Valentine's Day Grinch

This is not going to be a post about how I hate the commercialization of Valentine's Day. It's just an honest post about our personal situation.

I used to think Valentine's Day was so much fun! I would get my own little box of chocolates, (or some other kind of candy), and a card from my family. When I started dating, it was fun to get little gifts from the person I was dating.

For whatever reason, Valentine's Day is not a good day for Phil and I. It never really has been, and at this point I doubt it ever will.

Let me explain...

When we were dating, we never did much for the holiday. We were able to exchange gifts, but we were both usually so busy with other things that we didn't do much else. Plus, we had a Valentine's Day when we were broken up back in 2006.

Plus, we are both horr.i.ble. when it comes to exchanging gifts. We get so excited that we ruin the surprise, or give it early, or something like that. We usually enjoy the gifts though!

Now, I'm the type that loves to plan special things. This works out because Phil is horrible at it tries his hardest {bless his heart}, but usually doesn't do a great job. For our first married Valentine's Day in 2009, I offered to plan it all, and he was happy to agree! Let me just tell you that not a single thing went right. Nothing. We can laugh about it now, but at the time I was pretty sad and frustrating :-/

2010 was the start of what would be more successful Valentine's Day celebrations. We went to lunch after church, then had a couples massage. I had a lot on my mind because of some medical news I had received. It was only a few months after being diagnosed with PCOS, and I was told a particular test would tell me if I could ever have children at all. Being almost 24, I really didn't want to know I could never have children, so most of our conversation revolved around if we should proceed with the test or not. This was probably our 2nd most successful Valentine's Day.

2011 I really set out to have a good Valentine's Day. We celebrated early and over the course of the weekend, and had a great time! We saw my favorite Shakespearean play, (though it was a modern adaptation I wasn't expecting), made French Toast just for Phil, then cooked dinner together because we both enjoy cooking. This is our most successful Valentine's Day to date.

2012 was good because I got to celebrate with my parents, brother, husband, and newborn baby girl! The downside being it was Jillian's first round of vaccinations :( We all exchanged cards and small gifts, then we went separate ways for the night. My dad and brother went to a Thunder game, Phil and I went to sushi and a movie, and my mom stayed home with Jillian. Even though I had a nice night, it was my first time to be away from Jillian for more than 2 hours, and I worried she would be super fussy for my mom.

2013 started off ok, but ended up being a little off. I made cinnamon rolls and bacon hearts for breakfast! Then I had purchased some steaks for dinner, but they were bad by the time I opened them :( We ended up ordering Chinese food. While I like Chinese, it was a bummer that we had to come up with a different plan at the last minute.

This year, it didn't go as planned, but I am glad I got to celebrate with my hubby, daughter, and new son :) I'll post a Valentine's Day recap with pictures soon.

While none of these years have been a complete disaster like the one I planned in 2009, I've just gotten to the point where I just want to survive Valentine's Day. Call me a Grinch if you want, but I would be totally fine if Valentine's Day was not celebrated in the house ever again.

Who knows, maybe next year will be so awesome that I change my tune! Until then, I'm very thankful for February 15th, and chocolate my family :)