Will you be my Valentine?

Valentine's Day is just around the corner!

I love Valentine's Day. I know it's still a few weeks away, but I decided I wanted to do something different this year. Target had mini mailboxes in their $1 spot and I thought how much fun it would be to get one for each of the girls and put a little surprise in there on the days leading up to Valentine's day. They had alphabet stickers, too, which was perfect to put their names on them.

And some Mint Oreos, just because.

I saw some really cute, meticulously decorated mailboxes on Pinterest:

and while they are adorable, I do not have the patience for that. Especially since they are probably going to get dropped, dented and otherwise deformed by my enthusiastic children.

So I stuck their names on the boxes, added some flair to the flag and the front door, and Maddie asked if hers could have a 4 on it "since I am four!"

Easy peasy.

Every day starting February first, I want to put a little note in each box. Some days I'll put a small trinket in as well. I found some cute socks and rubber duckies (also in the $1 spot)

The big pair on the right is mine.

I also found really cute divided plates and fork and spoon sets that obviously won't fit in the mailboxes, along with some clearance toys to give the girls on V-day (LaLa Loopsy dress up wig for Maddie, play shopping cart for Allie) that are currently hiding in the back of the van. If I bring them into the house the girls' present-radar will go off and they'll find it and ruin the surprise. Plus, it's freezing outside and I'm too lazy to go get the stuff to take a picture.

Anyway, I'm getting a little tired of all the bitter people screaming how much they hate Valentine's Day, how it's a Hallmark Holiday, overcommercialized, blah blah. How they shouldn't need a special day to express their love and they refuse to do it out of spite. First of all, the concept of Valentines equaling love has been around since the 14th century. Second of all, Target has the cutest Valentine's home decor ever and any excuse to use stuff like this:

The square bird plates are my everyday dishes.

is a-ok in my book. And thirdly and most importantly, Valentine's day is my birthday. 

Pretty much how I still feel every year.

I never finish anyth

See what I did there? I am a world-class procrastinator. If procrastination was an Olympic sport, I would be a multiple gold medalist. (It would never be an Olympic sport because all the competitors would show up late, but you get the point) My past is littered with half-finished craft projects: cross stitch butterflies, latch hook rugs, an art assignment from high school.

New Year's means resolutions for a lot of people, and for a lot of people(myself included) it means resolutions that quickly get left in the dust. This year my resolutions are simple. I'm not pledging to run a marathon --

-- but I am doing a ten-week weight loss challenge with some of the (awesome) moms from my (awesome) mommy message board. Having someone to be accountable to will hopefully counteract my basic instinct to do a couple situps and then bail.

I downloaded a great app called  My Fitness Pal that tracks your calories and workouts. You input your starting weight, goal weight, and how active you are (see above .gif) and then it tells you how many calories to aim for. I've been drinking more water, and by more I mean any at all.

I found some great quick workouts on Pinterest and have been getting my cardio in by playing The Michael Jackson Experience on the Wii. (And achieved 10,000 points on Thriller, Inhuman level, thankyewverymuch.) Next up is Zumba on the Kinect which is almost guaranteed to kick my ass.

I'm taking baby steps towards being healthier. (And, let's be honest, I want there to be at least *one* summer where I feel good about myself in a bikini, and I'm not getting any younger.)

Oh, and while we're talking resolutions, I want to learn to crochet. I've got the chain stitch down pretty well, but I'm struggling with the actual crocheting part. I have this problem where if I don't understand how something is supposed to work, it's like there's this wall in front of it that I can't see through. And then it clicks and the wall is lifted.

I've been watching the helpful videos over at Craftyminx's Crochet School and I need to jump back in. I picked up some practice yarn at the local thrift store and I have a hook, all I have to do is force myself to sit down and finish something for once in my life.

So, in summation, my resolutions are simple: workout more, eat less junk, drink more water, and learn to crochet. Maybe I'll get to the marathon next year.