Speaking of Valentine's day, Nathan and I were able to celebrate the day together as husband and wife. It's still so weird to say that, even though it's been eight months. Husband. Wife. Marriage. Yikes, I'm grown up! Sort of. Anyway, Nathan even got me a card that is to his "wife." I am lame and didn't do so well in the card department. As in, there were zero cards given on my part. Whoops!
To be honest, I have always loved Valentine's Day. Sure, I get when other people say, "Why do you need a special day to celebrate your love? Do it every day!" True statement. Love should be celebrated every day. However, if I'm playing Devil's Advocate here (and c'mon. Anyone who knows me knows I'm pretty good at that role), I'd like to ask, why do we celebrate individual birthdays? Every day should be a celebration of life. Why do we celebrate Christmas? Celebrate Jesus every day. Wow, this is getting deep. My point is that I am truly a girly girl and love having a special day that I get to spend immersed in feelings of love.
My love for the day of love is probably aided by the fact that I am a teacher and get to spend Valentine's day with my third graders. It's a HUGE holiday to those 8 year olds, by the way. Almost like Christmas. It literally takes over our day, as we make our "mailboxes" and spend time handing out and enjoying valentines from classmates. Yesterday, I was overwhelmed by the kindness my class showed for one another. I also was amazed that I didn't hear the words, "Ew. You LIKE me? Gross!" a single time. Successful day.
Aren't our mailboxes adorable? Their instructions were to use mainly hearts to make an animal. Since we are currently studying animals, I tried to make it instruction-based. Go me.
I know that I have spent numerous words expressing the love and gratitude I have for my husband, and he is another reason why I love Valentine's Day. Historically speaking (in the sense of Nathan and Angie), we have not been huge Valentine's Day gift-givers. I believe that a "special" dinner or a simple card is a superior way to celebrate your love for one another, and I am fortunate that Nathan feels the same way. This year, money is fairly tight at the House of Harris, but we both wanted our first Valentine's Day as husband and wife to be special. What other way to be special than to get your craft on? This happens to be exactly what the both of us did.
A while back, I saw an idea on Pinterest that I KNEW would be the perfect gift for our first Valentine's Day as married people. I had our wedding song printed on nine 8 x 8" cardstock, bought nine 8 x8" canvas frames, mod-podged the cardstock on the canvas, and voila! Beautiful, sentimental art that was super simple to make, and looks AWESOME. Seriously, people don't believe I made this. Psh.
This will be going above our bed as soon as we can get our hands on a laser-level. I say we like I'm actually going to participate in the hanging. Sike.
Nathan also was super crafty, inspired by another Pinterest Post he had seen. I came home from school to this BEAUTIFUL, unique, hand-made frame. Nathan even selected the pictures he wanted on display.
Seriously, how cool is this? I also think it's such a practical way to display a lot of pictures. If I want to change one out, all I have to do follow these simple steps - Step 1. Unclip clothespin. Step 2. Take down picture. Step 3. Clip new picture to twine using clothespin. Done! No more taking a frame down, undoing those finicky little clasps, taking the back out, putting the picture in, putting the back in, redoing those finicky clasps, rehanging on the nail that is always so rebellious. This process is particularly distressing when you are 4'11" and can generally not reach the nail that is being uncooperative. #shortpeopleproblems
Overall, it was a perfect, beautiful day. My students were wonderful, my husband was amazing, and the seven boxes of chocolates I received from students yesterday didn't hurt either. Life is good.
