My Lovelist

Valentines Day is just around the corner.... (a week from today to be exact)! I was in the grocery store today and was amazed by all of the Valentine items for sale, two whole aisles of things dedicated to one little day. I found myself wondering who in the world actually purchases some of these things??? I apologize if your honey is one of the fellows who so lovingly bought you the stuffed, sunglasses wearing cat that sings "Wild Thing", the a KY Warming Gel pack (tastefully? packaged in a decorative Valentine box), or the fuzzy dice that have "My Love" and other cheesy messages written on the sides. So silly. You gotta love Valentines' day. It is the perfect opportunity to tell people how you feel about them.

I think this holiday is great. When I was little, I especially loved candy hearts. I still do! I would eat them all up, except for the white ones. I saved those for the times when I didn't feel like brushing my teeth. Somehow I thought the minty fresh breath that they provided was a good substitute for good oral hygiene. (That has changed.)

I used to love the thrill of writing out Valentines for each person in my elementary school class. I would take time to carefully divide them out, choosing the cutest ones for my best friends, giving my least favorites out to the kids I didn't like very much. I liked to write my own special notes on each card. The short, two or three word note that the store bought Valentine had didn't seem enough to show my best buddies just how special they were to me. I would always do this the night before Valentines' Day. It usually took me quite a long time, as my notes were very detailed. (This hasn't changed.)

This year, Mary Alice and I have already spent lots of time cutting out hearts, glittering and gluing and trying to make the perfect valentines. I think she has inherited her mother's love for words. The words she writes don't fit on her valentines either. I think she also inherited my love for candy hearts, but I am trying to make sure she doesn't use them as a way to get out of tooth brushing.

Inspired in part by Miranda ,and in honor of Valentines day, I am making a list of the objects of my affection, not complete and in no particular order:

AMBER'S LOVELIST:

1)My wonderful husband(of course)

2)My kissable, huggable kids and their sweet cherub faces (I look at them every day and think about how much I've been blessed!)

3)The coffee shop (My day is lovely when I can sip a cup of Joe. Really, EVERYTHING seems 100% better.)

4)The library (I love to get free books and lots of them. I think the library is my favorite place on earth!)

5)The great outdoors on a beautiful day (I have been thinking all week about how I am going to get a season pass to a local outdoor garden. There is almost nothing I enjoy more than taking my kids for a picnic in the gardens. I have missed my Arboretum trips and am dying to take the kids again!)

6)Flowers on my kitchen table (This is always a great pick me up.)

7)Creamy Vanilla lotion

8)A new pair of jeans or shoes

9)Dinner at home with my family

10)Listening to my kids sing hymns (the most beautiful sound on earth)

11)The piano (playing it or listening to it being played, especially by my brother, Ben)

12)My like-minded, far away friends, Their examples and prayers...

13)Listening to classical music on the radio (The ghetto looks altogether different when classical music is playing in the background...)

14)The times when I learn something new about God... (It might have been something that I thought I knew all along, but it actually really clicked.)

15)Reading the Old Testament by Marguerite De Angeli to Mary Alice (I have always laughed at the King James Version, thinking it antiquated, but have recently fallen in love with its beautiful words. It makes me smile, picture things differently, and sometimes....laugh. It uses terms like "gave up the ghost", "Behold", "Hereby", etc. Laugh if you want to, but read it aloud and tell me if it doesn't have much more feeling than your NIV!)

16)Creating things

17)Teaching my children

18)Learning something new(I guess this could fall under books/the library category)

19)Working out

20)lip gloss (Putting on lip gloss is a sure way for me to make my day a whole lot better!)

21)The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer (Just a book I've been reading lately...)

22)My very best girlfriend that I call about everything, even just to tell her a quick funny something, She does the same with me.

I know that there are many more things that I love. I could go on and on, but I won't. Talking about the things that bring me joy is something I like to do. I hope you have a wonderful Valentines' day filled with many of the things that you love. If your man is one of those ones who might get you a stuffed sunglasses wearing cat, you may want to head him off now, unless, that is, stuffed cats are on your lovelist.