This week, my hubby and I are celebrating 10 years of wedded bliss! I honestly have a hard time wrapping my head around that number…10 YEARS! It has seriously flown by. I barely remember my life without Chris in it. I mean, obviously I remember my time back in high school and so on, but so much has happened with Chris by my side that it’s hard to really picture doing life without him. This September will mark our 14 year dating anniversary and I can still remember how we started dating and all those butterfly-in-your-tummy moments that we shared early on in our relationship. We have made some incredible memories, explored countless places and set up a wonderful life together.
I dug up some old pictures today as I was reminiscing, to which my three year old looked through and joyfully exclaimed “Hey! You have the same face mommy!” Well, a few hair styles and some added baby weight later, at least he still recognizes his momma! Note: these pictures of Chris and I were all taken with a FILM camera. Yes, that goes to show you how long we’ve been dating. We have seen the world turn over to digital photography during our relationship! So please excuse the really bad pictures, but these are as good as they get from our early years together!
10 years is a big deal, especially in today’s society where everything is so easily disposable. 10 years has not come without its fair share of up’s and down’s. Where love was a choice and not simply a feeling. Where there were harsh words exchanged that later needed to be forgiven. Where there were disagreements that took quite a bit of time to end peacefully. But we worked through it: we did it. We have fought, we have screamed, we have cried, but we have chosen love, forgiveness and grace. I will talk more about this in tomorrow’s post (yes, that’s right. I am posting TOMORROW again because I want to share with you my top 10 Things I’ve Learned in 10 Years of Marriage. Stay tuned).
But for now, I wanted to share with my one of my blogging friend’s posts that she did awhile back on her blog A Thing Called Love Blog. Her name is Celeste and we have become friends through an online blogging community of a dozen other like-minded blog boss ladies who are there to encourage each other, grow together and support one another. She writes a blog all about love and marriage and so in the spirit of celebrating our anniversary this week, I wanted to share Celeste’s 42 Love Letter Prompts.
Celeste and her hubby have spent extended periods apart due to work. And so they have come up with this fabulous idea to write love letters to each other, to help keep their marriage going during those times apart. To really connect with one another, even though miles may separate them. After searching Google, she found she came up with a lack-lustre list of prompts and therefore, decided to create her own. This list is FABULOUS! It honestly gave me some great ideas of things to chat about or write to my own hubby, who I get to see everyday. Especially with our upcoming anniversary, what a perfect time to reflect on many of these things!
42 Love Letter Prompts
1. Type out your earliest memories of each other.
2. Go back and re-send some of your earliest emails and texts or transcribe early notes and letters.
3. Word association. Open a book- the nearest one to you will work. Flip it open at random, close your eyes and point to a word on the page. Write down the word and a random memory or thought you have with or about your spouse associated with that word.**** Pick another one if it’s a lame word like “and, but, the, it, in, etc”
4. If you had to make a marital bucket list what would be on it?
5. Provide a detailed description of how your spouse has made you a better person.
6. Write about a song that reminds you of your spouse when you hear it. Type out the lyrics.
7. Write about all the things you miss about having your spouse with you. Or if you’re together- what you have missed the most when you have been apart.
8. Describe various dream dates – a dream romantic date, fun date, expensive date, etc.
9. Write out your love story- blog post style.
10. Describe one weird, quirky thing about your spouse. Ex. You know that part in Sleepless in Seattle when Tom Hanks is describing his dead wife to the radio host and he laughs and describes the way she used to peel an orange in all one piece? If you were describing your spouse to a radio host (they can be alive in this scenario) like that, what would be that weird, quirky thing about them you’d describe?
11. Write out a quote from a book that reminds you of your spouse.
12. Explain why you love your spouse now and why you loved them at the beginning of your relationship. Any differences? Similarities?
13. Describe little moments in the day when you missed them/thought of them/were grateful for them that day.
14. Play two truths and a lie.
15. List a few times in your life you wish you would have had your spouse with you.
16. Describe what you’ll be doing (ideally) in two years, five years, ten years, twenty years.
17. Talk about your favorite scripture or inspirational quote that makes you think of your spouse.
18. Pitch a movie about your love story complete with tag line and description.
19. Write an acrostic poem for your names.
20. You have a time machine. Which points in your spouse’s life would you go back and visit- just as an observer?
21. Talk about a favorite trip you took together.
22. Write about times or things in your relationship/marriage that were disappointing or awful and then how you got over them or learned from them.
23. Plan out real future date nights.
24. Reminisce about the first time you said, “I love you.”
25. Write about how your spouse has changed you since you’ve met them. Be specific.
26. Talk about traits you think you’ve inherited from your parents and what traits your spouse has inherited from theirs. Their answers may surprise you.
27. Write poems to each other.
28. Record all first impressions of each other you can remember.
29. Top 10 lists Ex. Top 10 favorite memories together, Top 10 moments I loved you most, Top 10 events I’m looking forward to spending with you this year.
30. Post and talk about your favorite pictures of each other.
31. Google newlywed questions and answer them for both you and your spouse. Have your spouse do the same. Compare answers.
32. Write out your favorite things about your kids. Or, if you don’t have kids, what characteristics of your spouse you’d hope your hypothetical children would have.
33. Write about the funniest memory you have together. Or that might be too hard to pick just one, so write about some times when you deep-belly laughed together.
34. Tell your spouse something you honestly don’t think they know about you.
35. Since you’ve been married, has your spouse challenged any preconceptions you had about life?
36. If you had to commit a crime together, what would it be? Aliases encouraged.
37. What about your spouse do you feel you know the least about? What about yourself do you think your spouse knows the least about?
38. If you could go back and give yourself advice about marriage when you were dating, what would you say? What have you learned?
39. Transform your story into a Disney-esque fairy tale. Start with once upon a time . . .
40. What are the physical aspects of your spouse you find most attractive?
41. What do you think their greatest strengths and talents are?
42. Share a childhood memory you’ve never shared with them before.
Isn’t that just a fabulous list?! This is one of those pin-now and/or print now and keep somewhere where you will remember them kinda list! Thank you so much Celeste for sharing these with my readers. I know, I for one, have been inspired to be more creative in how I express my love, to my love. Whether or not your spouses love language is written words/words of affirmation, I think every relationship can benefit to writing and/or expressing their love in creative ways like this!
Love & Blessings,
