FROM HATE TO LOVE : TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF VALENTINE’S DAY THIS YEAR {Guest Post}

Hi you guys! So one of my sister-in-law's close friends, Catherine, does the cutest thing every February titled "Fourteen Days of Love". She asks bloggers to guest post for her for 2 weeks before Valentine's Day and she asked me this year! Go Follow her blog at The Meaningful Pursuit Amid Aimless Wanderings. She is so cool. She currently is living in Seattle working on a Master's in Speech Pathology. Her Fourteen Days of Love are so fun to read so be sure to make your way over to her blog to read them for the next two weeks. She actually asked me to write a post for one of the days of which she featured it on Saturday. Here is the post I wrote for it! I hope you enjoy it and have a wonderful Valentine's Day this year! 

I am going to be honest. I have pretty much always hated Valentine’s Day. Growing up I really did feel like it was “singles awareness day”. Everyone around me was just collecting “Crush Cans” and red roses while I was there wearing my black shirt with pride, yes I was that girl. Now that I am married I feel like there is a lot of pressure associated with it. Maybe it’s just me but because it is Valentine’s Day, it’s like I am waiting all day, wondering if there will be some sweet little surprise waiting for me in some unexpected place but really trying hard not to expect it, you know? And then if something doesn’t happen I have to try really hard to pretend like it’s all ok because I really honestly was not expecting anything. 

LADIES, why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we suffer through this day that honestly is such a beautiful holiday?  I am going to put my foot down and say, to heck with it {it being our attitudes… }! No more sadness on Valentine’s Day.  No more wishful thinking. If you are like me, instead of getting down for something that didn’t happen which was completely out of our control, let’s embrace this holiday with the pure love it deserves by offering our love to those that mean the most to us {since that is something we can control}. Let’s give that our first priority. It truly does feel better to give than receive, don’t you think? 

Once I learned the lesson that it is OKAY to plan Valentine’s Day and do more for those you love than expect something in return, it became so fun for me! Since there are two weeks until the big day, here are some ideas of things that you can do for the person/people you want to show your love to this year:

START YOUR DAY OUT EARLY

Yes, get up early and do something special for your loved one before they wake up! On the first Valentine’s Day of my marriage with my husband, he was gone from like 6 am to 10 pm!! Looking back, I wish I had gone out of my way to wake up early and do something special for him since we had such limited time together that day. The most obvious idea is to make a yummy breakfast in bed for them. Another idea is to get up early and go on a run or walk together before school and/or work {annd see the sunrise! What could be more romantic than that?}. I know my husband would love it if I woke him up early to tell him I wanted to start our day out with a run! More ideas: Kneader’s all you can eat french toast (or any restaurant/coffee/doughnut shop that serves breakfast), decorate the house with balloons, streamers, banners etc., make them a lunch for the day, or if you aren’t married – surprise them with yourself by going over before they wake up! 

MAKE THEM A HEARTFELT HOMEMADE GIFT

I think homemade gifts are really fun to do and they help me get more and more excited to give since I spend a lot more time preparing. It can be somewhat hard to get ideas on what to make but of course with Pinterest there is always a way! Before we were married I made a gift basket for my husband with lots of random things like homemade treats, a cool cd, a sentimental note and a personalized pop-up valentine . I have also made him a list of 50 things I love about him via a deck of face cards. Every now and then my husband will go back to that and read through the things I wrote about him on there. He is the kind of person that really feels love by “Words of Affirmation” so he loved that!

TAKE THE TIME TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT THEY LIKE/NEED

I do this not only for Valentine’s Day but for my husband’s birthday as well; I keep a list on my phone of things that my husband may want, need, or really like through out the year. Every time I hear the words “this is something I like” or “I really need this” it goes on the list. If you are like me, once the time comes to give a gift I have a hard time thinking about what I should do. This list has been the best thing for me! I can always refer back to it and remember what might be a good idea to get for my husband. I think paying attention to what they like is also a really good thing to keep in mind when and if you are planning the V-Day activity. You may absolutely love going to the ballet and think that would be the best date idea but consider if the person you are spending it with would feel the same way as you. Though that would be really fun for me, I know my husband would probably prefer going on a hike up the canyon instead. If you really want to do something/give something special for them, make sure to keep them in mind. You might really surprise them! {In fact, my husband did take me to the ballet last year and it did surprise me by how sweet it was that he knew I would love that!}

PLAN THE DATEWe put a lot of pressure on our men to plan the date for us {I am so guilty of that}, but have you ever thought about planning it yourself and surprising your guy? Not only does it take a lot of pressure off of him for once, but it feels so good to plan something that your guy loves too!  Going back to our very first V-Day as a married couple {you know, the one where my husband was gone for 16 hours} it was up to me to make the best of it. I decided to have a nice dinner in. I ordered take out from our favorite Indian restaurant and set up this cute candle-light dinner on the floor complete with pillows for sitting on. Imagine this, but on the inside...

{ok so it probably didn’t look like this but you get the idea… it was fun doing something different!} 

You can do a DIY craft together. My husband and I have talked about making something like this on Valentine’s Day this year. We’ll see but it could be a fun way to spend the day! You could do a movie marathon where you just watch tons of movies that your guy has been begging you to watch with him. My husband would love if we just watched Star Wars movies all night. You can plan an easy date out where you go out to dinner at your guy’s favorite restaurant or one he has been dying to go to. You can catch a movie at the theatre, try to see if there’s a concert to go to or have a date at a bookstore where you rummage around and pick books the best describe you. Just get out and enjoy something to do in your area. We have a really cool planetarium here in Salt Lake City that could be really fun. If your guy is the outdoorsy type you could plan a picnic outside and then go on a walk, hike, snowshoe, ski date, or even watch the sunset. Whatever you plan, just make sure you take the time to think a little bit about what your man would like before you think about what would be fun for yourself.

I really hope we all have a wonderful Valentine’s Day that is full of love. Be nice and loving to everyone you come across that day. Don’t let yourself get sad about anything.  And please go out of your way to do something sweet for those you love in your life.It sure will make your V-Day a memorable one!