Show a little extra love.

I really think Valentine's Day is beautiful. It is a good celebration and can be sweet and romantic not just for couples but for anyone! I know we don't need Valentiens Day to celebrate love but anything that is an extra dose of love and affection, well, I am happy about!

You do not need to blow the budget. Like everything else you can celebrate and make it special without spending anything at all or very much at all!

If it prompts us to think of a new way to say thank you, I appreciate you, I love you, then its a good thing. A really useful tool is understanding the Five Languages of Love. This is just the best thing! And it expalins a lot. If you haven't read this book take a look online as there is a great website and even a little survey you can take. This could be a huge help to you as it was to me.

Different people express love and recieve love in different ways. It might be to do with their up bringing or their personality or both. And as soon as we see it we can understand people better.

Have you every given a gift or tried to helps someone and it fell flat? Or you feel someone doesn't seem satisfied with your efforts? Or maybe your husband gives you beauiful gifts but they leave you still not really feeling loved? Well, once we understand a persons love language this expalins it.

It applies to children as welll. You can hear someone say they give their children everything but they are still not happy. This is a classic. Maybe the child's love language is they want time spent with them and presents don't mean much? 

The love languages are

Acts of servie. This person really appreciates acts of servie as signs of love. If that is your husband he might see a clean house and nice cooked meals as love. Or you might feel that way yourself. A man who is like this might naturally wash your car as an act of love rather than buy you flowers.

Physical affection. This person doesn't want gifts or words they want physical affection. That is what makes them feel loved.

Words of affirmation. This person feels loved and appreciated when they are told how much you value all they do for you and their good points etc. When they hear you speak of them hightly. They value words above things. 

Quality time. This is spending time together, doing stuff together. This person would rather a date than a gift. A picnic rahter than a card. 

You can be a combination of these. So think about it. What ways really do you prefer to be loved? And think about what you think it might be that your husband really appreciates? 

Unwittingly we often express love in the way we like to recieve it. And it can miss the mark. My husband is a combination of two of these categories and I am a combination of another two. Luckily I figured out the ways he likes to be loved the most and basically I spelled it out to him what I like :)! I think men like this. Rather than scratching their heads trying to figure it out why don't we just tell them? So much easier! Mostly they are so grateful!

Andy listened to a guy on the radio who shared his secret. He says to his wife "I guess you can't figure out what I got your for your birthday?' and she will say "oooh is it that bracelet I saw" and he will say no it's not that. Then she says"did you get me that dress in the window?" and he will say no. Then she will say "did you get me that book I was talking about" and he says no. This goes on for five or six times. And he hasn't bought anything but now he has six ideas from her answers! The man is a genius!

I try to do something different and surprising. One year I set a table out in our front courtyard and make it look gorgeous. So when Andy came home he saw this lovely setting as he came in. And I baked a brie with walnuts in pastry and a lovely salad and special desert and so on and we ate outisde and had a lovely evening. 

On a day that he would be working I made his whole packed lunch in heart shapes. This is the thingwith men. They are tough on the outside but gooey insdie and he thought that was really sweet. AND if another guy saw this it means they give you a hard time but are secretly jealous, apparently.

Another time I wrote a letter that said how much I appreciate how hard he works and all he does for us and all of the things that he does that I notice and am grateful for.  So many men work really hard and long hours and are never thanked. So many women do too. Thanking someone for all of this can mean the world!

Cooking a favourite meal or planning a picnic can be beautiful ways to celebrate. Planning something romantic or some sort of surprise. Do you know what, I think anything that shows you have thought about it and gone to some kind of trouble is going to mean something.

I am big on heart shaped food. Really,  you can make anything in a heart shape from scones, pancakes, biscuits etc and I always sent them to school with the girls. 

But pizza, pies, and really anything as so sweet as hearts. And they make you smile. They are lovely.

This year I made a heart shaped pavlova. It looked beautiful!  And was just a little bit different so it was special. Baking a favourite food is always going to be a hit.

It is just a little bit of extra fun and sweetness. The world needs more sweetness.

I hope you have a wonderful week. Helen will be posting her pantry progress on Wednesday and my Feather your Nest Friday is already shaping up as over the weekend I had a heap of good things happen and did some fruit cooking.

Mondays are a great day to do a little extra and get the ball rolling. A good start helps the week go well! xxx