Happy Valentines Day....

I really dislike this holiday, even when my husbands homes but much more now that he isn't...
But I do still celebrate it for my kids. So how am I celebrating it this year, we (me and our kids) went out yesterday, to mr. gattis, then I took the oldest on a clothes shopping spree (a little retail therpy can never hurt). Rented the Time Travelers Wife, watched it while eating a gallon of icecream and crying... Today me and Eden (our oldest) are baking a heart shaped cake...

We sent my hsuband some valentine cards, I had planned on visiting but that hope was crushed b/c he isn't in the right faciltiy to go with his class level, so unless there is an er, I can't see him. :(.

So I thought I wouldput up a little history on valentines, as I found the sotry interesting...Enjoy

Most scholars believe that this St. Valentine was a priest who lived around 270 AD in Rome and attracted the disfavor of Roman emperor Claudius II who ruled during this time. He felt that married men were more emotionally attached to their families, and thus, will not make good soldiers. He believed that marriage made the men weak. So he issued an edict forbidding marriage to assure quality soldiers.  The kindly bishop Valentine also realized the injustice of the decree. He saw the trauma of young lovers who gave up all hopes of being united in marriage. He planned to counter the monarch's orders in secrecy. Whenever lovers thought of marrying, they went to Valentine who met them afterwards in a secret place, and joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. And thus he secretly performed many marriages for young lovers. But such things cannot remain hidden for long. It was only a matter of time before Claudius came to know of this "friend of lovers," and had him arrested.
While awaiting his sentence in prison, Valentine was approached by his jailor, Asterius. It was said that Valentine had some saintly abilities and one of them granted him the power to heal people. Asterius had a blind daughter and knowing of the miraculous powers of Valentine he requested the latter to restore the sight of his blind daughter. It appears that Valentine in some way did succeed to help Asterius' blind daughter. Valentine refused to agree with the emperor regarding the ban on marriag, and was sentenced to death. .Valentine and Asterius' daughter fell in love his imprisonment. It caused great grief to the young girl to hear of his friend's imminent death. It is said that just before his execution, Valentine asked for a pen and paper from his jailor, and signed a farewell message to her "From Your Valentine," a phrase that lived ever after.