A Message of Thanks

I just have to give a shout-out to Hubster to let him know how much his support of my dreams means to me. This week we celebrated 7 years of wedded bliss, so what better time than now.

Sometimes, I have those moments where I'm in full-blown creative mode. I could think of 100 ideas off the top of my head, my eyes get really big and my voice gets quite animated. Not many people see that side of me (and it doesn't happen that often), but Hubster does. When I get overcome with dreams, projects and ideas, he always nods his head in full agreement. And it's not the kind of nod and smile that's dismissive. It's the real thing. The "I'll build that for you" or "I'll take you there" type of nod.

He's offered to help me with DIYs that I've come up with for on here. The type that would normally have me putting supplies back on the shelf not knowing quite how to implement the project. Hubster even gives me more ideas than I started with and works through them with me to make them work or make them better. He sits in the hardware store for longer than he had anticipated to try and bounce around ideas with me. He even offers to check a different store for me when we don't quite find what we're looking for.

When I went in for my NASM test, he actually told me he said a prayer for me. I mean, this brings water to my eyes just writing about it. The man of quiet faith who rarely goes to church or talks about religion. I know he's a believer, but he rarely shows it or speaks a word of it. He actually prayed for me, and told me that he prayed for me. I mean, I was so flabbergasted and grateful at the same time.

When I spout off ideas about workout videos and projects for this blog and my new personal training career, he obliges the role of photographer. He even spent an entire day alone in Chicago with Peanut while I went to an NASM workshop. He even agrees when I want to spend money on this stuff. Some of it comes from my own stash, but he's super supportive of my spending--but he knows I am super diligent and super-conservative about spending so he trusts my decisions.

Hubster, thanks for being behind me on this one! It's these things that make me remember how much I appreciate you and just how lucky I am. It makes a world of difference to have someone who supports you with his heart and soul. Mwah!

Putting a Little Love in My Heart

Picture from Zen on Flickr

I know it's a few days late, but my heart was peeled open on Valentine's day by a quick scan through an old journal I kept. I found the pages where my husband and I became an item. And the date--May of 2003! The story isn't overly interesting, there is no plot climax, no sparkling lift-off. It's all pretty tame. But the feelings I felt after reading it tell another story.

I could practically feel the butterflies again. I was reliving some of the conversations and critical moments. I was laughing about how he always tried to surprise me with things and the uncanny ways it never worked out. I was laughing at all the people on the roster that wanted us to start "going out." I read aloud some of the sappy and funny things to my husband and we both enjoyed the good-humored reminiscing.

The next day, I woke up feeling like someone had hit the "refresh" button. There were emotions stirred up inside me that had long been forgotten. I looked at my husband like he still had some charm left:) Ha! But anyway, I felt very different. On a small high, if you will.

This got me thinking even further into using writing as cheap therapy. Writing down five things that were great about your day or nice things people said to you is rather healthy. I found some compliments in this same journal that gave me a bit of an emotional lift even this many years later, but I know I wasn't thinking about that when I wrote them down. Write them down today and who knows what sort of joy they'll bring in a year or five. I know exactly where I'll turn when I need a little boost about the feelings of my marriage.

I Love you Again and Again

We should be able to marry again and again and again.

There is so much anticipation, so many loved ones in one place, so much love radiating from the pews, so much fun to be had dancing with little tykes and all the uncles, and so much thought into every thread that graces the stage on that ceremonious day (and so little of it afterwards) that it should never have to stop. And the look in each other's eyes and those magical words "I do" could never lose their magic.

Besides, it can be so hard to narrow down a theme that it would be fun to be able to pick a different one every five years or experience an elopement, try a non-traditional dress, make room in the wedding party for new friends in your life, or give out party favors that convey something from each set of years you've spent together.

Oh, I could definitely live without the familial friction and the staggering bills, but I would desperately love to relive that enchantment that lasts only hours for one short miraculous day.

We evolve in our love for one another. And we could use a way to truly express that love beyond such trivial means available to the already-married. A way to renew that bond and celebrate something of such significance. To feel that raw love anew.