Decorating your Life

Ever since leaving a home where my mother faithfully decorated for every holiday including fall (which isn't even a holiday), the idea of needing to decorate for any holiday period just seemed exhausting and unnecessary. I really appreciate the effort put forth by a terribly large amount of people, and I feel a little warm and fuzzy when I walk into a home covered in construction paper jack-o-lanterns, but if it's my home I'll more than likely be keeping it holiday neutral.

Come Valentine's Day, I'm a total sucker. I may not be covering the house in light-up flowers and wearing red under-pinnings for half a month, but I will be spending a little too much money on chocolate-covered sweets and irregularly pink confectionaries. Last year, for example, I bought a cinnamon roll covered in pink icing. I don't even like cinnamon rolls all that much, but for some reason I found that spice-infused swirl of sugar-laden dough irresistible. At the time I thought, "Wow, that's a lot of sweetness for 9 am," but a year later, I don't really care.

Last year, I was alone on Valentine's Day... at least in the romantic sense. My husband was preparing for a deployment at a month-long training for the Army. For many, a missing spouse on a holiday focused on romance can be the perfect opportunity to be entirely self-centered and depressed. In that moment though, I knew that I had the choice to either sit around and hate my husband's occupation and the fate of our near future or to instead decorate the situation with the love I had, even if it wasn't readily available. So, cinnamon roll covered in pink icing it was.

This year I bought fancy sweets for two, because I have been so fortunate as to have my handsome man sitting across the table from me. While I may have consumed most of the goodness by myself, I still loved getting the chance to share. My heart goes out to all you ladies that won't have your man around this year on Valentine's Day. When you get to feeling down, remember that you have the choice to decorate your circumstances with the joy of the love you have and the remembrance of the times you have had that love around.

No matter your circumstance, I wish you all the best Valentine's Day!