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.