Once upon a time...

... there was a young girl, 15 perhaps, who hated Valentine's Day. She was bitter and cold and insisted on being miserable the entire day. To her, it was a day when she watched all of her friends receive gifts from their boyfriends while she felt lonely and insecure (as all 15-year-old girls probably do every once in a while!). On the morning of Valentine's Day, she went to school with just such an attitude. All day, notes, cards, flowers, and teddy bears circulated throughout the school to everyone except for her, it seemed. She went to Algebra class and sulked and stewed. Just before class, her teacher, who admittedly was pretty geeky and somewhat boring in her opinion, approached her with a simple Valentine's gift. Some candies and a small balloon, I suspect. He told her that she looked like she needed it and bid her a happy Valentine's Day. All at once, her bitterness melted into gratitude and a new perspective on the day designated to celebrate love.
Yes, that was me.
As years went on, I continued to have an appreciation for the holiday. I never had a boyfriend to celebrate with, and I'm sure I was a bit lonely on some of them, but I treasured the many people that I loved.
Here I am, 12 years later, and I think that Valentine's Day has become my very favorite holiday. I know that many people think it's simply commercial and all about getting money out of a bunch of suckers, but it has become a very sweet day when Mike and I can focus on the love that we share. Our first Valentine's Day together found us walking through shops and along the beach in Hawaii. Mike bought me a beautiful Tahitian black pearl necklace that I wear frequently. Our second Valentine's Day was filled with a far deeper love for each other as we shared the day with our sweet little Lacey. It was simple and it was quiet, but it was a bit magical. Today, on our third Valentine's Day together, Mike and I again focused on each other, something that we don't get to do as often as we'd like. Nanny and Papa Hughlett were gracious enough to keep Lacey for us while we spent the day as husband and wife. We began our celebration at Dave's BBQ... not exactly romantic dining but it was near our next stop and Mike does have a very soft place in his heart for that establishment. After lunch, we went to the Elysium spa in Arlington to receive a couples' massage. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh my goodness! HEAVEN!!!!!!! As a special treat for today, they even had a room where we ate chocolate covered strawberries and bananas and other tasty treats. It was lovely. When we finished there, we went to the mall to see "He's Just Not That Into You." We grabbed a few things for Lacey afterward and then went to pick her up. On our way home, we stopped by PF Changs so we could have our romantic, candle lit dinner at home... serenaded by none other than Josh Groban, of course. What a perfect day!!! All of our celebrating was wonderful but really, it was so great to have a day to celebrate being together. Soon enough, our day will be spent celebrating with the kids but Lacey didn't seem to mind being away from us this time. :)
And now, we have some chocolate cake from Changs awaiting us. If you haven't had it, get it next time you go...it's so dang good!! Lots of love to family and friends on this special day. Hope you all enjoyed the day as much as we did!