V-day

Pretty much, Valentine's Day is seven million times better once you're married. Here's why:

First: Expectations.

About a week before, James and I were grocery shopping, and we walked past the massive Valentine's Day section, with all the candy and crap. Our conversation went something like this:

Valerie: "I would really like some flowers on Valentine's Day."
James: "Okay."
Valerie: "And I'm thinking that I'll get you some chocolate."
James: "Sounds great."

Sure, there wasn't the mystery. (Although, I did sneak in a few surprises, regardless.) But one of the issues I've had with Valentine's Day in the past, on the few occasions I actually had somebody to celebrate with, was that of unmet expectations. I didn't get what I was hoping for, or we didn't do what one of us thought we would that day, that kind of thing. Not this year! James and I decided to celebrate on Friday, since our schedule was super crazy the day of. And it all turned out very well indeed.

Second: Actually having a Valentine.

This is fairly self-explanatory, but still bears mentioning. Spending Valentine's Day alone sucks. I'm sorry, it just does. I've been there, many a Valentine's Day. We single folk try to make the best of it--sometimes by mocking it, sometimes by ignoring it, sometimes by banding together--but the hard, cold truth is that Valentine's Day is, at it's core, a couple's holiday. Therefore, this year, Valentine's Day was awesome.


Third, true love.

Marriage itself is amazing for this reason--I love James with all my heart, and I know that he feels the same toward me. I don't have any doubt about his affection, his eagerness to spend time with me, or his hopes for the future. There was no awkwardness associated with this Valentine's Day, no uncertainty or bumbling. James and I love each other, and this holiday simply gave us an excuse to express it in more grandiose fashion than usual.

How did we celebrate, you ask?

Thursday, as I mentioned, was a super busy day. James had school and taekwondo as usual, but in addition to my day's work, I also presented at Life, the Universe & Everything, a writer's conference held in Provo this weekend. Of course, taekwondo kept us at the studio late into the evening, as is customary on Thursdays. So, Valentine's Day itself was pretty quiet--we gave each other our chocolates and flowers and left it mostly at that.

Friday was our true celebration. We started with dinner at Goodwood BBQ, which was delightful. During dinner, James admitted to me that he'd eaten most of the See's chocolates I'd given to him. He then asked if I'd been hoping to share with him, which I admitted was true. So he offered to buy me some chocolates of my own, which ended with us at See's after dinner picking out a small assortment for me. Our evening was spent at our stake's Valentine's dance, which was surprisingly fun! It had been billed as a "14 and up" dance, which made us think we'd be the only adults who actually showed up. But as it turned out, the dance was mostly adults! There was a live band, and they were pretty good. James and I had a lovely time pretending to dance, just like almost everybody there. Then we went home and watched Skyfall while eating chocolates. =)


In summation: Married life rocks!