Thankful Thursday (04/19/12)

April 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

As you can probably relate life can get hectic and very busy. Sometimes we (us, you and all those other people) get caught up with work, school, kids, errands and a list of things to do a mile long. In turn we forget to thank our significant other for the big things or small things that they do.

With all of life’s distractions its easy to forget to say “Thank You” Thankful Thursday is a day set aside that we make sure we thank our significant other for the big things or the little things that they do or have done. We encourage you to take this time to thank your significant other for things they have done. You can write them a note, send them an email, text them or even tell them face to face… The point is let them know!

While you’re at it leave a comment below sharing what you are thankful for!

I have a lot to be thankful for this week!  Two weeks ago I knew what I was thankful for but forgot to write a post… Oops! Well today I am making up for that!

A few weeks ago Cassie did the 5 Love Languages Challenge.  She learned my love language and each week was given an assignment to love me based on my love language.  She had to be creative, thoughtful and resourceful.  I didn’t actually pick up on what was going on until after the second week!  It was so neat to see the time and effort put into each assignment.  I am so thankful that Cassie is not only willing to learn and grow… but also apply what she has learned.

I am 28 years old and I got an Easter basket!  I was pretty excited!  It was a recycled basket with recycled paper grass full of eggs!  Each of these eggs were filled with two caramels and a note… Some with words of affirmations,  some with bible verses and some just had thoughts that she wanted to share about me and us!  It was such a nice surprise to get such a breat unexpected gift!

Yesterday Cassie and I had the opportunity to be on a radio show.  We talked about how we met, our training & racing and our other projects that we are working on.  I am thankful that we had the opportunity to look back over the last year and a half and share our stories together!

I am o so grateful and thankful to have Cassie as my wife… My life is truly better because of her!

What are you thankful for… Feel free to leave a comment below!

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5 Love Languages Challenge Week 3 & Week 4

March 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Things have been a bit busy so I got a little behind on the blog posting but here it is now!
You can read Week 1 and Week 2 if you would like to see what happened before now.
Week 3

I received an email that said:

Scene of Him: Find a movie scene (or book/play) that reminds you of your husband and what he means to you. Show the scene and encourage him by comparing him with this character.

My first thought was, “Oh, no.” I am not the best with remembering names when it comes to well… menu items, restaurants, stores, books, movies, or actors/actresses. Needless to say I knew I was going to have to do some hard thinking on this one! I started thinking of movies we had seen recently and some of Ryan’s favorite movies. I am not a real movie buff either so it is hard for me to remember movie scenes.
For several days I am weighing my options here. Should I go with a movie or a book? I decide at least a movie I can YouTube some video clips. A few days later I start searching YouTube. I am just not having much luck. I remind myself this is called the “5 Love Language Challenge” so it is ok that it is a challenge this week. I am searching things like “great husband”, “awesome leader”, “hard worker” and “encouraging husband”. Nothing too great pops up.
 I then go to the triathlon side of things. I finally find a 30 second clip of this lady dreaming of swimming, biking, running. All the sudden her alarm goes off at 5am and she jumps out of bed to go train. I chose this video for the challenge. I showed the video to Ryan, pointed out that of course his alarm clock says 4:30am instead, and that he has been doing an amazing job of getting all his workouts in and that I was proud of him.
Week 4
My challenge stated:

Husband Journal: Each day this week write some thoughts about the positive things you observe about your husband. Read those thoughts each night or save them and present it to him at the end of the week.

This week was a bit easier for me! I can always come up with great things to say about Ryan. One evening when Ryan jumped in the shower I made this simple little journal.
Each day I wrote things in it about him. Monday: Told him I appreciated how many times he told me thank you for his note I left him that morning. Tuesday: Expressed how much I enjoyed running with him that morning, but also how grateful I am that he cooked dinner. Wednesday: Thanked him for taking care of my finger that I almost chopped off! Thursday: I let him know how coming home to the dishwasher started and dishes being clean was great. Friday: Told him he was so cute playing with his nephew and I know that he is going to be a great dad. Saturday: I wrote how much I enjoyed our cuddling and napping after our long workout. Sunday: I explained all the great things about the evening with him!
Of course during these two weeks I received emails that also gave me conversation starters. Some of them where:  Finish this sentence: “I wish we had the camera with us when…”, Something about you that I hope you never change is…, “Of the people you know, who seems to be most satisfied with his or her job?  What would be your dream job?” and several more.
Another two weeks of speaking my husband’s love language. Week 5, last week of the challenge, is coming my way and I am ready for it!
Remember we are giving away free copies of “The 5 Love Languages” by Gary Chapman! Check out the details here!
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5 Love Languages Challenge for Newlyweds – Week One

February 21, 2012 by 2 Comments

About a week and a half ago I posted about the 5 Love Languages Challenge that I thought would be a good newlywed challenge for me that started on Valentine’s Day. Well here we are one week after it started so I thought I would give you an update on week one!

Before the challenge I asked Ryan to complete the online survey so I would know what his love language was. He then sent me the results so I could update my profile. Then, according to my profile I have been receiving emails for the challenge from the 5 Love Language crew.

With Ryan’s primary love language being words of affirmation the first email read: NOTES ALL OVER – This week, put a note of encouragement about his work—helping provide for the family—in different places where he will find them. One in his car, one in his wallet—surprise him with your words.

For Valentine’s Day I had already created puzzle pieces that he would receive throughout the day with little valentines and notes. On the puzzle was a poem that described what we would be doing that evening to celebrate the day. “Notes all over” was taken care of for that day. Throughout the week I sent a special email, text and wrote a note for him.

Side note here: When Ryan and I were early in our dating stage I read the book “The 5 Love Languages,” by Gary Chapman, at that time Ryan and I took the quiz to find out what our love language was. Ryan’s was words of affirmation then too (sometimes it changes over time or in different stages of life). I decided then that I wanted to start writing him a note once a week that was to affirm him, our relationship, his achievements, etc. Since then I have done pretty ok about it with a few weeks missing here and there. But a notebook is well on its way to becoming full! I encourage you to find out what your significant others love language is then set at least once a week aside to show them love in that way!

Back to the 5 love language challenge now… not only did I receive an email the first day with the challenge, but then each day I received another. I got three emails with conversation starters. The emails said that “meaningful, in-depth discussions affirm and encourage your spouse.” The conversation starters included: What is something humorous you recall from our first weeks/months of dating?, Recall a favorite feature of the home/neighborhood you grew up in. , and Complete this phrase: I wish we could travel to ______ and eat _____ all day long. I then received two emails that reminded me of the challenge with a link I could go to to mark my challenge complete!

This weeks challenge has reminded me to make sure I express the wonderful things that I am feeling in words so that Ryan can be not only encouraged by them, but feel loved by them as well! It’s not too late to join the challenge if you would like! You can do it right here. Make sure you check back next week to see how week two of the 5 Love Languages Challenge has gone! I am excited to see what is next!

Read weeks two challenge here!

Want a copy of “The 5 love languages”? We are giving some copies away! Click here to find out how to get your copy!

Remember to leave a comment below sharing a story about how you show your spouse love! You can like our Facebook page up in the right hand corner too!

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