Romancing the Stone

You have probably figured out (if you are really paying attention) that Friday nights are my worst posting nights. I have every intention. I really do. For some reason, by Friday, all of the week's fatigue catches up with me. And I just crash. I usually get as far as the title, and then do not have the energy to continue.

Anyway, since I have been thinking about Valentine's Day, I thought I would share a few Valentine's treats we have done for one another over the years. I am pretty sure they are from Valentine's though some may be from anniversaries. Let me add that some years we go "all out" for V-Day, other years it is just another day with maybe a special meal at home. It is always nice to celebrate our love but it doesn't always have to happen on the 14th of February!

One year, I think it was 2000, we went on a trip to Colorado to go skiing. Let me rephrase that. Mark went skiing. I stayed behind in the condo and cared for our firstborn, who was just a little tyke at the time. I did a lot of the printing at home for this project then took it on the trip to cut apart. A quick and cheap Valentines's gift...365 reasons I love you. Yes, I did. I wrote 365 reasons I loved Mark and then cut them up with scrapbook scissors and put them in a jar. That way, he could read one daily. I know that it sounds like a lot but it wasn't as hard as it sounds. I just broke them down into categories like "physical attributes", "work attributes", "how he helps at home", "fatherhood", etc. Then I did like 20 for each one. He never has read all of them...as usual, we just get busy with life. I need to go back and read them sometime...we only had one child when I did it. Life is a little different nowadays. (Oh, one year I took the ones he had read and was stuffing in his nightstand and created a little scrapbook of it)

I don't remember if this was for Valentine's Day, but I created a big list of questions and sentence starters in case we ever needed conversation starters. I guess before kids, that was a possibility. And maybe even after having one kiddo. Now that we have four kids, starting conversations is not such an issue. Staying awake for one is. :)
This was another early one. I made coupons for him, like for "one stupid" which he gave me pretty promptly...meaning he could do something stupid and I couldn't get mad. Not too mad. :)
There are some others I do not have pictures for...

One of my favorites was when I made a scavenger hunt with little rhyming clues. I sent Mark all over town finding clues (like at church, at a customer's office, the public library, etc.). Each time he found the envelope, he got a new clue AND a piece of a puzzle. On the puzzle were directions to a cabin I had rented about an hour away. When he arrived at the cabin finally, I had dinner waiting...what a wonderful weekend getaway we had. Nothing like building up some anticipation and keeping the mystery alive!

There is also the time (mentioned in my "Love Is..." post) that Mark came to school to try to read a love letter over the announcements. I don't know that most people recognized who it was since he choked up on the first sentence. I knew. He sounded just like he did at our wedding trying to read a "declaration of love".

I once left love notes all over the house...cheesy but true. Like the one hanging from the ceiling fan that said "I am a fan of yours..." or something like that.

One year, I made a special meal. I took our son to my parents' house for the night. I lit a fire in the fireplace (first time I think). Then I had a five course meal set up...each course in a different room with little love notes to greet him as we dined. It was very romantic, yet very simple. My favorite kind!

Of course, some years I get the big flower bouquets at school (though I am not one for the traditional red roses...I love white flowers like white roses or lilies or mixed flower bouquets). And some years, Mark joins me at school for lunch. Some years we just have a family meal.

This year I had thought about surprising Mark with tickets to a Queen tribute at the local arts center (it is supposed to be very good) and dinner out. But financially, I decided it was just not the way to go. Instead, Mark surprised me. We are going to the movies. A rare treat instead. (And even as costly as movies are, it is much cheaper than the night I had planned)

No matter how we celebrate, I hope he always knows how very much I love him!
Reba
PS Anybody else want to share Valentine surprises?