my so-called life: 14 days of love

I am working on fun, inexpensive surprises for Mark for Valentine's Day. In years past, I have not celebrated Valentine's Day. I don't see the point in wasting money on overpriced flowers, candy, gifts, and other "romantic" things on any one specific day. I'd much rather show my love and appreciation when the moment strikes me...not when I'm told I'm supposed to.

2 years ago was our first Valentine's Day together. I felt the same way about the holiday then. So instead of what the average couple would have done, I created loving, inexpensive gifts to show Mark that even though I don't believe in the holiday, I still loved him more than I could have ever imagined. Below you can see some of the things I made for him (what is still left of it after two years anyway) WAY before Pinterest existed to stifle creativity and limit originality (don't get me wrong, I do enjoy Pinterest).

I put all of Mark's mini-gifts inside of this beach pail. He loves his annual family vacations and the beach means a lot to him. I bought some sticker letters and put, "i dig you" on the front of the pail. I also wrote it on the shovel.

I do the below craft every year for my students in my classroom. I was excited to see it all over Pinterest this holiday season. Mark really does color my world <3

Two years later and this was still in tact...until Ainsley got ahold of it. A self explanatory gift :)

Mark is hilarious and makes me laugh more than I make him laugh...which is a must for me. My life is full of laughs thanks to him!

This year I am trying to do the same. I have decided to give Mark something each day for the first 14 days of February. I will post pictures as they are created :)

Day 1: Banana; I'm bananas over you

Day 2: Orange Slices (his favorite); Orange you glad you're my Valentine

Day 3: Apple; You're the apple of my eye

Day 4: Pear; We make the perfect pear

Day 5:Ring Pops: Can't Wait For You To "Put a Ring" On It!

Day 6: Picture frame; Love You with scrabble pieces

Day 7: Picture frame; Love One Another saying

Day 8: Secret Vday Messages that Ainsley and I will make using white crayons and watercolors.

Take a white crayon and write your message. Then, ask the receiver to use a paint brush and water colors to reveal the secret message. This was Mark's favorite!