By Hannah Barnes, Student Reporter

This Valentine’s Day could be a romantic holiday for ACU couples who just began their relationships, those waiting to be married or others who already have walked down the aisle.

Daniel Paul Watkins, senior political science major from Fredericksburg, Va., said he has something special planned for his bride-to-be, Briana Ribble, senior education major from Arvada, Colo., for Valentine’s Day.

Watkins and Ribble will be celebrating their second Valentine’s Day as a couple. Despite their recent engagement, Watkins said he does not consider this Valentine’s Day as special as Ribble might, but he said he thinks “getting engaged is the most romantic thing ever.”

On the dating scene, Lauren Fjordbac, freshman computer science major from Grapevine, and boyfriend Jacob Knettel, freshman business finance major from Boerne, are planning a Valentine’s Day together. Dating for a mere two they will be celebrating their first Valentine’s Day as a couple.

“Valentine’s Day is a special day to share with those you love and those that mean the most to you,” Fjordbac said. “I am so glad I can share this day with him.”

She said being with her boyfriend has given her a new outlook on the day.

“I want to do something for him to show I care,” says Fjorbac. “This has caused me to think about the other people I love; I want to show my love for all of them.”

Married for about seven months, Naomi Walters, graduate student in Biblical studies from Syracuse, N.Y., and her husband Jamey are celebrating their second Valentine’s Day together.

“We spent last Valentine’s Day as an engaged couple, and we’ll be spending this Valentine’s Day as a married couple, but we never actually had a dating Valentine’s Day,” Walters said.

Walters considers Valentine’s Day to be a good excuse for the two of them to let go of commitments for a day and just be together with no laptops, no books and no papers to grade.

Walters said she does not think Valentine’s Day means something completely different than it did before her marriage. Walters thinks Valentine’s Day “becomes more meaningful as the relationship deepens.”

“We’re certainly sharing our lives more this year than we did last year and probably will be closer next year than we are right now,” Walters said. “In that sense, Valentine’s Day always means a little something more, regardless of how we celebrate it.”