(Picture courtesy of Valentine's Day Blog)

It is officially February. Do you know what that means? It means that we get to start working our way towards Valentine's Day!

Now, I know the usual protests.

"Valentine's Day isn't a real holiday. It's just something for card and candy companies to make money off of."

"Valentine's Day is depressing if you don't have anyone to share it with."

"Valentine's Day is too much pressure."

The list goes on.

However, since I was little, Valentine's Day has always been one of my absolute favorites.

When you have a family, it's always fun to make Valentine's Day about the family, It shouldn't be just about mom and dad, or daughter and boyfriend, or son and girlfriend.

Every Valentine's Day my mom used to cook something special with us girls, whether it was cupcakes or sugar cookies. Along with the baked treats, once we got a little older, dad always got us each a rose of our favorite color. We were, on top of that, spoiled with candy and a small gift each. But the gifts weren't the important thing. We all spent Valentine's Day together. That's what made it special.

Starting in high school, I made sugar cookies for all of my friends. It's important to me to let others know just how much they are a part of my life and how much I love them. While I try to do this on a daily basis, I think Valentine's Day is a wonderful time to show it even more, especially with people who may be going through rough patches or may be down because they don't have "A Valentine."

I miss the days where you had to buy or make Valentine's for the whole class and put them into each person's bag, or "mail box," or envelope... whatever way the class did it. It seemed we had it right as children. Let everyone know just how special they are to you, not just that one special person in your life.