~Be My Valentine~

I just wanted to tell each of you ~"Happy Valentine's Day"~ I hope your Sweetheart showers you with love....

Here's a few things you might not or might know about Valentines Day:

Valentine's "Did You Knows"

• Valentine's spending totals over $138 billion.
  
• Guys will spend an average of $135.67, while Girls (ladies) will spend an average of $68.64.
  
• $20.74 is usually spent on other family members and only $5.06 is spent on friends.
  
• For all those class parties, children spend an average of $3.52 on their classmates and teachers, while co-workers will spend an average of $2.56 on their fellow employees.
  
• 62% of people plan on purchasing at least 1 Valentine card, while 47.1% plan on buying candy.
  
• An average of 42.1% will go out to dinner, while 52.3% of men will buy flowers.
  
• 22.4% of men and 7.3% of women will buy jewelry and 12.6% of women will buy clothing.
  
• 180 million roses are sold for Valentine's Day making it the #1 floral day of the year.
  
• $2.4 billion is spent on jewelry and 180 million cards will be given out.
  
• 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be purchased and that makes Valentine's Day the fourth largest holiday for candy purchases, behind Halloween, Easter and Christmas.

The Story Behind Valentine's Day

There are many versions of the story behind Valentine’s Day.

This one seems to be the most popular belief:

Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. At that time, an emperor named Claudius ruled Rome. Claudius wanted to have a big army and he expected men to volunteer to join in. Many men did not want to fight in wars, as they did not want to leave their wives and families. Therefore not many men signed up. This made the emperor very angry. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. A Priest from Rome, Valentine continued to perform ceremonies secretly until he was caught. He was thrown in jail and told that his punishment was death. He had several people who visited his cell and one was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit the cell. Sometimes they would sit and talk for hours.

The story goes that on the day he was to die, Valentine left his friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty and signed it, "Love from your Valentine."

Valentine's Traditions

February 14th is the day of love! Learn about different traditions for this special day.

The three biggest symbols of Valentine’s Day are:

1. Valentine’s Day Cards – Many different forms are sent each year. To be exact an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year (excluding the cards passed out in school). In addition, women purchase approximately 85% of all Valentine’s Day cards.
2. Cupid – In ancient Greece he was known as Eros, the son of Aphrodite and in ancient Rome, he was known as Cupid and his mom was Venus. Legend goes that this winged child had an arrow that would pierce the hearts of his victims, causing them to fall deeply in love.
3. Roses – roses symbolize peace and war, love and forgiveness. White roses are for true love, red for passion, yellow for friendship and black is for farewell.

   Top Movies

   Top 10 Most Romantic Films of All Time:

   1. Sleepless in Seattle
   2. While You Were Sleeping
   3. An Affair to Remember (the original)
   4. Breakfast at Tiffany's
   5. The Bridges of Madison County
   6. Casablanca
   7. Ghost
   8. Gone with the Wind
   9. You've Got Mail
   10. Titanic