New, fun ideas to celebrate this Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is upon us, which is, stereotypically, the day that most men dread and most women cherish. However, when you think about it, there’s really no better reason to celebrate than love, and no reason at all for anyone to feel obligated to buy waxy chocolates and overpriced doodads to in order express love.

Showing love is much more than what our culture paints it as. We’ve been conditioned to think that love is flowers and teddy bears holding hearts in store windows – there’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but love far exceeds such small and materialistic interpretations.  Personally, I’d much rather spend an evening talking with my husband over homemade pasta than fight crowds to buy something that he’ll soon forget about. So in the spirit of being good stewards of all the Lord has given us, and with a desire to switch it up a bit this Valentine’s Day, here are some new, fun ways to celebrate love this weekend.

• Take your family on an outing – the park, the zoo, the beach, the local sledding hill – and spend time making memories outdoors.
• Go for a drive in the evening and watch the sunset together. Then find a place away from city lights and stay to stargaze, a thermos of hot cocoa in tow.
• Dig out some old movies – whether they’re old favorites or the home-video variety – make a nest on the living room floor with blankets and pillows, and settle in for a cozy evening.
• Plan a inexpensive weekend getaway, or if this weekend is too soon to plan something, spend a day researching and dreaming about future trips. Make a plan together to budget time and money to make your plans happen.
• Cook dinner together – try a new recipe or challenge yourself to cook like the pros.
• Take a long walk and talk about how this year can be better then last – talk about hopes and dreams – the kind of conversations that often get lost in the day-to-day.
• If you still need ideas, check out this fun list to of things watch, listen to and read. Oh, and go ahead and buy those flowers for extra points. She’ll love them.