Happy Hearts

"Who, being loved, is poor?"  -Oscar Wilde


Valentine's Day gets a bad rap.  We live in a "love"-centric world, and yet we have such weird ideas about love.  People think love is satisfied by boyfriends, girlfriends, excessive amounts of chocolate and two dozen roses.  If you're single on Valentine's Day, watch out!  You're going to have the worst day of your year!

I'm here to tell you that is just not true.  I am single (and, don't worry, I was single yesterday on the actual holiday too).  I had, however, quite a delightful Valentine's celebration (if you discount going to class).  I spent it in quality time with friends, in conversation with family, and in the receipt of unexpected gifts.  I felt very loved indeed!

Here are some tips to have a fabulous, fail-proof Valentine's Day:

1. Spend time with young children.

Dancing with Max!

On Sunday night, I went to a tiny Tennessee town with three lovely girlfriends to hear our friends, the band L'Angélus, play in a country grocery/restaurant.  We dressed up, ordered chocolate cake and cheesecake, and played with Little L'Angélus (younger siblings).  SO MUCH FUN.  If you ever want a pick-me-up, look at the face, watch the actions and listen to the conversation of children.  They are so beautiful, innocent and will make you laugh.  I didn't have a boyfriend to dance with, but I did have 6-year-old Max. I didn't get a massage from a boyfriend, but I did get to give 4-year-old Mollie a piggy-back ride.  My boyfriend and I didn't have pictures taken to commemorate the day over a romantic, candlelit meal, but I did participate in quite the photoshoot, thanks to the 6-year-old twins and 8-year-old Angelle.  That was quite enough to make my heart sing (literally).

2. Spend time with good friends.

Kathryn, Bridget, Jade, Christine

I am very blessed with wonderful friends.  We can have silly conversations and serious heart-to-hearts.  They challenge me to be a better person, and I hope I challenge them.  We have so much fun together that, even though we would be delighted to find awesome young men (just because we are joyfully single does not mean that we're completely uninterested in dating!), we are living our current daily vocations with happy and hopeful hearts -- We are students, daughters, sisters, friends.  We love.  Our "double-date" to see L'Angélus on Sunday was fantastic.  On Monday night a group of girls gathered at a house for wine, cheese, dessert and fun games.  Such beautiful quality time together!

3. Be grateful for unexpected surprises/Send an unexpected surprise to someone!

Lace bookmarks, Reese's (my favorite!), a watch, recipes,
a pretty new box, and Photoshop!

On Monday I brought in the mail and was surprised to find so many treasures!  I had a package from my mom and she had filled it with some of my favorite things!  I also received a "Save the Date" notice for my friends' wedding in May, a postcard from my roommate who is living in Senegal, and my Adobe Photoshop software!  Wow!  So many surprise gifts on Valentine's Day!  Thank you!  If you want to make someone's day... send a surprise to them!


4. Pray and say thank you to God.
If you feel like you have nothing else, you have your life, and so you have an opportunity to feel, to think, to do and to love.  As The Sound of Music reminds us, "Love isn't love until you give it away."  God gave His all away for us.  Say thank you, and give your all for Him and for others.  You might be surprised at how loved you feel when you are the one loving.

"Give a little smile, in a little while you're gonna find love conquers all... It can break down walls, if you give a little bit."  -L'Angélus, "Give a Little Bit"