I'm a Valentine's Day Convert

Just this morning I was re-living some of my most embarrassing grade school moments with Chuck on our commute to work. One such embarrassing moment happened around 10th grade. While I was not exactly unpopular in high school, I was no "Plastic." I mostly hung out with my youth group friends and did my best to duck my head and escape high school relatively unscathed.

As a fundraiser, our school's Student Council sold $1.00 carnations to be delivered to crushes and friends during class throughout the day (I'm sure the teachers loved that). I generally bought one for my small core of friends and went on my merry way. Then in third period Chemistry, they announced before my entire class that I was the lucky recipient from my surprise crush, this super icky boy in my grade. I really did feel bad for the kid- it took a lot of guts to do that, and I was not remotely interested. But as a kid who already struggled with classroom anxiety, I was way too preoccupied with being completely mortified as the entire class looked over at me and uttered a collective, "Aww!"

Yes, it really did happen. And yes, my makeup was horrendous.

I think that kick-started my hatred of Valentine's Day. For about the next ten years, I was perpetually single. I hated being made very aware of the fact that I was single. And I hated the idea that I was being made aware of my singledom because of a mass-marketed holiday intended to increase profits for florists and Hallmark. My best Valentines Day memory during this time was inviting my college bestie over to my dorm room to gorge ourselves with Domino's delivery while watching Napoleon Dynamite for the umpteenth time.


Chuck and I have had three Valentine's Days together thus far. The first, I demanded he not get me anything because we were still new to the relationship and I didn't want their to be any "pressure" before we had the "define the relationship" talk. The second, we were engaged in Pittsburgh and had a fantastic night at an event held at the PPG Aquarium. The third, well I don't remember. All I know is that we were married and both working our asses off at two jobs and likely got each other a card.

Now that we're approaching #4, I have a different outlook on Cupid's holiday. I've been married for a year and a half now, and although I love my husband more every day, it is very easy to become lost in the shuffle of work commutes and house chores. My heart looks forward to romance-filled date nights, even if they are a little bit fabricated. I've never been a chocolates and roses kind of girl, but a holiday that allows for quality time with my Hubby is okay by me!