I’ve been married for ten years now. We’ve been together for almost fourteen years. And some days, it feels like much, much, MUCH longer. Hahahaha. There are days/weeks/months when we get so wrapped up in daily life and all of the little dramas that go on with family and friends, we end up not focusing on romance or even putting effort on our relationship. We coast. And we get crabby. And distant. And tired. There are times I feel like we must be the only couple in existence who don’t focus on romance. But I know that isn’t true. I think everyone goes through it at some point. My husband has never been a big romantic. That is just who he is. I would like to be romantic. But lately it is hard to try to whip up a mood of romance when life is crazy and/or the attitude isn’t reciprocated.

So celebrate romance… where does that come in?

• I believe that if you shift your focus, you shift your energy. That energy, in turn, attracts similar energy. I’m sure there is some sort of physics lesson I could point to so I could prove my theory, but I never took physics in school, so you’ll just have to trust me.
• A few months back, I started a Love and Romance board on Pinterest. When I feel like our relationship is in auto mode and we’re losing focus on each other, I skim through the board and find romantic images, quotes, or date ideas. That little nudge shifts my attitude, and I feel like celebrating romance. Catching glimpses of romance, puts it into my mind, and I feel like I shouldn’t take our relationship for granted. Start a Pinterest board or a mood board in your home where you can focus on all things romantic.
• Obviously another way to celebrate romance is to take a picture of you and your sweetheart. Scrap a page about it and add some heartfelt journaling. Celebrate your love. Celebrate your romance. Celebrate your story. Print it out (or do a hybrid page) and put it in a prominent place where you can see it on a regular basis.
• Check out Miss Tiina’s planner. She has a great section for planning/organizing and scheduling date nights. Yet another way to focus on/celebrate romance.
• Get a blank journal (or start a hybrid project like this) and write notes to each other, passing it back and forth. Celebrate your relationship. Ask questions in your journal or document special moments.
• Use a pocket scrapping model to create a mini album about your relationship. If you don’t have all of the photos you need, go back and do some of the activities over, taking photos. Or use stock photos or fun quotes in place of pictures.
• Spend just a few minutes a day, holding hands with your sweetie. Even if you are pressed for time, sitting together and focusing on each other for even a couple of minutes, can make a big difference.

Now it is your turn.

How do you celebrate romance?

Jump over to the forum and check out the challenge.

About the Author: Kimberlee is a lover not a fighter; a stay-at-home gran, a poet, and a lifelong learner. She grooves on saturated colors, Tuesday dance parties, optimism, glitter and sunshine. She colors outside the lines.  She is a dreamer. She is a collector of moments.  She is all about the story.  Kimberlee completed her MFA in Creative Writing and is currently working toward a M.Ed. in Instructional Design.

A few days earlier Barbara wrote a post here about celebrating the little, everyday moments in life. My idea was something similar to begin with but then as I sat thinking, I could see certain patterns in what I document and what probably gets missed. My type A brain couldn’t help putting bullets down!

• The big, standout events  – yes of course!
• The little moments inconspicuous in their omnipresence – yes depending on what pictures I might have
• A snapshot of time – interviews with my kids – yes or just writing them a letter – yes

So what’s left???!!you might ask and a little idea started forming in my head which I thought I will share here.

If I look at our lives there seem to be themes of daily life that run like an undercurrent. There is no obvious reason to celebrate these or indeed take much note. But maybe, just maybe, there is something in there to explore. Those unmistakably scraps that so define who we are, what we do, what we like and don’t like and how the days go generally. I realised I often didn’t have photos for these nor do these necessarily have a start and end date. Without such prompts, they would never get on to my “scrap-list” But there are many ways around it and I now make a point to challenge myself to take more pictures, put my thoughts down and tell my story, my way.

Take for example my elder one’s inclination to art. She draws every day, without fail!  My house is bursting with stuff. I do want to capture it without going overboard. So I picked a little piece of art that is so her and used it to tell a story about what she likes and her personality.

In the same vein, my younger is obsessed with sunglasses, she can put one or two or tens at the same time and look at herself in the mirror giggling away! 🙂

My other example is the ritual my mom and my little one have almost every day. They make jigsaw puzzles – sometimes first thing in the morning, sometimes just before bed and almost all other times in between. I tell you they are obsessed!!! – having races to see who finishes first. LOL!

And I just want to leave with you another person who’s played a really, really important part in our lives. She is 6 years old, snorts and is a champion puddle jumper. She is a British sensation and goes by the name of Peppa Pig!!! I’m not sure we have outgrown the phase yet but I couldn’t help but document an ode to Peppa.

So next time, you are busy making pages and racing to get it all done, STOP! take a breath and think about what’s getting missed. I’m sure you’ll be able to glean out some little gems 🙂 Challenge yourself to put these down and if you need some practice, the monthly challenge I’m hosting here just does that!

About the author: Shivani Sohal is a donner of many alter-egos. A finance professional by day in busy London, she morphs into a seemingly normal mum of two in the evenings and weekends. She is constantly found with her fingers in too many pies and juggling the metaphorical balls. That is living on the edge for her; aided by the two ankle biters and a darling hubby who define the warm and mushy for her. She is ferociously dedicated to memory keeping – almost immune to any nay-sayers (or equally disruptive crying children or annoying house fires!!!);keeping her head down and forging ahead at all times.