Valentines Day Stories

I asked some followers of Krista's Corner to send in some stories or memories that they have of Valentines Day. In this blog I am going to post these stories, and ask you to vote for your favorite. The winner will be announced tomorrow and will receive a $20 gift certificate to Applebees, so they can go out to dinner with their loved one. Before I share those, I thought it would be only right if I shared one of mine. However, I don't qualify for the gift card (that would be wierd). lol

The Valentines Day that sticks out most to me is in 1991. It was the first date my husband, now of almost 19 years, and I had. We only had 30 minutes for this date because it was on our lunch period when we were Juniors at North Medford High School. We jumped in his little grey Toyota, and headed off to the buffet at Pappy's Pizza. I was 16, and at the time pretty skinny. My, how time changes things! While we were at the buffet he saw me go up not once, not twice, not three times, but four times to get more food. I figure I was thinking if I only had a few minutes, I better eat quick! Disgusting I know...I have learned since then not to do that. (sort of - thus the reason I'm not so skinny anymore) Apparently right after he saw me wolf down 4 plates of food, I excused myself to the bathroom. He later told me that he thought I was bulemic! Thank God he didn't go off of first impressions, and gave me the chance to go on a second date! Now 19 years and 4 kids later, he is still my Valentine who I love with all my heart.

Here are some other heart warming stories shared by some others.

The first is by Molly Niemann

Well, where do I start. Kevin had left to Egypt for his first deployment. We had only been together for 18 months and I was so torn up knowing the man I loved was going to be taken so far away from me. I knew I was in for a long haul being alone but I kept myself busy as much as I could. We didn't get to talk a lot cause of phone lines and how tied up they got it was down to about 2 times a month. I was kind of feeling down knowing valentines day was coming up and didn't know if Kevin would be able to call or anything. But then on that special day. I got woken up by a phone call from him and then not even 5 min later a knock on the door. There 3 red roses being delivered to me with such a sweet note that brought me to tears. I was able to talk to Kevin for about 20 minutes before he finally had to go. I was so emotional and so excited that I didn't think the day couldn't get better but I turned on the radio and about half hour later I heard kevins voice. He had called and gotten through from Egypt and talked to the lady about where he was and us. He said I wanted to tell my fiancé molly how much I love and miss her. They played it on air and I got to hear his other sweet surprise and a sweet song just for me from him. It was one of the best days I could of asked for with him being so far away from me. Well it's kind of long but that is a memory I hold so close to my heart.

The second is by Jan Martinez

Our first Valentines Day....30 years ago didn't start off to good! Denny failed to get me a gift or a card. I was so devastated. You know when you are first married you have these high expectations of what your first Valentines Day will be like!! Well I was sorely disappointed, it seemed that Denny had never really been taught the ways of Cupid! So after he realized his great blunder he left the house. Of course this just complicated my misery. He was gone for hours. Now please remember that this was way before the days of cell phones or pagers of any type! So there I sat in a pitiable state of distress. My fantasy of Valentines Day had been shattered and I was all alone setting on my couch. As the hours passed my self pity grew. Finally I heard the car pull into the driveway, I was mixed with feelings of relief he was home and with the feeling of how wretched he was to have done absolutely nothing on this special day. But he redeemed himself! He came home with a giant card. He had gone to the store and bought all the supplies to make me a card. He then went to a park and assembled this giant and I do mean giant card. He had bought poster board and used that for the pages. He had been gone for hours because he isn't exactly what one would term "crafty" so creating a card of this magnitude took some time and thought. Of course when he told me the story and confessed that he had blundered almost beyond repair, all was forgiven. Our first Valentines Day that started off so bleak turned into my favorite memory of Valentines Day! For the record, I always get a card on Valentines Day!!

The third is by Amy Miller (Creekside Whimsies)

Pete and I don't necessarily do anything fantastically amazing on Valentine's Day, so sorry to say I don't have any mushy story along those lines. Everyday is Valentine's Day for us...I know, sounds cliche. :)

But I do have a Valentine's Day memory. Actually, it's a series of memories from when I was growing up. My brother was a few years older than me, and he had Cerebral Palsey. He was every bit as intelligent as the next person, he only had physical limitations. But it didn't stop him from enjoying holidays throughout the year. Valentine's Day was no exception. Every year, he and I looked forward to whatever little Valentine cards Mom would pick out for us. You know, the kind that little kids would give out to all their friends? Anyway, Mom would sit with both of us at the dining table when it was time to go through and sign all those little cards. Because by brother wasn't able to sign them himself, Mom would put a pen in his hand and hold his hand, signing his name "Jason" on every card. He loved it. He had so many friends in school, and he would always get so excited about the growing stack of cards that he was going to take for his friends. I remember whizzing through my cards, and then sitting and watching Mom, with her incredible patience, help my brother finish his. I used to get so impatient. It seemed to take them forever to get them done. And, of course, when all the Valentine's Day class parties were over, my brother would bring home an incredible haul of little Valentine cards. Classmates, friends, teachers, teachers' aids, even people in our church would give him cards...it was amazing. He got cards from some people that I didn't even know existed. But they knew him, and thought enough of him to wish him a Happy Valentine's Day.

To all of you who are reading this today, have a Happy Valentines Day! Whether you are married, single, engaged, or to young to even think about it, take time to make a memory. God Bless!

Barbara

Have you ever known a person who everybody called Mom? I remember growing up, my friends would call my Mom that. When I first met my husband, there were always a ton of people at his house, and every single one of them called his Mom, Barbara, Mom. Little did I know back then that she would be one of the most important people who would ever come into my life. Not only to me, but to my children, and countless numbers of others.

It is impossible to try to describe Barbara in one word. So these are some of the few I think of when I think of her, as I'm sure those of you who know her would agree. Giving, thoughtful, patient, trustworthy, funny, faithful, and something maybe not everybody knows...a dancing queen!

It makes me sad when I hear about people who don't get along with their in-laws. I am so thankful I have never had to experience that. Sean loves my parents, I love his, and vice versa. Don't get me wrong, we are by no means a perfectly happy family all the time...but...we are a family. When there are differences, they get worked out. When feelings are hurt, there is forgiveness. When someone does something stupid, we laugh at them!

One thing I love about Barbara is she knows what she wants. When it comes to her kids, grandkids and friends she always wants what is best for them, and to see them succeed. When it comes to vacations, if she can't be in Hawaii, she wants to be at the coast. When it comes to clothing, she wants to be classy and comfortable. And last but not least, she wants Diet Coke instead of Diet Pepsi. (Trust me, every waiter or waitress sees the "look" when they say, "we don't have Coke, is Pepsi alright?)

Some of the friendly family competitions we have is on Barb's birthday or Christmas we like to see who's gift can make her cry. She has no problem with expressing her emotions. I should clarify one thing though. It's not really a competition, Ben (Sean's brother) ALWAYS wins. We have succumb to the defeat though, and usually will get her one of her other favorite things...flowers.

For 20 years now, I've been blessed with having Barbara in my life, and I'm looking forward to the next 20. She is an amazing woman of God, who would give you the shirt off her back in a heartbeat. I know now why every one of Sean, Brandon, and Ben's friends called her Mom. It is because she is a Mom, in every single way.

I love you Barbara - Mom!

Routine or Spur of the Moment?

I took a survey on my Facebook page recently, asking the question, "Are you more of a "schedule" or "spur of the moment" type person?" I asked this because I noticed in my life how much of a "routine" type person I am. I like things a certain way, at a certain time, in a certain order. Now to "spur of the moment" type people (who I have in my immediate family) this drives them nuts I'm sure. I mean, how boring, right! If my routine gets messed with I can handle it for a bit, but then I tilt. Someone answered the question on my page, "I am a routine person who longs to be more of a spur of the moment type". That is how I feel also. But, at 36, I still get up at the same time, walk in and turn on the coffee pot, and do a lot of the same things every day.

My daughter, who is also very much a routine person in some things, is right in the middle of her gymnastics competition season. She will always eat Chicken Alfredo the night before a meet, and eggs the morning of. She eats a Power Bar in the car on the way, even though she hates them. She won't touch a sweet the week before a meet, but during the awards ceremony you may see her bust out a bag of Sour Patch Kids. Routine right? This last weekend we were in Washington and she did what I long to do. No, I'm not talking about a backflip, I would break myself! I'm talking about busting out of the normal, and still handling it well. She had the opportunity to stay with a friend at The Great Wolf Lodge, which has a huge indoor water park, the night before the meet. That's the first break of routine. She's never not stayed with us. Then that night for dinner she had a Burger and Fries (or something like that) and most likely a lot of sugar. That's number two. The morning of the meet she only had a bowl of fruit. That's three. Then finally, the meet itself was probably the most "not normal" meet for her personally that she's ever had. However, with all that, she got her highest All Around score to date for the level she's in. When I asked her afterward if she had fun even though it was so different, her comment back was "IT WAS A BLAST!" She had the most fun ever, and has talked about it over and over again.

For those of us who are so scheduled, I want to leave a thought. What would happen if we broke out of our routine? What if we tryed something new or switched things up a bit? Could it be that possibly we would have a blast? For those of you who are very spur of the moment, what if you got in to some sort of routine? Would it help things be more organized or peaceful? No matter who you are, and what "type" of personality you have one thing is for all of us. Love life, laugh hard, and make each day count!

Mother's

It has been said that a mother's love know's no bounds. What we will do when it comes to our children will go beyond, strength, perseverence, or any other meaningful attribute we express. We will do just about anything for them.

My Mom has always been my best friend. I realized at a young age how lucky I was to have her. Not every mother/daughter relationship is good, and I knew that what we had, and still have, is a blessing.

I'm sure she would tell you that I was the perfect daughter and by all means never did anything to give her grief. LOL! If you know me, you know I'm kidding. In my teenage years, the saying "a mother's love knows no bounds" was especially true. The times when I would get so mad at her because she wouldn't let me do what "everybody else's" parents were letting them do. Or the times when I would blow up at her because my hair wasn't cooperating and it was time to go to school. Yes, there were tense times growing up, but there were also very meaningful times. The nights we'd take walks along the bike trail and talk about anything and everything, the mother/daughter trips we took to the coast "just because", and the times she'd get a sleeping bag and sleep outside under the stars with me and we'd see who could count the most airplanes, satellites, and shooting stars.

My Mom was always the one who could make me cry. When I was pregnant with my first child and the doctor told me to go home, pack, and come back, because he was going to deliver the baby that day, I stayed fairly composed...until I called my Mom. As soon as I heard her voice, the tears came. Why? Because there's a bond there that breaks down any walls.

As an adult woman who has been married for almost 19 years and now has 4 kids of my own, (the oldest being a teenager now) my Mom is still one of my best friends. If I'm sick I still want her to bring me 7-up and crackers, if I've had a bad day, talking to her always makes it better, and the awesome thing is...she feels the exact same way about her Mom.

One of the passions in my life is to be a great Mom. My kids mean the world to me, and I would do just about anything for them. When it comes to my kids, I can be mean, but nobody else better be or they'll see the bear rise up in me. (LOL, I'm kidding...somewhat) They have wonderful people who pour into their life, like pastors, coaches, teachers, etc...but nothing compares to Mom. That's something I would never change.

In the long seasons of raising your kids, whether they're newborns not sleeping through the night, potty training, teenagers, etc. , never forget there is no greater joy then being a Mom. Those hard times will be passed up by the meaningful times. When they're older, maybe they can say the same thing about you that I say to my Mom...I love you, you mean the world to me, and your love has shown no bounds.

Don't Let Things go Unattended

Have you ever had a situation that you didn't really want to face? In your mind you succeeded in tricking yourself that if you ignore the problem it will just go away. Recently that happened to me. Infact, I'm in the middle of it right now. Before I tell you about it, let me just say one thing. If there's something in your life that you know needs to be dealt with, just do it. It might not be fun, it might even be painful, but in the end it's worth it.

A couple of years ago I had 2 root canals done on my back teeth. Not the ideal way to spend time or money, but I was happy, because the pain had become unbearable. The price was almost $2000 to get it done, and I was under the impression that it was for the entire procedure...getting new caps and all. So, when I called to make the appointment for the caps to get done, they said it was going to be around another $2000. I don't know about you, but coming up with an extra $4000 for teeth isn't easy. So, instead of getting them done, I let it go. Afterall, the pain was gone, and though it was pretty inconvenient when the temporary filling fell out, I still left it unattended. That was about a year and a half ago.

Over that period of time, I could tell they were in really bad shape. One ended up falling out, but never healing correctly, and the other just wasn't right at all. About 3 weeks ago I could tell something was going on with them because it started getting a little painful again. Then on Tuesday night, last week, I looked and they had abcessed. On Friday, I ended up at the Ortho Surgeon, and had both removed permanently.

Why am I sharing this? It's pretty gross, pretty personal, not many people want to hear about infected teeth...but, I share this because in many areas of our life we think if we ignore it, it will just fix it self or go away completely. That usually isn't the case. Whether it's in a marriage, raising kids, our health, our careers, our relationship with God, etc. leaving things unattended is never the answer. Sometimes we do just enough to make the pain go away, but never go as far as we need to, to resolve it totally.

This has made me think, and I am determining to look at every area in my life, and ask the Lord, "What am I not wanting to deal with? What have I let go?" I don't want to wait until the infection is so bad, that "emergency surgery" has to be done. What about you?

No Regrets

When I was younger I had this dream of growing up and moving to New York. Maybe it was the lights, or the tall buildings that so intrigued me. Whatever it was, when I was 18 I was going to move there, marry Kirk Cameron, and become an actress. But, since I was only 13, I would settle for posters of New York all over my room and walking down to the Minute Market and buying New York Seltzers.

When I turned 18, my dreams had changed and so had I. I was happily married to my high school sweetheart, and we dreamed of what our future together would look like. What would we do, where would we go, how would our life be? Anything was possible and everything was attainable.

Now that I'm 36 and life has happened (so to speak), there have been times that I have caught myself wondering if it was possible to dream again. If I could do anything I wanted to, what would it be? The answer has been, at times, I don't know. Somewhere along the way our big dreams had faded and our reality had set in. Don't get me wrong, I love my reality. I think I have the most wonderful family in the world! There's nothing about them that I would change. But where and when did I stop dreaming?

As I listen to conversations, at times, I realize that I am not the only one. When you're older, you deal with having regrets, and wondering if it's to late to do anything meaningful. When you're younger, especially with young children, you are living very much in the here and now. Somewhere in the midst of it all you can lose sight of your dreams.

The Bible talks about how when people have no vision they perish. I understand that. To not have anything to look forward to, or hope for, is miserable. But I don't want to live like that. So now when I ask myself the question, "if I could do anything what would I do?" My thought is, "I may not know completely, but I am going to have fun finding out!"

Choose to dream again, live life, laugh hard, enjoy the journey, and never have any regrets!

Happy Thanksgiving

As I sit here enjoying Thanksgiving with my family this morning, I feel truly blessed. At the moment, my house is filled with the smell of Pumpkin Pie, Sean is making his seasoning for Fried Turkey, the kids are jumping on the trampoline, and I am taking a moment to do what I love to do...write.

As I contemplate on how blessed I am, my mind turns to those who aren't so fortunate. There are so many people who, for whatever reason, may be struggling today. I think of the families who have lost loved ones this year and are having their first Thanksgiving without them. I think about the soldiers who are over seas and their families who are here. I think about the ones who have no family and are just waiting for today to be over, so they don't feel so bad. Sometimes I think it's important to stop what I'm doing and think about how others are doing.

As I am enjoying today, I am also looking for ways to be a blessing to others. I am also reminded that not just on Thanksgiving Day should I ponder these things, but through out the entire year. There are so many times I complain about little things, and this year I want to remember, every day, to be thankful. Even if the kids are going crazy, the car is breaking down, the house is leaking, etc.

How about you?