Valentine’s Day is truly a Hallmark holiday. I have a conspiracy theory that it was secretly created by flower associations, chocolate factories, and greeting card vendors so they could receive a huge spike in sales. And, hey, I don’t blame them. As a consumer, while I don’t really have an interest in the holiday, who doesn’t want an excuse to eat heart-shaped Reese’s peanut butter cups? 

This year, I have a Valentine though. He’s handsome and cuddly and would make anyone’s heart melt. Two days ago I became an aunt, and my little nephew is coming home from the hospital today! I’m 27 years old (should I admit that?) and this is the best Valentine’s Day ever! It trumps ex-boyfriend gifts and even all the cheesy superhero-filled Valentine’s cards I received in elementary school.

I have concluded writing about my most recent trip to Kenya and wanted to give a little life/blog update. Now that you know who my Valentine is, the rest is just details. I’m back in the States and plan to hang around here for a while. What’s next for me, I’m not sure, however I have a few ideas in mind. In the meantime, I will return to finish blogging about Istanbul, my US road trip, some things I never finished blogging about on my RTW trip in 2010, and even some of my favorite places (you know, like Hawaii, because no one usually minds reading about tropical islands).

Umm, now to make this a Valentine’s post, I guess I should add a couple of love stories to it.

Bobbleheads
Stella and I carted around our beloved Alan and Abe bobbleheads on our 2011 US road trip. While camping in Zion, Utah, we popped into a jewelry store, and it turns out that there are other ‘special’ travelers like us who carry around pieces of plastic and show them off like pageant children. Abe met Mermaid Barbie (photo above in case you weren’t sure), and we saw a twinkle in his eye. He stopped ignoring Alan in the car and gushed about his new crush. Sadly, she lives in Florida, and Abe knows better than to do long distance relationships, so it was over in a flash.

Can I be like this when I’m old?
Now on a more serious note, the couple pictured above made my heart melt. Stella tried (and the plan only failed due to weather) to take us on a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon.  To do so, we had to sit through a safety video. While we waited for the seats to fill in the theater, we hear a woman over our right shoulder reading aloud. We look over, and we see that this woman is reading a novel to her husband. I’m not sure if he wasn’t able to read due to eye issues or if they just wanted to share in reading a novel together, but it was touching and reminded me that couples like this exist out there.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Remember, it’s an excuse to eat heart-shaped candy. Mmmm.