Love Dare - Day 14

Love takes delight
Purposefully neglect an activity you would normally do so you can spend quality time with your spouse. Do something he or she wold love to do or a project they'd really like to work on. Just be together.

I make a habit out of this now, to spend more time with Courtney by not doing some of the things that I normally waste time on. Usually it is skipping T.V. shows, but sometimes I don't write or I see what she wants to do instead of getting the umpteen millionth home project completed. (It's not like the list ever gets finished anyway).

Love Dare - Day 13

Love fights fair

Talk with your spouse about establishing healthy rules of engagement. If your mate is not ready for this, the write out your own personal rules to "fight" by. Resolve to abide by them when the next disagreement occurs.

Courtney and I did this over the weekend, on the front porch while enjoying a softball game across the street. We had already talked about "off limit" comments during arguments before, but it never hurts to go over them again and to see if there is anything new that either of us thinks should be off limits when we are upset with each other. 

Gift of Reading®

A long time ago I used to read a lot, too much if I'm being honest about it. Reading was my escape, my way to leave my world behind and enter one in which I had no stake. I enjoyed all manner of horror, fantasy, mystery, and Sci-Fi books. I was rarely disappointed, so I'm not much of a critic.

That being said, I enjoyed my latest dive into reading. I still get sucked into a good book, and Gravity by Tess Gerritsen is a fun and interesting read. I started reading Sunday but only had time to complete one chapter. I finished reading it Monday night, pouring over the majority of the book in a four hour stretch.

At it's core Gravity is a medical mystery thriller, with the added bonus of the catastrophe being aboard the International Space Station. It is one of the more realistic medical thrillers I have read, with obvious great pains taken to ensure the accuracy of medical treatments in space. Unfortunately the twist at the end is pretty easily foreseen, but otherwise it is a good read.

Title for the blog comes from the Literacy Foundation.

Love Dare - Day 12

Love lets the other win
Demonstrate love by willingly choosing to give in to an area of disagreement between you and your spouse. Tell them you are putting their preference first.

Courtney and I have been working on compromise for awhile now, we both have things we think should be done our way and both of us can be rather stubborn individuals. This isn't always a bad thing, but not listening while being stubborn isn't that great for relationships.

In this case I won't give details on what I gave in on, but Courtney knows.

Love Dare - Day 11

Love cherishes
What need does your spouse have that you could meet today? Can you run an errand? Give a back rub or foot massage? Is there housework you could help with? Choose a gesture that says, "I cherish you" and do it with a smile.

Doing things to help out is simply a part of my routine now, it was something resolved to do early on. I knew that my lack of regular assistance was something that really bothered her and so I made that one of the first things that I changed.

To make the 11th dare stand out I needed something different. The opportunity presented itself yesterday and today, though I would have preferred the opportunity being something other than Courtney getting sick. I waited on her hand and foot for the past couple of days, and let her rest as much as she let herself do so. Now to wake up early tomorrow and do the dishes...