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Happy Valentine’s Day lovers!  Do you have big, romancey plans for this evening?  Tonight, I will be snuggling up with the Seuss, a baked potato, and doing some laundry while KC works late.  Ooh the spicy, romantic lives of us newlyweds!  Despite that, I hope your night is filled with all kinds of cuddles, smooches, and more candy than you’d care to consume in a lifetime.

In case you didn’t know, I like Valentine’s day.  I’m not some crazy Valentine’s freak who bakes heart-shaped red velvet cupcakes for everyone and their mother the night before and then hands them out with hand-crafted valentine’s cards or anything; jeez, you think I have that kind of time?  I mean, I probably do, it’s just that I’d rather spend those precious minutes watching The Vampire Diaries (omg was that out loud..?)  But all that aside, I fail to see what’s so bad about a holiday that revolves around candy, champagne, flowers, and the ones you love.  Just FYI, those are like all my favorite things right there.

So what does all this mushy stuff have to do with my February challenge?  Well, I’ll tell you.  Lately, I’ve been feeling pretty negative about some things in my life.  I’m not going to go into what they are (not to worry, my marriage is just fine — better than fine really, I love the crap outta that husband of mine), but suffice to say, these cloudy-grey feelings have been taking up a lot of real estate in my head much more than usual lately.  While I am actively working to resolve these not-so-shiny feelings, I’ve decided to add a little sunshine to the blog as a reminder of the things in my life which are worth being Valentine’s-Day-cheery about.

Hence, the last two weeks of February will be my “be more grateful” weeks (I’m also referring to this challenge as the “attempt to stop being such a whiney b#$%& challenge”).  During these weeks, I’ll be identifying things I’m grateful for everyday, and (occasionally) posting on the blog about them.  I can’t promise that I’ll be posting daily, but I’ll do my best to get a lot of it on here.

Shall we start now?  There’s no time like the present!

Today I’m grateful for:

1. Valentine’s Day.  It’s incredibly sappy and kind of a “nothing” holiday, but I can’t help but smile seeing all the lovey articles and facebook posts.  This is a pretty nice little representation of just why I like this holiday.  Well, that and it’s a good excuse to go have a fancy date night with KC.  (We went here on Friday for our Pre-V-Day dinner, and it was delicious!)  Also, it’s just plain adorable to see all the FiDi boys lined up at See’s Candies bright and early in the morning, wearing their business-casual best.
2. The laundry machines in our building.  Yes, they leak so the floor is always wet, and it’s pretty much guaranteed that someone in the building will have left their clothes stewing in one (or both) of the washers or dryers, meaning you have to move all their sh$% in order to launder yours (not to mention that 75% of the time they’ll come back and screw up your whole laundry time schedule).  But, despite all this, it’s still 1000 times better than having to lug everything to some creepy laundromat where lord-knows-what has been through those machines.
3. Bar Method.  You guys have heard about my love for Bar Method on here before, but these days I’m thanking my lucky stars for the ability to end my day de-stressing via some intense burning and shaking at the barre.  Also, I’m mere days away from becoming a certified instructor, which I’m quite excited about.  It’s been a lot of work, but I’m so glad I did it (I’ve been wanting to do it for 3 1/2 years now, and just never bit the bullet) — it’s always nice to realize a dream (even the small ones!)

Well, that’s my list to start!  I hope you’ll take a minute to think about the little things you’re grateful for in your own life (and share them on here, if you’d like!)  And of course, I’m grateful for all of you who read this little blog of mine.  I know it’s not much to look at these days, but I certainly appreciate that you’re here when my thoughts do make it onto the page.

Have a lovely (and lovey) evening!

xo, Chelsea