Ahh, February. You could say that love is in the air. Some of us are “single pringles” and ready to mingle. And others… well, they are quick to grab their Febreze and kill the love germs in the air. This probably describes February 14th for most of us.

Every 2nd month of the year on the 14th, we give flowers and chocolate. But why? One legend is that back in the day, St. Valentine, a saint at a Catholic church, was imprisoned. He ended up falling in love with the jailer’s daughter. He wrote her a love note addressing himself as “Your Valentine,” and that one little love note started the whole holiday.

Another origin story included St. Valentine as a priest in Rome. He lived under the reign of Emperor Claudius II. Claudius needed more soldiers in his army, but he realized no one wanted to join because they did not want to leave their wives or families. With this, he cancelled all the marriages in Rome. St. Valentine then secretly arranged marriages between couples behind the emperor’’s back. When St. Valentine’s marriages were discovered by the Emperor, he was sentenced to death. Coincidentally, his last day on this planet was February 14, 270 AD.

Everywhere you turn, you see boxes and boxes of chocolates. Bouquets of flowers litter the stores. All Mom is trying to do is buy a quick gallon of milk, but all of this Valentine’s stuff is in the way. For 2016, the amount of money expected to be spent is $19.7 billion. That night out on the town costs Americans $4.5 billion.

People spend money on these things to show appreciation for their other halves. You’ve probably heard of those little candy hearts that say, “ I love you” on them, right? According to softschools.com, there are enough of these delicious hearts to spread from Valentine, Arizona to Rome, Italy and back. That’s crazy!

This Valentine’s day, you’ll find me curled up on my couch waiting for the new season of Stranger Things to come out, eating a box of cookies. Happy Valentines to me!