Love...is Resourceful

Happy Valentine's Day to you, my friends.

I stared at a blinking cursor for a while before beginning to type to you today, knowing some of you just need to get through this day. It's a hard one. I remember it well. I remember wearing black and eating blizzards and cringing every single time one of the ladies I worked with received a flower delivery.

If you're there today...then know that you are receiving extra prayers from this girl today. And know that you're loved here. {Even though that doesn't begin to make up for the ache you feel.}

I sat down to write Ryan's card for this year and I thought back to last Valentine's Day, when I sported questionable hair and ran rather blindly through the day, trying to soak up every moment of my first Valentine's Day to "have someone"...ever.

Per my Facebook feed recently, it seems like a lot of the married friends I have are about as excited for this holiday as I was as a single person. They don't want to buy cards or gifts...they don't want to go out to eat. They don't care.

I do care. We care. We are excited about this day and about the chance to spend it together. That's a gift in and of itself for people who don't get to spend a lot of time together during the week.

That's what it's about for us. We stopped in the jewelry store yesterday to have my wedding ring cleaned, and I glanced at the cases with sparkling jewelry and just shrugged as I sat down. The only sparkle I needed was being cleaned in the next room, and it couldn't come back fast enough for me. I don't need more jewelry. I just need time with Ryan.

Because sometimes love is resourceful. It's not about big purchases. It's not about extravagant getaways. It's just about being together and making the best of what you have, when you have it.

Our Februrary mantel reminds me of this every time I look at it. I lost all my February decorations. Seriously lost them. That box of decor, along with a tub of sheets for our bed and a box of wreaths for all seasons just...vanished. Ryan and I are two of the most organized people I know...losing three boxes of our stuff was simply not acceptable. But yet...it happened.

We looked...and hunted...and looked again...and nothing. And finally, earlier this week, I said to Ryan, "I don't care if everything is missing. I need a February mantel. I'm going to scrounge one up."

And so I did. I left the silver and gold sprigs from January and tucked in the wildly glittery red sprigs I bought after Christmas for about 90% off. I rummaged through the kitchen and found our Mr. and Mrs. mugs and combined them with the "S" that sits in the dining room. I shopped the walls and brought the "Every Love Story is Beautiful" framed gift from our wedding in to the living room, doing my best to ignore the gaping hole it left where it was.

I left the white lantern in place and added the obnoxiously large red, white and silver "mistletoe" ball I bought on clearance after Christmas.

We cleaned the attic this week and found it all. The sheets...the wreaths...the Valentine's box. I unpacked the box of red decor and added one picture frame to the mantel. But I didn't change anything else. I wanted to be reminded that sometimes life and love are all about moments of resourcefulness. Moments when things don't go as planned...moments when it seems annoying, even, but it works. And it's perfect because it's ours.

Love to you today, my blog family. Much, much love.