Happy Friday lovebugs!

I so hope that you have found a lot to be inspired by this week and so far throughout the project!  If you’re just finding us you can find the background and details in Day One or Day Eleven.  I have to say I’ve been so excited to hear the wonderful feedback about the project in both digital and paper scrapbooking circles!  I know there are some playing along with both the templates and prompts and others just with the prompts…and Crystal and I are so encouraged by the stories we see being shared!  Seriously some of the most beautiful pages are emerging as you all work through these prompts.

So let’s dive in to today.  We’ve had a few heavy prompts this week as we reflect on our own (sometimes) bad behaviors and attitudes and how we can improve ourselves.  Yesterday we got to share (and gush) about our loved ones and the things they love. Today’s prompt is another really wonderful “act” prompt — where we encourage you to try something in a tangible way in your lives.  Let’s take a look:

So maybe this sounds a little cheesy to you, or maybe you are thinking this is kinda weird and uncomfortable, or maybe you already go out of your way to greet your spouse in a special way when you see them so this seems like “no big deal”.  But I will share that both Crystal and I have found that this little action — of really giving our spouse our undivided and sincere attention when we greet them — has made an impact in our relationships in ways we may not have thought mattered before.  I know my husband really appreciates this gesture..I can read it on his face and in his demeanor.

The idea is to make a conscious effort to greet your spouse with warmth (at the door perhaps with a kiss and a hug and a welcome home or a “good morning” with a cup of coffee).  Remember when you were courting and you couldn’t wait to see your loved one again after a parting?  And when you did see him you beamed and you greeted him as though you couldn’t wait for that moment?  That’s what we’re talking about here, at least to a certain degree.  Because since then, it’s probably been easy for life, kids, work, responsibilities to kind of make those little moments seem wholly unimportant.

I know that I hadn’t really thought about it much until Crystal and I were challenged to try this.  I used to be busy with our daughter, making dinner, or on the computer working on something and many times my husband would walk in the door and we’d just say “hey!” to each other from afar.  Then, when I consciously thought about my greeting him, I made a point of letting him know just how pleased we were to see him.  And he felt respected in a way, and home felt warmer.  He knew that he mattered to us..more than the puzzle or drawing we were working on, the show we were watching, the page we were scrapping or whatever it may be.

It seems a little thing or maybe a little unnatural or contrived, but I think you’ll see greeting with authenticity will be a little thing that can go a long way.  And this works just as well when you are the one doing the “coming home”…if the first thing you do when you walk in the door isn’t to go and give a special warm greeting to your spouse, try it.

As always, if you’re not feeling it, you could simply scrap about the little kindnesses that go a long way in telling a loved one you care.  In a general sense.  Ultimately it’s about what’s comfortable to you.  We hope you’ll have fun with this one.

Here’s my page…again I went with photoless.  I’ve found for some reason that I’m driven to let my words be central lately and so that’s the direction I went with here as well.  Feel free to scrap a special welcome home photo or in any way you feel inspired.

Hope you all enjoy acting and reflecting on the little kindnesses or more specifically the greetings.

Also, I wanted to offer a little encouragement to everyone who has been playing along and remind you not to stress too too much about the pace…the single most important thing is that you happy and proud of your process and your pages in the end, as you create pages and tell your story, reflect on everything.  And don’t forget if you’re playing along for the giveaways, we will be giving you ten days or so at the conclusion of the project to finish up your pages.  But anyone is more than welcome (and we’d love it so much actually!) if you continue to play along no matter what pace you take.  ♥

There are some really wonderful and fun prompts ahead for next week…the final week of Grow With Love that Crystal and I can’t wait to share with you!  So be sure to swing by Crystal’s blog on Monday for the start of Week Four with Day Sixteen. Until then we hope you have a beautiful weekend!

Happy Scrapping and Happy Growing!!

I’m so happy to bring with you our first Grow With Love post and prompt of Week Three.  If you’re just now finding us, welcome welcome!  Please feel free to dive in whenever and where ever you feel comfortable.

The backstory:  Crystal and I have had it on our hearts for a long time to collaborate on a project that was something more than “just” templates.  But also a project of journaling prompts so that anyone who wanted to delve into a special kind of storytelling could join have place to start.  We were inspired by our own real life musings and reflections into our loves and relationships and so Grow With Love: Marriage Edition was born.  It is a series of 20 templates and 20 journaling prompts that we hope will inspire you to scrap about and improve your own loves and relationships.  You can snag the templates and prompts here or here.

To recap:  We are spending 4 weeks or 20 days exploring the journaling prompts together.  Each day (Monday – Friday) we hop back and forth between my blog and Crystal’s blog, exploring a fresh prompt.  Anyone is welcome to join us any time.  You can tackle all the prompts with us, or just the ones that touch you most.  This is a self-paced project.  And you are welcome to scrap with both the templates and prompts or just the prompts, whatever inspires you most. Though if you’d like to be eligible for the prizes (including a fabulous photo book of your very own Grow With Love project!) you will want to check out the Day One post for details.  You’ll probably want to check that out anyway to learn more about the project.  lol.

And so here we are.  We are starting Week Three.  Woot!  We’ve been loving everyone’s pages so far and we’re so happy to see you joining us on this adventure!  So far we’ve gotten nostalgic, we’ve exlplored our notions of love and relationships, we’ve shared our own love “history”, we’ve given thanks, and we’ve started to consider how we look at our loved ones and at ourselves in the good times and in the bad times.  All of this has been gradually building the foundation for some of the meatier prompts.

And that’s where we land today.  Day Eleven builds on some of the reflective prompts we’ve explored.  And it asks us to recount, in a kind of specific way, a moment of conflict (goodness knows we all have those, right?).  Let’s take a closer look:

This one is tricky.  It was for me.  I suppose that’s because reflecting on these less than sunny moments can be uncomfortable.  Also it can be difficult to really get down to the “he said she said” or it may be difficult to even recall these moments well.  I just knew that I thought and thought and thought about this one for days.  And then I sat and sat and fiddled and fiddled with my page for hours.  In the end I was left with a page that has me “confessing” in a way, my own hand in where things went awry.

It’s easy to remember a conflict in a way where you are the protagonist and all the blame lies at your spouse’s feet.  But when you start to think of it and scrap it for all of posterity and for your family to see one day it becomes more difficult to just stick to “one side of the story”.  And so I scrapped what has become “legend” in my own relationship.  It’s one of those conflicts that we can look back and laugh at now, some 10 years later, and of course we both remember the key snippets of obnoxious behavior and all the details are muddied.  And since my husband is sure to make sure I’ll never forget my own hand in the ridiculousness forevermore (and I his), I figured I may as well memorialize it on paper.  LOL!

Today it all seems so silly, but generally speaking this epic fight was definitely a live and learn moment.  We didn’t fight fair here.  We both behaved badly.  And we can look back and see that both “he” and “she” had a hand in things going so wrongly.  And we can look back and see where we’ve grown as a couple and what we’ve done better since then.

This prompt can really be a powerful one if you let it.  Even if you scrap something a little on the silly side, as I have done.  But you are welcome to just scrap as you feel led..go really deep and reflect on something serious, or something less so.

Remember too, that journaling is often really personal, especially for scrapping moments like these.  So it’s not necessary to share everything when you post unless you are comfortable.

We hope that when you finish this prompt, you feel a sense of letting go or a sense of better understanding.  Just try to have fun with it and pour yourself onto the page and I know you’ll be proud of where you end up.

Don’t forget to hop over to Crystal’s blog tomorrow for Day Twelve.

Until then, enjoy planting your story…

I’m happy to bring you Day Nine of the Grow With Love project.  I hope you’ve enjoyed following along so far!  We’re nearing the close of week two of the prompts and the halfway mark for the project!  Don’t forget you can join in any time and we hope you do!  Crystal and I have loved seeing your pages so far!  What a heartfelt journey!

So, as per usual, we are hopping back and forth between my blog and Crystal’s blog for the prompts and yesterday Crystal had us considering “all the good things” as we focused on and thought about the positive things our spouses and loved ones do for us and with us.  And that exercise in finding the good sets the stage for today’s prompt:

As I looked over my list and considered my page from yesterday, I noticed a common thread woven in and around the things I love so much about my husband and the things he does for me and for our family: integrity.  And so I reflected on that characteristic and scrapped about it and gave thanks to him for it.

And just look at this gorgeous page by Crystal.  It’s so emotive and you can just feel the love jumping off the page.

You’ll notice we call this an “act” prompt because we hope you will actually let this one touch your life in a more tangible way.  Actually literally give thanks to your loved one..maybe by sharing your page, or maybe in a love note, or just out loud as you notice your spouse doing something positive.

This is something I’ve personally been aiming to do more often…because I certainly feel grateful for all that he is and does, but I don’t always put voice to that.  And when I do, even in those moments when maybe I don’t really feel like it because I’m angry or I’m preoccupied, or because I figure he already knows, it really makes a difference.

We hope that you’ll enjoy reflecting and giving earnest thanks to your spouse or loved one through your scrapping and “in real life”.  And don’t forget to visit Crystal’s blog tomorrow for Day Ten and prompt 10.

And then you’ll see me back here on Monday for the start of week three and Day Eleven.

Until then, Happy Scrapping!

Hope everyone is having a beautiful Friday!!  I’m sorry to say this post will be a bit on the brief side.  My daughter has been quite unwell in the past couple days and the only remedy has been mommy loves and cuddles, so my time is short today.

But I really hope you all have been enjoying following along with week one of the Grow With Love project! If you’re just discovering us for the first time, I hope you’ll feel comfortable to just dive right in..either at the beginning or at any time.  This is a self-paced kind of adventure so you are welcome to join us at any time.  to review all the details feel free to peek at the introduction and day one post.  Then you will just hop back and forth between my blog and Crystal’s blog to follow all the prompts.

We have spent week one reflecting on memories and feelings and our thoughts/ideas about love.  All of this has been meant to build a kind of foundation from which we will delve deeper and get a little more specific as we reflect, remember, share, and act in our love lives.

Today, Day Five, is one step into a more specific look back into our love history.  But it’s a fun and light kind of prompt that we hope will leave you feeling both fond and grateful for your loved one.  Here’s our day five prompt:

I know that gifts can sometimes read as “symbols” in our relationships…symbols of thoughtfulness, of caring, of being plugged in, romantic or otherwise signs of appreciativeness and kindness.  I hope that reflection on a gift, or little gestures, or any of the times your spouse/loved one has expressed care and love for you with a gift has you feeling a little warm fuzzy inside.  Here’s a bit of inspiration for you from the ever amazing Crystal who reflected on a gesture that touched her heart.  And goodness is it stunning:

I’ll be back with more inspiration once my little sweetie is feeling better.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy a beautiful weekend.  Remember week two picks up on Monday with prompt 6 on Crystal’s blog.  Until then, have fun reminiscing and sharing!!