what's your love language?

It's Monday...booo.  It's my least favorite day of the week.  Getting out of bed every morning kills me and Mondays are always the worst.  Anyways, I hope you had a wonderful weekend!  I sure did.  I got to spend some great time with friends and family.

I married Mr. H last year on 9.10.11 (yes we did that on purpose) and before we got married we went to a premarital class through our church.  One thing that stuck out to us the most was the topic of love languages.  Now, I've heard people talk about this before, but it didn't really click on how important it is to know your own love language as well as your spouses.  You can find out more about the love languages in Dr. Gary Chapman's book The 5 Love Languages.

In case this is new to you, here are the five love languages... (if you click on the link above you can find out what each of these five mean in more detail)

1. words of affirmation
2. quality time
3. receiving gifts
4. acts of service
5. physical touch

In most cases, each spouse had a different order.  Everyone wants to feel loved, but the problem arrises when you are loving your spouse like you like to be loved, when in reality they feel most loved a different way.  For example, say your husbands top love language is acts of service.  He feels loved when you serve him so he thinks that he can serve you too and you'll feel the same love.  He does the dishes, cleans the bathroom, make dinner, but meanwhile you aren't feeling loved because your top love language is quality time.  You're probably thrilled he's doing all this wonderful things, but what you really want is his time. 

This topic intrigued us and after our premarital class that Sunday, we drove back to Mr. H's apartment  and talked about what we thought the order was for each of us.  Then we found an online quiz which lets you know the order of your love languages.  This is the crazy part and goes to show how much alike Mr. H and I actually are...our top three are the exact same, pretty lucky I know!  How meant to be are we! :)

My love languages                                                    Mr. H's love languages

1. physical touch                                                        1. physical touch
2. quality time                                                            2. quality time 
3. words of affirmation                                              3. words of affirmation
4. receiving gifts                                                        4. acts of service
5. acts of service                                                        5. receiving gifts

I consider us very lucky to have the same top love languages.  It makes it easy for us because while I'm loving Mr. H by cuddling up next to him on the couch, I'm also feeling loved because I'm receiving the same thing from him.  

For anyone who's in a relationship whether it be dating, engaged or even married, I'd highly recommend looking into what your love languages are.  I think it will make all the difference in your relationship and give you and understanding of how your signifiant other feels loved.  You might be surprised and realize while you've been loving him, it's been different than what truly makes him feel loved.

I hope you have a wonderful Monday and enjoy the coming week.  Have a happy Monday FRIENDS!

p.s. I chose those two pictures of Mr. H and I because I felt they express our love languages well: physical touch and quality time.  Plus they are some of my favorite pictures!!

pretty, pretty pastels

Hello FRIENDS!  I'm so excited the weekend is here!  It's Fashion Friday here at Simply Splendid LOVE and I'm linking up again with long distance loving for my Friday's Fancies.  

Today's Friday's Fancies is "pretty in pastels".  I'm sure you've noticed all the bright, bold colors for the spring, but don't forget about the pretty pastels too.  In fact, my favorite pastel color right now is coral.  I've never liked orange, but I've been loving coral recently.  

Now that we are past Easter, it's officially acceptable to wear white.  I love this because brights and pastels both look awesome with a skinny white pair of jeans or a cute pair of white shorts.  I just bought a pair of skinny white jeans and I'm so excited to start wearing them.   

A cute date night inspired pastel outfit!!

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A fun tropical pastel inspired outfit!!

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I've got a fun weekend planned with friends and family.  I'm inspired to wear a pretty pastel color and perhaps my new white jeans.  I need to browse my closet to see what I can come up with.  

I hope you have a wonderful weekend filled with lots of fun and beautiful colors!!

Happy weekend FRIENDS!

birthday dinner

Mr. H woke up to this birthday sign up in our bathroom.  Just showing some birthday love! :)

Yesterday was Mr. H's birthday so went out to celebrate at a fancy restaurant, Fearing's, in Dallas.  This was the first time we'd been so it was exciting.  We don't do a lot of fancy dinner dates so this was pretty special!  Mr. H looked very handsome and I got all dolled up.

I would consider myself somewhat of a picky eater and then I don't do seafood (at all!!) so that limits my selections.  Looking at the menu I was a little skeptical; however, I was pleasantly surprised!  I knew what I ordered, but once it came I had no idea what it was.  Haha.  

I had the Maple-Black Peppercorn Soaked Buffalo Tenderloin on Brazos Valley Jalapeno Grits,
Tangle of Greens and Butternut Squash Taquito

Mr. H had Pan Roasted 'BBQ Spiced' Filet and Chicken Fried Maine Lobster on 'L:aded' Whipped
Potatoes and Cynthia's Soft Spinach Taco

The way they display each plate is like a work of art.  It was very tasty and I will certainly add Fearing's to our list of fancy date night restaurants.  It's located in the Ritz-Carlton...who knows, maybe I can talk Mr. H into a weekend getaway in the future. :)  In my dreams!

It wouldn't be a birthday dinner without dessert, right?  Especially since Mr. H and I are huge dessert lovers!!!

Mr. H and I split Caramelized Apple 'Short Stack' Oatmeal Shortdough Cookies with Pecan Pie
Ice Cream and Blackberry Port Jam

We were both intrigued with the pecan pie ice cream so we decided on this dessert.  It was amazing and the cookies were amazing too!

We had a wonderful date night birthday celebration!  I'm so happy to call Mr. H my husband and look forward to another wonderful year.  What's your favorite way to celebrate birthdays...your family/friends, your spouse or yours?

Have a wonderful day FRIENDS!

happy birthday mr. h

26 years ago Mr. H was born and let me tell you how happy I am to celebrate his birthday!

for letterpress tutorial click here.

Mr. H is my best friend and I can't imagine my life any better.  These seven months of marriage have been blissful and it's only because of Mr. H.  He makes me the happiest I've ever been and can't wait to spend forever with him.

little Mr. H.  look how cute he was!

In honor of Mr. H's 26 birthday, here are 26 reasons why I love him...

1. He loves Jesus
2. He is the spiritual leader of our family
3. He encourages me in my walk with the Lord
4. He wants to be a great husband
5. He kisses every morning before he leaves for work
6. He kisses me every evening when he comes home from work
7. He asks how my days are
8. He makes me laugh
9. He watches my TV shows with me
10. He cooks for me
11. He cleans up after dinner
12. He helps clean our house
13. He loves to spend time with me
14. He respects his parents
15. He loves his family
16. He want our relationship to be Christ centered
17. He is honest with me
18. He is a devoted friend
19. He has a strong work ethic
20. He encourages me
21. He communicates well with me
22. He loves desserts like I do!!
23. He cares for me
24. He can always turn a bad day into a good day
25. He makes me feel special
26. He loves me

Dear Mr. H, I hope you have the best birthday today!  You make me feel like the luckiest girl and I just wanted you to know I think you're a pretty cool guy!  Love you lots!

We'll be having a birthday date at a fancy restaurant and we'll certainly order a yummy dessert to celebrate.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mr. H!!!

Have a happy Wednesday FRIENDS!

HE is RISEN!

I'm so excited for a long weekend! However, it's not just a regular weekend...it's Easter weekend.  I'm so blessed to have a Savior who died for me.  It's during this time that I pause to reflect on what HE has done and how I'm so amazed that HE loves me enough to die and carry my burden.

At my home church, they play this awesome video every Easter Sunday.  THAT'S MY KING!!!

I hope you will take the time to remember HIM this Easter season.  Have a very blessed Easter.  I hope it's filled with friends and family.

a touch of floral

Hi FRIENDS!  You made it through the week and it's officially the weekend.  It's Fashion Friday here at Simply Splendid LOVE!!  I'm linking up with long distance loving for my Friday's Fancies.

Today's Friday's Fancies is "flower power".  It's springtime and not only are there beautiful flowers blooming outside, but flowers are popping up in the fashion world too.  I'm loving the floral patterns I've seen recently.

A cute date night inspired floral outfit!!

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A breezy beach inspired floral outfit!!

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Now that we've got this beautiful spring weather, I'm looking forward to wearing my floral dresses and I love the floral shorts...hmmm a shopping trip may be in order soon.


Happy Friday FRIENDS!!!

how was your weekend?

Hello friends, I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!!  I sure enjoyed the relaxation, time with friends and lovely weather.

Mr.H and I have a tradition of Friday night pizza.  It's a family tradition Mr.H grew up doing and I'm so glad to carry the tradition on with our family.  After a long week we usually eat our yummy pizza, catch up on our TV shows and relax together.

Saturday morning we met our good friend, Beth, for brunch at a local cafe where we all enjoyed the most amazing French toast, EVER!  It's not your traditional French toast...it's cinnamon crisp French toast!

This picture doesn't do it justice. 

After our yummy brunch, Beth and I went for a little relaxation and catching up time.  What girl doesn't love a pedicure?  That's right, we treated ourselves to a luxurious pedicure.  If you've never had a hot stone pedicure, I'd highly recommend it!!!  It's so relaxing and feels absolutely amazing!  I love spending one on one time with friends and a nail salon is the perfect place for girls to be girls.

I'm wishing I was back in that chair right NOW!

Our fabulous toes!  

Sunday was our date day!  Who likes ice skating?  That's right...ice skating was the date we picked out of our date jar this weekend.  I'm not sure about you, but it's been a long time since I've been ice skating!!!  Needless to say, I was nervous and excited when we picked it as our date.

When we got to the rink, there were lots of people, mostly kids and I immediately got really nervous about getting on the ice.  We put on our fashionable skates and then headed off to the rink.

We both stepped out very carefully, cautiously and tried to grab the edge.  I actually got the hang of it right away and Mr.H was very surprised with my mad skating skills.  Mr.H on the other hand...well, let's just say he was not as graceful on the ice.  He may have had a few falls and unfortunately it was very obvious who had fallen and who hadn't.  Let me paint you a picture...the ice was very watery so if you fell, it basically looked like you had jumped in to a swimming pool.  We spent about as much time on the ice as we did getting our skates on.  Ice skating...I'm sorry, but you will never join Mr.H and I on a date again.

Here I am skating alone...Mr.H had had enough and I decided to do one last lap.

A quick camera pose.

I wanted a picture of us in our skates, but we were too busy trying not to fall (oops).

I look forward to our next date jar date and hope that the outcome will be better than silly ice skating.  Until our next date...

Have a lovely Monday FRIENDS!