My sweet Valentine Tony got up early to surprise me with this guest blog he spent the morning working on. It’s the best Valentine’s Day gift I could ever imagine, because – on top of being hilarious and loving, just like him – it’s a way of showing support for my blog, my goals and dreams, and my work. That is the most romantic Valentine’s Day present I can think of. (I know, I am the luckiest…) So HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, from me and Tony! I hope your day is full of happiness and love, whether it’s with your crush, your besties, or your fur baby (or 3, as is my case). X A

At about 6:30am every morning, our dogs (Lucy, Tippi, and Maggie) go bananas. Tippi jumps off the bed which then causes a chain reaction of whining, ball squeaking and general fuzzy tornado-ness… One of the
many little annoyances (or perks) of owning a dog, or in our case, a horde of dogs. My attitude regarding such awakenings varies from annoyed to happiness, depending on how much Homeland Annie and I watched the night before. I can choose to let this piss me off because I need more sleep OR I can find the joy in watching my puppers love life unconditionally. Where is this all going? Well, this Valentine’s Day I
wanted to take a second and just reflect on how darn lucky I am. I tend to be a “glass half full” kind of a dude, but if you’re like me, you can lose perspective pretty quickly with how fast our lives move. Thus, on this day of love-giving, I wanted to give a little thanks in return for all the good stuff we’ve got going on (for me: Annie, our doggies, strawberry donuts, BBQ, Predator, and more). Also, to be totally honest, I wanted to gift Annie with a blog for this day of romance. But first a little history lesson, because I need to utilize
those four years I spent chasing a B.A. in History at the Virginia Military Institute!

Turns out that Valentine’s Day has its roots in an ancient Roman day of (amongst other things) slapping women with bloody goat hides. This fertility festival called Lupercalia involved animal sacrifice (typical) and the day ended with (I’m not kidding) the dudes pulling a girl’s name out of an urn to be paired with (I wish it was still that easy, amIright bros?!) Upon the rise of Christianity, the church was like “I don’t think this whole hide slapping day is very Christian,” so (like a boss) Pope Gelasius declared February 14th St. Valentine’s Day.

The history behind declaring St. Valentine’s Day seems to be attributed to a multitude of things: covering up the weird goat day, birds start mating in February, a saint named Valentine? Now, there are several saints named Valentine, including Saint Valentine Kilmer (I know, terrible joke, but he was pretty awesome in the 1997 classic, The Saint. Also as Doc Holiday in the 1993 western epic, Tombstone. He was pretty great up until 2000, besides Kiss Kiss Bang Bang). For real though, there were several different Saint Valentines, but one in particular was supposedly granting secret marriages in a time when young males were forbidden from marriage in order to be better soldiers (what a friggin’ thug right?!)

It was a while before the day was associated with love and romance. Soon after though, Valentine’s Day greetings became commonplace. The earliest known written Valentine is a poem from Charles, Duke of Orleans, who wrote from his cell in the Tower of London to his wife in 1415 (a story reminiscent of Charlie Manson and his new young bride, right?! Nevermind, they broke up.) It’s actually pretty romantic stuff! Even Henry V hired a writer to compose his Valentines throughout his reign.

Since then, Valentine’s Day has become increasingly popular. In the mid-nineteenth century with the drop in postage rates, a big craft nerd, Esther A. Howard (known as the Mother of the Valentine) began mass producing Valentine’s Day cards using ribbon, lace and pieces of colored pictures (I bet she had lots of kitty helpers, from the looks of her).

Today, people spend an estimated twenty billion dollars on gifts. Around 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent during this time. And Annie and I didn’t do it, but six million couples are expected to get engaged on February 14th.

So, there’s a little history lesson for ya, again, all ripped off from history.com!

Now to the good stuff. I wanted to put together a random list of 14 things (because it’s the 14th day of the month, bro) to hopefully make your Valentine’s Day a little better, so here it goes (and remember, I think “irregardless” is a word):

The very first recorded Valentine from 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife:
I am already sick of love,
My very gentle Valentine,
Since for me you were born too soon,
And I for you was born too late.
God forgives he who has estranged
Me from you for the whole year.
I am already, etc.
My very gentle, etc.
Well might I have suspected,
Having such a destiny, cousin
Thus would have happened this day,
How much that Love would have commanded.
I am already, etc.

A photo with my Valentine and our three puppers (Lucy, Tippi and Maggie).

This great quote from Ursula K. Le Guin: “Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.”

This Valentine’s Day memory: My mommy picking me up from 2nd or 3rd grade. She had a brand new Raphael Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles doll in the car for me as a Valentine’s present. I probably pee’d myself I was so excited. I love you, Momma!

This epically awesome idiot. I can’t believe she said “yes”!

The baby elephant Annie and I sponsor.

These 40 Secrets to a Happy Relationship.

These Love Affirmations to repeat to yourself throughout the day:
I am surrounded by love and everything is fine.
My heart is always open and I radiate love. All my relationships are long lasting and loving. I see everything with loving eyes and I love everything I see. I definitely did not fart, that was the dog.

Although I have NEVER seen it, here are the best scenes from The Notebook.

The 25 Most Romantic Things To Do in L.A.

The first Valentine’s Day card Annie ever gave me, that I keep by my bed.

“The less able I am to believe in our epoch and the more marinaded depraved mankind seems in my eyes, the less I look to revolution as the remedy and the more I believe in the magic of love.” – Hermann Hesse

Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy”

There ya have it. I know Annie is going to be stoked because I limited my run-on sentences, although I did whip this up in a couple early morning hours, so don’t judge me too hard. In all honesty though, I couldn’t be more pumped about my Valentine (my beautiful Annie) and the upcoming year (and our whole lives) we get to spend together. I love her more then words can express and she has made me a better man then I ever deserved to be. HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY everyone! LOVE TO ALL!