Everyday Lovin' Challenge

My husband and I have been married for ten years now.  When I married this wonderful guy ten years ago I was a wide eyed nineteen year old who, as I look back, had really no concept of what lay ahead of me as we began this journey together. Look at us....blissfully unaware :) They didn't even have digital cameras back then...I had to scan this.

 I'm not sure I realized that life would present so many tasks and challenges and unexpected twists and turns.  I don't think I fully comprehended that there would come a point in our life when we couldn't do whatever we pleased together all the time.  We were free and easy and would take off for road trips with a few hours notice.  The rent for our tiny apartment was $300 per month. We went on walks together at 11pm just because we felt like it and our worries were relatively few.

Now we have three little kids.  It takes us fourteen hours to pack up for a road trip.  Our rent is significantly more and we are pretty tied down to work and school and kids and life in general.  Life gets more complicated as you go on it seems.  We will never again be without responsibility.  We will now always have kids to worry about and dull chores to do on a daily basis.  It sounds depressing but stick with me because that's not where I'm headed. :)

I've been thinking lately about how to make sure that our love stays just as beautiful and exciting and fresh as it was ten years ago even though life grows increasingly busy and challenging.  Then I read this quote from James E. Faust:

"In the enriching of marriage the big things are the little things"

It's all those little things that keep it alive.  It's little surprises and still holding hands.  It's a love note, a show of respect or admiration, a wink, a compliment, it's when my husband opens a door for me or brings me flowers.  All that little stuff that connects us....the "EVERYDAY LOVIN'" that makes a difference (hence the name).  So, I've issued myself a challenge to do more of the little things. Stuff that takes a little extra effort on my part, but collectively makes a BIG difference in the end.  Want to join me?

Each week I am challenging myself to do one little extra thing that I wouldn't have otherwise done to show my husband that I love him.  I will post what I did here on the blog. I'm going for creative and fun but not too complicated :) And I want to hear what you are doing too! Go out of your way to do something special for your husband this week and then leave a comment on the weekly Everyday Lovin' Challenge posts telling us what you did. 

HERE ARE THE RULES:

1.  Do something extra that you would not have normally done to show your husband that you love him.

2.  Don't expect him to do ANYTHING in return.  Just do it to show him that you care.

3.  Report back here.  You can even blog about what you did and leave us a link if you like.

There it is.  Simple.  And a little extra love is NEVER WASTED! Will you join me?