I can’t believe we are already a whole month into this new year. It seems like just yesterday was Christmas! Ok, so I want to say upfront that 1) This will probably seem overwhelming, but I promise it won’t be as bad as you think. Just take it one day at a time. 2) If you decide to do this with me you will see an improvement in your relationship. I promise. I mean Scout’s Honor-cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye-pinky promise with spit (ewww!) kind of promise. And 3) If you start this, commit to going all the way through with it. It will mean so much more if you do. I will help you in anyway I can. Please just ask.
This series will last the whole month of February. It will be on doing something, some days it will be big somethings and some days it will be small somethings, for your significant other. I will guide you through each day and will give you ideas. If you want a little more personalized help, email me and I’ll see what I can do for you.
A little background, if you get bored, skip down… the good part is coming. This is a tradition I started last year. My Mr Right is in the Army and we were awaiting a deployment date. He’d already received notice he was going, we were just waiting to find out when and where. That was a weird time in our relationship. Everything felt like pins and needles all the time. The dumbest things would set me off because I was overwhelmed and scared at the thought of being left (and mad at My Mr Right for leaving me, like he had a choice, right?) all alone with our then-6-month old and the house and the cars and the mortgage and the HOA (whom I really didn’t like and was less than excited to do business with), and…, and… and the list went on and on. My parents were 600 miles south, my in-laws were 600 miles north and I was terrified.
Unless you are an Army wife, it’s incredibly hard to really understand what emotions you have when they get that call. But time also felt so precious. Every laugh, smile, tickle session, and all the intimate moments were so special. I had to savor them, in case they were the last ones. Pre-deployment is a rough time.
(Ok, before you get too caught up in my sad little story, My Mr Right didn’t deploy. His company went out of business and we had to move out of state to find a job. That might sound like we were dodging deployment (and honestly, I didn’t mind missing out on that), but it was either move or live under the freeway for 6 months until he did deploy. Jobs really were that scare in our small Idaho town.)
So, for the month of February I chose to focus on the positive in my life instead of fretting over the less-than-positive that I had zero control over. I took a letter each day and made it the focus of my “something special”. I did something for My incredible Mr Right each day of February. I’ve always been a hopeless romantic and giving gifts is just as fun for me as receiving them. This was perfect. I didn’t go in order, as it was easier that way. That way the “activities” I had planned we could do when my sweetie wasn’t working. He worked nights, seven days a week. That’s almost as rough as deployment, ok, just kidding. Don’t write me mean comments! I’m totally joking.
The Good Part:
Want an example? “J” was for “Jigsaw Puzzle”. I made up a little collage of some photos of my sweetie and me in Photoshop. I made it quite large. I printed it out, taped it up and then cut it into a puzzle. AND THEN, I put each piece inside of a balloon. I blew the balloons up (by hand… uh, mouth) and stuck them in our half bath, the one My Mr Right used when he got home from work. Now, I probably had about 60 balloons in this bathroom… My mouth was so sore and it seriously messed with my TMJ, but it was so much fun to watch him walk, well try to walk, into that bathroom.
Totally worth it. Now, remember I had a lot of free time on my hands last year and this little gesture was kinda time-intensive. It doesn’t have to be! For “U” he got a homemade gift certificate to the hot springs about an hour away. That took me about 20 mins to put together. If you are easily offended by things of an intimate nature, please skip this next sentence. And for “P”, he got 3 pairs of skimpy panties in his lunchbox, which we made good use of later. We are married… but that letter only took 10 minutes and $5 for me to put together. I only wish I could’ve seen his face!
Ok, I hope you’re getting excited to join me? It will be fun, I promise. The best part about this: it is completely customizable. What I do and what you do and what Emma Jane over there does will not be the same. Even if we all use the same word(s). My puzzle would be completely different than yours and Emma Jane’s! As will your sweetheart’s reactions. This can be as time-intensive or as expensive as you want. I will be providing a few goodies along the way to help you out.
Like I’ve said, if you want more help, email me. whilehewasnapping[at]gmail. I’m usually pretty quick at responding. I’ve also got 2 pages of ideas for things to do. If you would like a copy of my list, please email me and I will send it to you.
Click Here to find out what A is for…
Don’t forget to print off the invite for your sweetheart to join you in this month long celebration! Click, right click, save to your computer and print!
