Love Letters

Since I am going to be focusing in on 3 areas for most of my blog, I thought I would start with something Mark and I have been doing for about 5 years now that falls into the marriage category.

Several years ago, I bought this Italian carved leather journal from Barnes & Noble.  I had every intention of beginning to journal in it but decided to blog online instead. I wanted my journaling to be something that could also be read by my closest family and friends while also one day being there for our future children to read wherever they were.

I finally came up with an idea to make this leather journal useful and special for years to come. I asked Mark if he would write with me and it would be our book.

  I should back up a bit and mention that "love letters" have been a big part of our relationship since the beginning... even when we weren't officially dating. Growing up, Mark and I didn't go to the same schools until we attended the same college. So for many years, I would find a hand written letter in my mailbox or one that would be given to me through a mutual friend of ours. This even continued once cell phones came onto the scene. Haha  

Mark has always been great at communicating his thoughts to me but it was 10 times more special to have them written out to me when he couldn't be there with me. 

I still have most of them and cherish them so much. I guess you could say that Mark and I are hopeless romantics when it comes to things like that. 

So naturally, he agreed with my idea to start writing in this book from time to time. We often leave it on a nightstand or on the dresser. It is kept in our room in spots where we can see it and remember to write. This isn't something that we do every night or even every month. We have gone a while before remembering to pick it up and write. So this isn't something we NEED to do... It is something that is for fun and done when we feel like it. The day it starts to feel like a chore is the day we won't enjoy it anymore.

The journal now is filled with love notes and letters to each other that are all dated so that we know what was going on during that time in our lives. The first entry is from 8. 25. 2010

My favorite letter in the book so far was right after I gave birth to Ava in 2012. I was sleep deprived and emotional. I had never experienced exhaustion like that in my life and was feeling a little overwhelmed in my new mama role. They call that time "the baby blues".  Anyways, Mark wrote to me before he headed out the door for work one morning. When I woke up, I found the journal on the coffee table with the pen sticking out meaning that he had just written in it...

That letter made me feel so supported and appreciated. The things he said were a reminder that he was right there with me during this transition period and the beginning to an amazing new chapter of our lives.

We like to write in the book for occasions like birthdays, promotions, our children's milestones, anniversaries, holidays, and more recently, when he is away on a business... or just any random day, really!

 I often tell him not to get me a card on special occasions. "Just write it in the book," I tell him. That way, we'll always have it.

I've come to love this book so much. It is definitely a possession that I would want to save in a fire. (Let's pray that it never comes to that though!)

I know that one day, our daughters will open this book and read all the entries with a smile. They'll read about how much their mother and father loved one another and about all the little things that made them happy in life.

So there you have it. That is one of my very favorite things that we do as a couple that I thought I would share. Any of you have a fun or special thing that you do with your significant other?

And since I am long overdue, I will head over and write something in it now!

-Christina

Our journal is still being sold at B&N! You can find it here and others like it.