This is the holiday where everyone is lovey dovey and showering people with heart candies and red and pink lace cards. I’m not necessarily about that but I’m all for being sappy (yes fathead, I’ll admit it) with my best friend. 

You see, Jeremy has to go through a great deal to be my husband. Examples include:

  • Pearl Moments – that time where time stands still and he’s looking at me with a how the hell did you get yourself in that predicament moment. Like tearing my pectoral muscle by walking into a wall. No joke.
  • Hangry Moments – all day every day. If I don’t eat I really transform into something else. I’ll stop talking and have a resting b face until I’m fed. And if I’m hangry believe me it’s not nice to know me.
  • Sarcastic Moments – sarcasm oozes out of my pores. IRL. When I’m extremely comfortable with you. And there is no one I am more comfortable with then Jeremy. The sarcasm keeps him on his toes.
  • Emotional Moments – you would never know but I’m a softy. Like bad. Things tug at my heart-strings pretty easily. I will cry watching a dog with one leg playing with other dogs. Or cry on a hallmark-esque commercial.

These are the things he has to deal with. So, when this time of year comes around I try to put a little more effort into showing some appreciation. After all, Jeremy’s love language is words of affirmation so this is prime time to drizzle some love. Then I got to thinking, what are some really cute ideas I could pass on? Jeremy and I don’t like to spend a lot of money, especially now that we are adopting. We usually will make something for the other and that suits us just fine. It makes things more personal. More heart felt. Not that store bought gifts aren’t. It just means differently for us. Here are some ideas through the years that I’ve done for him.

  1. I Love You This Much.When we started dating I would write:
    I love you <———————->

    In essence, it meant there was no measuring how much I loved him. It became our thing. Using that thought process I traced out my hands then glued it on some cardboard so it was steady. Tied string between the two hands long enough for him to stretch out comfortably. Wrote “I Love You” on one hand and “This Much” on the other. That way, he knew even eternity couldn’t explain how much he meant to me.


  2. SHMILY book.Many moons ago I ran across a story about a couple who would play a game. They would find places to write SHMILY (See How Much I Love You) around the house. It was  a beautiful story. When we were still dating I wrote and illustrated a book that included that story and the story of how we met and began to date. He still has that book to this day.
  3. Love Jar.Going back to his love language, I created a love jar. I bought a jar from the dollar store, wrote “Love” with a hot glue gun, then painted it his favorite color. Inside I placed 365 reasons why I loved him. That year he was able to pull out one slip every day and be reminded of how much I love him.


  4. I Respect Jeremy list.I read The Five Love Languages early on in my marriage. A friend had given me a copy which I was so appreciative for since I was still technically a babe when I said I Do. This is how I understood Jeremy’s love language. But, it really wasn’t until about two years ago that it all clicked. What man doesn’t want to be respected? I took pen and paper and began to list all the reasons why I respected Jeremy. This list is better than the love jar idea because it built and continues to build Jeremy up.
  5. Open When Letter.This one is one that I am currently working on for him. I’ve seen a ton of different variations for this. Currently I have 17 different letters I’ve written to him that he’s allowed to open during certain times. Examples would be: open when you get this, open when you need encouragement, open when you have doubt, open when you want to laugh. These letters are just other ways to let him know I adore him.

These are all just a little sappy, I know. But, sometimes you have to do what you have to do to build your partner up. Jeremy is one of those people who just need to know he’s loved. And as Valentine’s Day draws closer there is nothing more I would want to do then to build him up and let him know exactly how special he is. I’m not about a lukewarm love story. Are you?

Now, go and build up your partner. xoxo