Family Man

I've been having an "aha" moment the past few months. This realization is that I have a pretty amazing husband. I already knew our children had a really great dad. I know this sounds ridiculous to say after being married ten years. Of course I've always thought he was great, hence the reason I married him! But I have truly taken inventory of my gratitude for him lately. I've noticed at times I was falling into the "been married for a while" trap where we are so comfortable with each other that I was overlooking all the wonderful qualities he possessed. Our challenges have brought us to tears, but together we have overcome them. Still together we face trials. Yet together those trials don't seem as rough. And when they do feel like rough waters, together we can cry and receive comfort in one another.

This man makes me so truly happy! There are hundreds of adjectives to describe him, with the majority of them being positive. :) The most important is that our family feels blessed to have him. I'm afraid that this post makes me sound like I treated my spouse poorly for ten years and just now started to express my love for him! Nope, not the case at all. We've always felt we have a special bond that can't easily be wiped away with the stress of jobs, kids, and the obnoxious clutter in life. I think we both just got lazy about making more effort with one another BECAUSE it comes so easily.

At our friends' (Vinh and Shannon) wedding

 Everyone knows about the five love languages and that we feel loved and appreciated when our love languages are fulfilled. Of course we all feel loved when all five love languages are filled, but we tend to have one or two that are more important to us as individuals. Paul has been indulging me in one of my love languages (acts of service) which has made it easy for me to reciprocate in his love language (words of affirmation). The funny thing is that both of these are the COMPLETE opposite in rankings for ourselves so the challenge has been to see how important it is to the other. Luckily the other love languages are ranked the same in our case.

Here's how we compare:

Paul: 1. Words of Affirmation 2. Touch 3. Quality Time 4. Acts of Service 5. Token of Affection (gifts)

Aliisa: 1. Acts of Service 2. Touch 3. Quality Time 4. Words of Affirmation 5. Token of Affection

The funny thing is that we never sat down and decided we were going to hone in on each other's love language. My heart has been bursting with love for my man recently. Maybe he tricked me because he has been doing nice things for me lately (hehe). It's a chicken and the egg scenario. Either way, I know he feels my love reciprocated back to him. It's amazing how some thoughtful words or actions can go a long way in a marriage, and in many other relationships!

A "wallet" filled with coupons from Reina

 Happy Father's Day to a GREAT dad and wonderful husband!