What's Your Love Language?

The other day I was watching a news-type lifestyle-type local program and they had a relationship expert on. He was talking about a new book of his I believe, but some of what he said was interesting, so I thought I'd pass it along. Aren't I nice? =)

He talked about the 5 love languages that we have and use. They are:

1. Words of affirmation (I love you, you look great, etc.)
2. Quality time (focus and attention from your spouse)
3. Receiving gifts (flowers, chocolate, etc.)
4. Acts of service (help around the house, taking care of the kids, etc.)
5. Physical touch (hand holding, backrubs, hugs, etc. wink wink etc.)

He said that each of us reacts best when spoken to in the language that we need. Typically we will need all 5 languages at one time or another, and they simply change as we do, or as our lives do. The thing to figure out is what your language is, and what your spouses language is. Apparently we typically love how we want to be loved, and not how our spouse needs/wants to be loved. Something to think about. A good way to determine what language your spouse wants is to listen to what they complain about. If a husband gets home from work and his wife usually complains about how she can't keep the house clean or that it's a mess or that the dishes never seem to be done, the he would be wise to help out a little, even if it's only to be in charge of loading the dishes into the dishwasher. That act of service would speak volumes to his wife, and probably mean more to her than simply hearing him say that he loves her.

I thought this was interesting, and it made me think about what my love language is right now. I respond well to all of them, and seem to be a good mix between them, but if I had to chose one that seemed to mean more more often, it would probably be the acts of service. Actions always seem to speak louder than words.

What is your love language? And do you know your spouse's?

Here's the story... of a girl named Emma

Lately Emma has wanted to watch the Brady Bunch every day after Eric gets home from work. She knows this is when it's on. I don't even know how this started! The only thing I can figure is that one day while I was getting dinner ready the TV was on and she saw it. I think the show is funny, but I have no idea why she likes it so much. Oh well, here's to another generation growing up knowing about Jan's fake affro, Marcia's broken nose, and Greg's groovy attic room. Sigh.

Is it Gmail or Internet Explorer?

Is anyone else having major issues with Internet Explorer? Lately also, when I've been sending an email, I'll type it in and the message box will just extend forever to the right. My text line will never move down creating a paragraph look. And then sometimes it will disappear. It'll just be gone, and there is no bar at the bottom of the screen for me to slide the view back to the left. AHHH. Does this make any sense? Can you envision what I'm (fairly poorly) describing here? I don't know if the problem is gmail or just internet explorer acting up again. Eric thinks I'm crazy for still using IE, but I'm just so used to it I'm reluctant to try something new. He uses Firefox and likes it. Do any of you have issues with Internet Explorer? If you use something different, what is it and do you like it? The problem with technology is that it can easily have bugs and glitches, but I expect so much out of it, so it's very frustrating when it has a problem. Ugh!

The Great & Terrific Outdoors

Sorry about starting off negatively, but I am so so sad that it's supposed to snow next week. Knowing that it's coming, we've tried to make the most of the nice weather this week. Here are a few of the highlights.

We went to the zoo with my sister. You couldn't have asked for a nicer day. Emma LOVED having Jill there. Her favorite thing of course was the carousel. She just loves those.

The next day Emma and I went on a walk. We were gone for a little over 2 hours. I just didn't want to come back inside. Emma was just having a ball in the stroller playing with a couple toys and looking around at everything. Ahhh, so nice.

Yesterday we went to a soccer game. We hadn't seen the new stadium yet, so it was fun going. We were going to go last season once, but Eric felt a migraine coming on on our way there, so of course we didn't make it. My sister and brother-in-law were there yesterday too, along with his family. Emma was so funny telling us about the players kicking the ball and telling us what their numbers were. It was a little breezy, but not too bad.

After the first goal was scored she learned her lesson about how loud everyone and everything became. She decided not to be caught unprepared again.

St. Patty's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Hope you all remembered to wear green! We had a lot of fun trying to make the most of the holiday. Yesterday evening Emma decorated a Leprechaun trap that we set outside. It was just a shoe box covered with green wrapping paper and then she added a few shamrocks and ribbon etc. We propped it up with a stick and left some crumpled paper that looked like gold nuggets underneath to lure a Leprechaun with. We could have gotten a lot more elaborate, but I wanted to do something that Emma could really help with. First thing this morning she wanted to see if we caught anything. Unfortunately the Leprechauns were all too tricky and fast, but one was careless enough to leave a pot of gold behind. I had painted a small clay pot black and then filled it with pennies. I thought about also leaving some chocolate gold coins, but I couldn't find any. Maybe they aren't for sale year-round. Oh well. Emma loved the pennies.

After retrieving the loot, she ate some Lucky Charms for breakfast. We almost never have these on hand (I don't even think Emma's ever had them before), so it was a fun treat. Then she had dance class. Since she usually wears all pink at class we had to find some green she could wear so she wouldn't get pinched. She wore her green headband from her tinkerbell costume and I painted her nails green. Her teacher gave her a sparkly shamrock sticker too.

My mom called and invited us to go have lunch with her, and we went to one of my favorite places: Paradise Bakery. I love their sandwiches and salads. And their cookies are awesome. So that was a fun treat for both Emma and me, although I think Emma was a little bummed that my mom was wearing green. She seems to really want to pinch someone! (Lucky for her she got her chance later in the day. When Eric got home he changed out of his work clothes, and before he put another green shirt on she snuck in and got him.)

After her nap Emma and I made Leprechaun sized cupcakes. We even made them green. She loves decorating desserts almost as much as she likes eating them.

She colored some Shamrock, Leprechaun, rainbow, and pot of gold pictures, and then we made a Leprechaun hat for her, followed with a clay rainbow and a clay heart necklace craft. She helped with all of it other than baking the clay in the oven.

After Eric got home we went out to dinner because Eric wanted some corned beef and cabbage (and I wasn't going to make it for him). When we got home we watched Darby O'Gill and the Little People. I loved that movie when I was a kid, and it doesn't hurt that Sean Connery is in it...and young...and he sings.

Anyway, it was a great day, and Emma is excited to try to catch more Leprechauns next year.

Sick Daze

Ugh, being sick is no fun. As a kid it wasn't fun either, but I remember thinking it was so cool to be able to stay home and have the place of honor on the couch and get to watch whatever I wanted on TV, etc. I need to find something to replace all that stuff with now that I'm an adult, because that's not rewarding enough to help an illness. I stay home most days anyway, I own the couch and can choose where to sit all the time, and I can always watch whatever I want on TV. Hmm, the only stuff that I can think of that would make being sick a little less miserable I can't do because I'm sick.

I finally went to the doctor today mostly to rule out anything that can be helped with some good drugs (unfortunately/fortunately (?) I just have a cold, and will have to wait it out). Emma is almost better (she never had anything as bad as I do now) and Eric is sick (he's been home from work the past 2 days) but has completely different symptoms than I do. We went for quite awhile without being sick, I guess it finally caught up with us.

At the doctor's office, after being moved in the little room where the doctor comes to see you, I was sitting there looking at the wall colors. Blah. Three were off-white and one was a darker gray. Really? Is that the best they can do? I mean, you are already at the doctors so you're clearly not feeling well. Would it kill them to use some colors on the wall that could help the mood? I'm not one who gets nervous going to the doctor, but they could use colors that help people to relax, be calm, or be happy or something. Would that be so bad? I'm not asking them to go overboard so you want to go more often just to see the cute fun rooms or anything. But gray! Just shoot me now.

Sleeping Arrangements

Emma is really funny when she sleeps. She always gathers up tons of stuffed friends and places them around her in a big circle. It's as if she's creating a barrier or wall of some kind. Too funny. The other night when I went in to check on her she was completely turned around and out of her covers. Her head was where her feet usually go, and her feet were up under her pillow. Don't ask me how she managed to make that switch without waking up long enough to fix it herself. Here is what I found.

Her Majesty

Emma has a princess castle that she loves playing with. She's always asking us to play with her, and when we do she always chooses who is the prince and who is the princess. The other day we were about to start playing and she gave me the princess. I don't care which she uses, but I wanted to make sure she wasn't just giving me the princess to be nice (because let's face it, most little girls always want to be the princess). I asked her if she was sure she didn't want to be the princess, and her answer was awesome. She told me, "No, I want to be the king." For Emma, it's all about the power. That's my girl.

Me, Myself, and I

I'm sure it works this way for everyone, and it makes sense that it does, but the older I get, the more I realize and learn about myself. At least, I can explain and understand me better. Maybe it's just because I have enough life behind me to see patterns emerge. Maybe it's just that I'm older and wiser (hopefully at least a little). But in any case, I find it interesting to "discover" things about me. And since I'm sure you're all sitting on the edge of your seats and dying to hear more, I'll gladly oblige and share my insights.

Some of these are things I've known about myself for a long time, but the general traits seem to be present in more aspects of my life than I thought. For example, all through school (I distinctly remember specific examples as early as third and fourth grade) I highly disliked being told what to read. A teacher could assign a book that I would normally love, but since I was being told to read it, I didn't enjoy it. This stayed with me all the way through college. Of course, there were a few exceptions, but mostly I didn't like the assigned reading, in German or English.

I'll go out on a walk and I very much dislike the feeling of walking away from home. I don't like knowing I have more than half of my walk ahead of me. And it's not that I don't enjoy the walk itself, this is just a side thought/emotion that I have while I'm gone. This might be why I prefer treadmills. I like being outside, but on a treadmill I don't have that nagging feeling. Not even when I have more than half my time left. I think it stems from when Emma was a baby and I'd go out with her. I was always worried that she'd need something that I didn't have with me or that I'd suddenly need to get home and would be further than I wanted and would have to deal with a sad crying baby. It makes no sense, but that's how I am. I guess I dislike the feeling of not being able to stop if I want or need to. Out on a walk, no matter the reason, if I want to stop I still have to get home. On a treadmill, if I want to stop, I stop. I know I have the ability and the freedom to, and so it doesn't bother me.

This feeling seems to also be present with my reading. I love to read, but I don't like the feeling of having the majority of the book ahead of me....even when it's a book I'm really excited about (and enjoying) reading. I love the feeling of finishing a book. That's the best. Finishing is better than starting. Maybe it's because I always have so many things I'm trying to do each day, that a huge book seems that much more daunting a task.

And traffic. Of course it stinks. If there's a lot of traffic, and we're all able to travel the same speed, I still don't like being in the back of the line. Even if I'm going 75 mph and at the front I'd only be going 75 mph, I just don't like having the other cars in the way. Like just the fact that they're there means they are stopping me from making the choice to go faster. Not that I would go faster, but I like knowing I have the choice. That I'm able to do it if I want to. I tend to drive slower at night and when there is less traffic. Probably because no one is "telling" me I can't drive faster, and so I just don't care.

It seems like I just oppose authority, or rather the freedom to choose anything at the drop of a hat. It almost sounds like some kind of commitment issue, but I've never thought of myself as one who has problems with commitment. I am totally commited to being a good wife and mother, and I totally commit myself to any calling that I get at church. I also commit to various projects that I do, and don't seem to have issues with any of them. So, even though I'm a little older and have a few more insights into myself, I guess I still don't understand or have all the answers as to why I am the way I am. And maybe I never will.

Field Trips

Last friday we all went to Jungle Jim's. It's an indoor play place with rides and games. Eric had taken Emma there once before, but this time we all went. Emma loved it. She loves playing the games they have and going on the rides. This time we had all her tickets that she won from the games (from last time and this time) and she was able to choose some prizes. Of course it's all dumb little stuff, but she loves it and thinks it's so fun that she won so many prizes.

This morning I took Emma to the Museum of Natural History. I've never taken her before, and finally felt she was old enough to appreciate some of the exhibits. She of course loved the dinosaurs, and also really liked the interactive discovery area they had where she dug for bones and could put puzzles together etc. It was a fun morning, and best of all it was free! The first monday of each month is free, so you can't beat the price. We were there for a little more than 2 hours, and she wanted to stay longer, but our parking pass was about the expire. We'll definately have to go again.