Month of Love Update

I'm not gonna lie, this has probably been my favorite monthly challenge so far.  Maybe it's because this girl is a total sucker for lovey dovey stuff.  Maybe it's because I've discovered expressing how much I love the love of my life is not so much of a 'challenge' as it is pretty easy and enjoyable.  (Maybe later in the month when I'm fresh out of ideas I'll think it's a little more challenging! We'll see.)

I think intentionally expressing our love for each other each day this month has been really great for our marriage, especially during this season of adjustment as we're learning to balance being new parents with prioritizing our relationship with each other as husband and wife.

So we wanted to share with you our top 3 favorite "I Love You's" so far.  Go ahead and enjoy them if you're as much of a romantic as I am.  And feel free to copy if you see an idea you love.

NICOLE LOVES JUSTIN

1. U Smile-  I'll admit, I stole the idea from Justin who recorded his own rendition of Jack Johnson's "Better Together" for my Valentines Day gift last year...but I recorded my own version of "U Smile" by the one and only J Biebs (complete with two part harmony!).  I had two motivations: we love Justin Bieber!!!!!!!!!!!! and Justin (Payne) is always telling me I need to sing around the house more.  I can't upload my recording but you'll have to take my word I learned I do not possess anything close to the vocal talent of the Biebs.  Makes me respect him even more.

2. Rolos in the form of dynamite- A childhood favorite candy of Justin's in cute and crafty form a la Pinterest.

3. 10 Things I Love to Hate About You- Justin's favorite so far, inspired by the title of that 90's rom com, was a list of 10 things that sort of bug me about my hubby followed by a sincere note about how much I actually appreciate our differences because they complement and challenge me.  The list included: "You dominate me at every game we've ever played," "You don't share my love affair with Oreos," and "You actually like the song 'Beautiful Girls' by Sean Kingston."

JUSTIN LOVES NICOLE

1. Paperman- Justin emailed me this short film with the subject line "This is us."  If you haven't seen it yet, watch it right now.  Apart from that montage of the couple growing old together in Up, it is probably the cutest thing I've ever seen.

2.  Artwork reminicint of a certain B.O.B. song-  Yes my husband is good at sports and art.  (Who knew?!)

3. Things I can do without/with you- My favorite so far, a two sided list of things Justin could do without me (including "Stay out as long as I want," "Set the thermostat to reasonably cool temperatures," and "Play video games whenever I like"), coupled with a much longer, super sweet list of things he can do with me.  Examples: "Create another human being."  "Wake up next to my best friend."  "Actually enjoy 10 hour car rides."  "Re-watch 6 seasons of Lost."  "Change the world."  Good stuff.

Two final thoughts: 1) I realized I included an obscene amount of links for various references.  Oops.  Hope you take the time to look things up you don't get.  2) Do something out of the ordinary to show someone how much you love them today.  It will be totally worth it, I promise.