‘Tis the season of love! Valentine’s Day recently came and went. Though this holiday is filled with consumerism, I love the message of telling the important people in your life that you love them. Partners, family, and friends alike. Valentine’s Day can be whatever you make it to be. Though consumerism and capitalism might tell you otherwise, there is no right or wrong way to celebrate.

I would say Melissa and I have an untraditional Valentine’s Day tradition. We don’t focus on gift-giving or the flowers or the chocolate, though these things do have a place in our celebration occasionally. Since we started dating, we’ve always done something active on Valentine’s Day.

This started even before we were together. Our second year at RIT, when we were just roommates, a local Ninja Warrior Gym was having a ladies’ night, with discounted tickets. This event also happened to be on Valentine’s Day. Melissa, another friend, and I all had nothing planned and decided to go together. I had a blast! We had the gym to ourselves. It was interesting trying all the obstacles. Since then, we have kept the tradition going by doing something active on every Valentine’s Day. We’ve gone climbing and hiking, and when we were long-distance last year, we scheduled time to walk in our respective neighborhoods while talking on the phone.

This year, with Valentine’s Day being on a Monday, we both still had to work. But with us figuring out how to go on short, close hikes in the past week, that is what our active Valentine’s Day thing was this year. We hiked a local trail with a great lookout. With the sun setting later and later we were even able to explore a bit at the top! We ordered sushi take-out on the way home and spent the rest of the evening watching the Olympics together. (We’ve been following the men’s curling team).

My favorite thing about this year’s Valentine’s Day is the fact that a day like I described above is not unusual for us. We’ve built a life in Colorado that focuses on the things that are important to us together and as individuals. I will forever be thankful for the opportunity to move here.

I hope you were able to spend some time on Valentine’s Day with the people you love or doing something you love. Talk to you next week!