Fourteen Days of Valentines Day Fourteen and Thirteen (oops).

Last Night I crawled into bed after a long and fulfilling day and realized I had forgotten to blog! Oops! I did do something yesterday but got so wrapped up in living I forgot to post it. So real quick, Day thirteen was a day devoted to helping my best friend move into her new apartment. I got a way later start then I wanted but now that she lives so close I could stay until much later. Along with my two hands I also took her a jar of homemade chai concentrate because she likes chai and this stuff is sooooo wonderful. I hope she uses it up in good health!

Today is Valentines day and what have I learned after fourteen days of cooking and gifting and all around love spreading (That sounded awkward didn't it)? I learned that next year I should start this project a little bit sooner then on February 1st. Not too much because I like the day-to-day tasks and how that sort of kept me in the moment but a few of the projects took more then one day so a little extra time would allow me to slow down and enjoy it a little more (I did enjoy it don't misunderstand me).

I learned that people are so sweet and appreciative and all those lovely comments made me feel so happy to be doing this project. Not that we should do things to get praised or anything but I'm sure you other moms know how sometimes we just feel very under appreciated. It was nice to get appreciated.

It was even nicer to get to make someone's day brighter. Doing this every day forced me to really think about what I love and value in the people around me. It really helped me to realize how many people I have in my life that I care about and that care about me. Seriously the worst thing about the project was that I barely made a dent in the things I'd like to do for other people. Every day I thought of something else I could do for someone else. And I felt so bad that only three people would get to have one of my giveaways.  I know that any holiday can get overblown in this country and that hallmark does want to make a profit today BUT love IS an AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL thing. It's a real gift that we humans get to experience. Given from God to us and then from us to each other... is just so magical.

So today I'm making dinner for the family and a couple of friends. Nothing fancy good chili (per Brian's request) homemade bread (it's look ridiculous but hopefully tastes good) and dairy free German Chocolate Cake. I'm going to feel grateful that I have a warm home, a loving husband and so many people to love. I hope your Valentines reminds you of God's love for you and your love for others!

And The Winners of the Fourteen Days of Valentines Giveaway Are....

Coffee Sleeve and Gift card: Jen B!!!!

Nestlace: Gerri Sue!!!!!

Embroidered Valentines: Courtney Smallwood!!

Normally I would post their comments but everyone had such wonderful things to say it would take up a lot of room go here to read them and every one else's.

Fourteen Days of Valentines. Day One.

Any one know anything about St. Valentine? I did a bit of research and turns out he was martyred (I think) for marrying Christians during one of the great Roman persecutions. That's pretty cool if you ask me (not that he was martyred but that he would sacrifice himself for love). You know what else I think is cool? Red and pink together, tiny hearts, boxes of chocolates, pretty silk underpinnings, victorian cards, and love. It may be cheesy and girly but I don't care. I don't think those things are as wonderful as self sacrifice of course. The reason I told you the thing about St. Valentine's is so that you can combat the evil guy philosophy of "it's just a hallmark holiday invented to sell cards." (insert deep annoying guy voice) And so what if they've commercialized it I don't have to buy into all that and frankly I think love is something great that we should celebrate. If it weren't for valentines day we'd have nothing to in February.

In the past I've done a thing called "Fourteen Days of Valentines" for Brian. It's my take on the twelve days of Christmas. I'm doing it again this year but I'm changing it up a bit. I will show you my valentines advent string in a minute and most of the other gifts will be for Brian (he is my greatest love after all) but I also wanted to spread the love out to those around me. So every day from here until the 14th (give or take a weekend where I'm too busy) I'm going to post about a little gift or project I've done to show someone that I care. Culminating with a gift to be given away to one of you my sweet readers (so stay tuned for that next week or so).

The first project I did was my Valentines "advent calendar" for Brian.

First I took some red construction paper and cut out 14 hearts of varying sizes (sorry about the photos the lighting wasn't very good today. Very grey outside.)

Then using a permanent or other easy-to-see-pen number the hearts one through fourteen on one side. On the other write something that you appreciate/love about the person. I used a variety of physical, spiritual, and work/respect things about Brian (I read somewhere that "respect is to a man what romance is to a woman" and I've tried to be mindful of that when I do things like this for Brian.)

Then take a long wide ribbon (I used this red stripy one left over from christmas) and starting with 14 tape the hearts on going down the line to one. The idea is that starting at the bottom of the ribbon each day he will take off one of the hearts to read what I love about him. I also alternated adding candy for him. I didn't add enough for every day because it would have made the ribbon really heavy and I have other presents for him throughout this season. (I hated using candy bars but I made sure none of them were hershey's brand-the most evil of all chocolate companies).

To attach something like a candy bar, cut to parallel slits in the ribbon and slip the bar through as shown in the above pic. I also put a piece of tape across the back to hold it in place. If you were attaching something like a bag of skittles you could just staple it right to the ribbon.

Then I nailed it to the wall (I know I shouldn't have used nails but it was heavy!! Maybe a better way would be to leave extra ribbon at the top and tie it to something tall). I nailed it at the top and around day 7 to help distribute the weight. I had a heck of a time finding a place that was out of the way of the kids (I didn't want to torture them or me with whining for dad's candy every moment of the day). So it ended up in our bedroom but that seems okay to me; wink wink.

I hope your dreaming up some fun loving things for this month. I'll see you tomorrow when I attempt a Martha Stewart recipe for the church staff.