With Valentine’s on my mind I pulled out this little black book this morning:
It is a small collection of photos that Ryan gave me when we were dating and I was about to leave to Africa for a month. Every single night, sitting on my top bunk in a bare-bones backpackers’ lodge in Zambia, I flipped through this book and wondered if I would spend my life with this man who was thoughtful enough to see that a pink bow was tied around that little black book.
Now, I look at the girl in that picture (seven years ago this summer) and marvel at how ridiculously carefree I was during those euphoric months of falling head over heels in love.
I was FUN then. Carefree seems to bring out the best in me. 🙂 Am I FUN now? I want my husband to still feel he’s married to the same woman…as often as I can summon her, that is. This Valentine’s, I resolve to summon that Erica a little more often. To be a bit more spontaneous (and maybe a little less glued to naps) and much more willing to give a back rub every now and then. And maybe I should bring a little hot pink back into my wardrobe…
Do you have anything from the early days of your relationship that reminds you of that version of yourself? Today is a great day to pull it out. Happy Valentine’s!
Two things came to mind with this post:
1. When we were dating, Matt "anonymously" delivered a box of krispy kremes to my dorm (I knew they were from him.) He wrote me a note on the inside of the box and carefully shaded the letters perfectly. Because of this care to detail, it struck me that he really liked me and this could potentially be something. 🙂 Silly I know, but I'm telling my boys that the little things they do mean a lot to a girl.
2. Have you taken the love languages tests (I'm sure you have). http://www.5lovelanguages.com/assessments/love/
Matt and I took them and it was fun and a good reminder of what the other needs. I am Words of Affirmation and Matt is acts of service. I have really been thinking about it lately when I've been doing things Matt needs. I have actually been happier doing some of them because I remember that it is a way that he personally feels my love for him. My friend has a gift blog and has gift suggestions for each love language. http://nuzzerbox.com/
Anyway, more info than you probably wanted to know! But A good post gets you thinking, right? 🙂 So thanks! I sure wish we lived closer. 🙁
Oh, so sweet! It is fun to remember those thoughtful things we did for each other back then. We still do them now, I guess, just on a smaller level. Good to remember still.
YES! Thanks, dear! It's so cute you remembered that he carefully shaded those letters. And I do love the love languages book, though I haven't taken the test (we've only self diagnosed). Ryan loves acts of service too, and it really is helpful to think of it as showing my love when I'm ironing his shirts. 🙂
Agreed. That's actually a great post idea – sweet things we do now to keep winning each other over, even long after we've tied the knot!
Such good timing on this post too- I was just thinking about how the person that my husband fell in love with hardly even exists any more. It made me kind of sad at first, but now it's just an opportunity to re-define by roll. I remember in a marriage prep class having the conversation that we will be a mother and father for the rest of eternity and we'd better figure out who and what we are in those rolls, not necessarily in our bachelor/bachelorette phase of life. Interesting…but it's like starting all over again 🙂
I really like that, Laura! And I've never thought of it that way. That makes me feel better about the new me. 🙂 Thank you!