for at least another 45 min or so.  Well, it was raining and simply miserable outside.  I could have waited in my car, or the cafe inside the store, but I decided to browse clothes, shoes, and accessories instead.  I ended up in the shoe department trying on an adorable pair of Madden Girl boots.

     See? Cute, right? Since money isn't exactly the most abundant thing in our life right now, I knew buying them would be foolish. But, I REALLY wanted them.  I'm extremely picky about my boots. They have to be just right...not too showy, but not too plain, not a fan of heels, etc.  So, to find a pair I liked this much, was rare.  They were comfortable, and they fit like a glove. (Or boot in this case) And, to top it off, they were on sale! Darn! Oh well.  After staring at them for a few more minutes, I put them back on the shelf and walked back out to my car.

     Later that night, I told my husband all about these wonderful boots.  I had been brainstorming on how I could afford to buy these boots with no guilt in my mind.  So far, I had come up with the idea of some leftover birthday money, and a HUGE bag of clothes in my car waiting to be consigned.  My other option was to put them on my Christmas list, but after thinking that one over, I decided Christmas was just too far away.  So, two days later, I made a plan to rush to several different consignment stores after work to sell as many clothes as I could.  I would then hope the boots were still there in my size, and buy them. Success!  Not quite.  Nic was out and about that day, so I asked him to check to make sure my boots were still there.  He said they weren't, but the downtown Puyallup location still had them, so he put them on hold for me just in case.  Ok, I can deal with that!  Sadly, after consigning and counting my saved money, I was about $10 short of my goal, and if you knew me, you would know $10 was still a guilt trip for my money conscious  mind. I decided to try and sell the rest of the clothes on craigslist, telling myself I should probably move on from the boots and know there would be a better pair someday, somewhere else. I called Nic and told him my plan, and that I would be home soon.

     I was a bit disappointed.  Well, they're just a silly pair of boots right?  That is, they were, until my husband turned them into something precious.  Coming home, I discovered a sweet love note on the door. Awww.  We ate dinner together and chatted about our day.  He was probably getting frustrated at this point, because I had yet to venture to the bedroom where his surprise waited anxiously.  When I finally did go to our bedroom, I found another love note AND MY BOOTS on the bed!  The note explained he had gone and bought them right after I had left that morning, and he had no idea if the Puyallup location really had them or not.  GOOD JOB BABE!

     To a lot of you, this might seem like a really silly story, not worth giving a second thought.  Well, to me, it wasn't just a story about the boots.  It was a story to look back, and remember a moment in our marriage that I will always cherish.  He didn't just buy me the boots.  He wrote me notes, (he hates writing) he went to the store, (he hates shopping) he thoughtfully and carefully picked out the right pair, (he can be very impatient) and he genuinely surprised me (which is very hard to do.)  These boots represent something precious to me.  I love my husband so much, and could not have asked for a sweeter man to share the rest of my life with.