Valentine’s Day always seemed like an odd holiday to me, growing up. Sure, I enjoyed the class parties that were pink and red themed (the more red, the better!) like anyone else. But since my birthday is less than a week away, I was too busy anticipating my party and the presents I would open. As I got older, I slowly outgrew my childish preoccupation with my birthday, but I was never the kind of girl who wished for a boyfriend just to have a boyfriend. Valentine’s Day remained a fun day to pass out cards to my friends, in my mind. Our junior high sold carnations in red (love), pink (sweetheart), and white (friendship) for some sort of fundraiser, so sometimes my girl friends and I swapped white carnations instead of cards. For me, February 14th retained its status as a special day for friends.

Little changed when I went off to college. By February of my sophomore year, Eddie and I were dating, and we BOTH have February birthdays, so neither of us felt any particular need to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Other than the school Valentine’s Banquet, that is! Years later, we got married at the end of January. With our anniversary and birthdays within a few weeks of each other, we’ve had even less of a reason to do anything special as a couple for Valentine’s Day. Thanks to a VBS song from a few years ago, one thing I actually do each Valentine’s Day is get 1 John 4:19 stuck in my head. It was a short little song, but quite catchy. Literally, I’ve got, “We love because He first loved us, first John, four nineteen. We love because He first loved us, first John, four nineteen,” on repeat in my mind! I’d be happy to sing it so you can have it stuck in your head, too. Anyone? No? Suit yourself 🙂 But if you were wondering if I’d like to babysit/petsit/etc while you and your sweetie enjoy a date night together, the answer is yes! I thought you’d never ask!!

Anyway, in honor of today, here are some of my favorite portraits of couples, whether engaged, just married, or married for several years.