valentines comes but once a year

valentines comes but once a year

once a year

once a year

bringing lots of joy and cheer

valentines is here!

haha! that is what mike greeted me with last night as i got into bed. i think that song is supposed to be about Christmas, but what a nice adaptation ;) mike had school and work yesterday and i had work so we did our big valentine's day celebration over the weekend! similar to last year we found a good deal at a marriott down at the south end of the cities and went and stayed the weekend there - it's amazing what just getting away, even if it's not that far away, can do for you! we had a blast eating crepes, shopping at the mall of america, reminiscing about our first date by going to eat at the cheesecake factory where we had enjoyed our first meal ever together! hehe, goofing around and making new inside jokes, watching netflix together and seeing a movie, and basically just leaving all our other cares behind :) for one weekend it was great to leave work and homework aside and just enjoy being together. so that was a wonderful valentine's celebration!

in addition to that, mike gave me an awesome present yesterday evening once he got home from work. i think he got home around 9 pm or so, and i convinced him that we should watch a show together on netflix. then i said we should watch another episode which we did. another please? i was waiting for him to say that he needed to get going on his homework, but he told me that he had done a bunch of homework after classes earlier that day and planned to do more at school the next day so that we could just spend time together that evening and not have to worry about anything else :) aww! he gave me time!!! that really is one of the absolute best gifts :) so we stayed up later than we should have watching a show and laughing and being happy together :) it was a wonderful valentine's day!!

thinking about what mike gave me and how much it meant to me made me think about how as society in general we might've lost focus on what valentine's day is supposed to be about. it's to celebrate love!!! and that is a cause worth celebrating!! :) people get so caught up in the stress of getting just the perfect gift or going out to purchase what may seem the obligatory flowers, card, and chocolates without really considering the meaning behind they are giving. (i am not saying that giving gifts is a bad thing at all! even the traditional valentine's gifts! mike and i plan to exchange late valentine's day gifts because i haven't finished making his yet...still a work in progress :) it's not about the money that is spent, but about the love that is given and the thought that is invested. my dad posted on his blog a link to some interesting statistics about valentine's day that furthered my thinking about this. take a minute to check it out!

the other thing that i was thinking about is that since valentine's day is about love, it should be about sharing love of whatever kind with everyone not necessarily just your significant other. if you click on the link above, one of the things that site does is give some info about valentine's day in other countries. i thought it was really cool that in finland valentine's day is actually friend's day! you can celebrate loving your friends too! in my mind, i think of valentine's day like that already. my youngest sister who is single mentioned that she was afraid she might feel lonely because she didn't have a "valentine". i told her that valentine's day is not just for boyfriends and girlfriends, or husbands and wives, or so-called "valentines". valentine's day is for love!!! and i reminded her that there are a lot of people who love her! i actually reminded my lone single co-worker about that too at work yesterday and it seemed to help :) plus i took in valentine's cards and treats i made for everyone there at work! maybe it's cheesy, but i missed giving valentines to everyone in class like back in elementary school days so this was a nice substitute :) it's easy to get caught up in all the busy-ness of life so it's nice to have a day to celebrate love and to be extra nice to others! :)

i hope you had a nice valentine's day!!! and i especially hope that you felt loved :)

also don't forget that even though valentines comes but once a year, that doesn't mean it's the only time to celebrate love and friendship ;)