love, love, love

Valentine's Day has been my favorite holiday since elementary school.  

I think it started when we got to make those woven heart-shaped baskets out of paper.  Every year the teachers would instruct us on some cute, decorative container to hold the multitude of Valentines we would give one another.  Then, in middle school I kept making them.  It was so much fun to hand them out because it really did brighten people's days.  It was also so fun to stay up late helping the brothers with theirs.  We would go through the box of cards and pick out which one suited each classmate before they wrote names on them.

Despite Valentine's Day being a very commercial holiday, I still think it is a beautiful one.  It is the one day a year that it is perfectly acceptable to make cute cards and decorations and tell people you love them.  Occasionally there are flowers and chocolate involved.  Both two things I also enjoy.

I have one other reason to particularly love Valentine's Day.  It's Stella's birthday!

The last few years life has been so crazy this holiday I just kind of let slip through the cracks.  I think my last two Valentine's day I spent serving at the Japanese restaurant after a full day's work at school.  This left little time to celebrate or even eat really.

This year I am lucky enough to be reunited with my pup and get to share the holiday with some pretty sweet folks.  It seemed a fitting day to give Rachel and Josh their wedding quilt and I made a little Valentine for Josh's mom who was here visiting.

I think Valentine's is important because it is a reminder to love.  Though I have never had a romantic Valentine, it doesn't really bother me because there are so many wonderful people to appreciate and affirm. One of my favorite cards is still the one my Dad gave me when I was in middle school.  Being examples of love is incredible.  That should always be celebrated. It is the perfect to time to share love. This really hit me this year with a baby in the house.  Children need to know that there are so many people in their lives that love them.

 In a sudden burst of creativity, I snipped up some heart buntings and hung them in the dining room.  The room was already decked out nicely in the flowers given by the Thomas men.  It added a nice bit of flare.

 Josh found a festive dress for Eury and we all enjoyed sharing the love.

I actually did have Valentine's designed for this year, I just failed at making them up and mailing them out.  They became digital cards instead.

I hope you were able to find some love this Valentine's Day.