Love and Marriage

Lately I have noticed that Kevin and I are showing our love for each other in ways that are different than each other and occasionally we discuss how the other isn't showing enough love. It turns out that even though we both took the profile for our primary love language, it wasn't as accurate as we though it was. In fact when we took the profile we were still living apart and now that we live together, our love languages has changed. Luckily after being told to read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman by two different people I gave in and bought it. I now know what Kevin's new love language is and I was able to read the chapter on it and ways I can show him the love he has been looking for.
In addition to that, Kevin showed me his love on his first day off from work. I assumed he would prepare a surprise dinner and that would be it. But when I walked in the door after I got home from work, He hugged me and kissed me. Then he completely stripped me down and carried me to the bathroom. When he opened the door, the lights were off but the tub was glowing with candles surrounding the water. The oil burner was going and he had daisies floating in the tub. Once I got in the tub I leaned back on my fairly new tub pillow and smelled the white tea bath salt in the water. Kevin told me to relax while he finished getting dinner ready. He put on the Michael Buble CD and told me when the food was in the oven he would come back and wash me. I was completely speechless and not sure what to think, but I listened and relaxed. When I got out, he had dinner ready and it was stuffed chicken covered in cream of mushroom soup and chicken flavored rice. I was SO good I asked for seconds!!!
Now I am offically on my 9-day weekend. Since the students are taking their state tests next week Sylvan does not need to be there, so I have the week off. Monday, Kevin and I have off together and we have some things to take care of. Then that evening I am going to "Ladies Night Out" with Melissa at the Sagemont Church.
I also intent to pick up my cooking again now that I'm feeling better and have the time to cook next week while I am off work. So my cooking blog should be getting some attention too. :-)

Don't Give Up-Grow Up!

Recently I spoke to my Aunt Vicki on FB and mentioned I was worried about how Kevin and I would deal with our son coming into the world and if if would affect our time together and the household chores we share. I know the answer but I was looking for ways for us to remain close and not allow the stresses of our baby harm our relationship. She got this from a church in Orange, TX on April 7th and passed it along to me and I loved it so much I'm sharing it here. :-)

Balanced and Blessed Series

Don’t Give Up—Grow Up!

Six Steps to Help Your Marriage Go the Distance

     In this final session we are focusing on growing up, not giving up.  I love this session because we will be looking at six steps that will help your marriage go the distance.

     Our world is composed of lovers and losers, and to avoid becoming a loser we need to learn how to become a lover.  Once again, God’s Word gives us practical instruction on how we can love our spouse and grow up as believers.

     To help us remember how to be a lover who encourages and not a loser who complains, let’s remember the acronym L-O-V-E-R-S.

     “L” represents the word “laugh.”  The Bible says that the joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh. 8:10).  The Bible also says that a merry heart does good like a medicine (Prov. 17:22).  To have a great relationship, all of us need laughter and joy in life.  The joy of the Lord can be your strength, and the joy of your marriage depends on your laughing and building a balanced, God-honoring life together.  Fun does not always just happen—we have to plan it, to build margin into our lives so we can do fun things together.

     “O” represents “overlook.”  As a psychologist, I cannot tabulate the hours I spent with married couples who were fighting over things that did not matter.  Something within us wants to take control of the universe, wants to force others to do what we want them to do!  This insane craving is in me and it’s in you.

     “V” stands for “value”—we need to learn to value our spouse.  Too often we judge and reward people based on their actions or-more particularly-what they do for us.  We do not look at people as God’s gift, as His creation.  We need to remember that we cannot control how people live and perform—we can’t change them.  What we can change is how we see people—as dearly loved creations of God, made just like us, created in the image of God.  We are more like others than we admit: all of us are doing the best we can as we journey through this life on earth.

     “E” stands for “encourage.”  Think about people who have touched your life the most, those whom you remember fondly even after the passing of time.  Chances are every one of those people encouraged you, believed in you, and affirmed you in meaningful ways.  Encouraging others is one of the most effective of all human behaviors for building a marriage and a life that will go the distance.

     “R” stands for “realize” and “remind.”  We need to start realizing what’s really important in life and develop a habit of reminding ourselves every day.  In the end, it’s all about three things: faith, family and friends.

     “S” stands for serve—serving others, serving one another.  The Bible says that Jesus came to serve, not be served.  Serving our spouse is an act of love given not because we “have to” but because we “want to”—because we love, not because it’s our job description.

IT'S A BOY!!!

I know it's been awhile since I have posted. I have been busy moving into our new apartment and then cleaning it up and trying to enjoy my husband. Everything is going really good. Work is good. I'm finding my groove in my teaching and my kids crack me up with their silly questions of why I'm not "fat" yet if I am pregnant. Trust me I wish I was ballooning, but it'll happen in good time. For now I am enjoying the fact that my taste buds returned and I am feeling more energetic lately. I can get out of bed and eat real food without spending the first 10-15 minutes hugging the toilet bowl everyday. I'm starting to eat more and more things as the days go on. I'm still alittle wary of a few things but overall I'm just happy to eat more than crackers and cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. lol We went to the ultrasound specialist last Monday and the doctor was able to tell us what we are having. As you can read, we are having a boy. It was Kevin's first doctor appt with me so it was really exciting for him. The baby was bouncing around and kicking. Kevin's eyes were lite up the whole time. He looked like a little boy on Christmas day. Adorable!!! We have been debating names for our little boy. But I think we decided to stick with our original name, Christian Michael. Well that's all for now. Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!!!