Posts Tagged ‘self-love reflections’

Self-Love Reflection: Fun Things To Do With Others

Hi, friends! This week’s self-love reflection has a different spin on it. Cynthia believes loving yourself involves relationships with others, so she shares some fun and cheap date ideas to do with someone else. Enjoy!

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Love is a beautiful thing. The first date…the first “I love you”…the first everything.  Falling in love is fun…then the day-to-day takes over. To bring back the initial wooing plan unique dates to remove the boredom. No need for extravagance, simple quality time with your partner is important.

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Here are some of my favorites…sometimes the hokier the better.

Movie theme nightsTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Pizza…Chocolat & Fondue…The Breakfast Club & your favorite breakfast foods (mine are waffles and scrambled eggs, yes together). Lay out a sheet on the floor with some pillows and enjoy the meal picnic style while watching the movie and cuddling.

Pottery Class – Groupon offers deals on classes all the time. Pick a project have some fun and you get a souvenier of the night.

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Plus maybe your own Ghost moment…need I say more?

Go Fly a Kite. Make your own kite or store bought and have fun laughing on the beach or at the park as you try to keep it in the sky. Or check out a paper airplane book from the library and use your competitive spirit to make the coolest plane and see whose while fly the farthest. Bring some snacks along for your “in flight meal.”

Progressive meal. Enjoy drinks at a bar, then move to appetizers at a nearby restaurant and entrée and dessert others. No need to choose your favorite restaurant when you only have one date a month. Be sure to dress up and make it fancy. This works best on a week night to avoid crowds.

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Tourist in your town. Visit the information center and find little places tourists visit but you often miss. Make it an event buy taking pictures, buy a specialty treats, and of course a souvenir of event.

Concerts in the park or local college. Most often these are FREE! Four of the most fabulous letters in the English letters for a simple date (okay it’s only three letter, technically). I can’t afford the Boston Pops but I can hear similar music at the local college with students who may eventually be a Pop.

Visit the toy store…without the kids. If you have kids, often the toy store is torture and trying to get in and out as fast as possible. Two adults can reminisce about childhood toys, favorite games, and even buy a board game for a future fun date night. 

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Random acts of kindness. Each partner uses $20 to spend the afternoon/evening paying tolls for others, buying someone’s coffee, tip more than bill, etc. Random acts of kindness makes someone else’s day and will make you smile as well. It will give you stories to talk about for months to come.

Dress up movie date. No, not suit and tie. Set a $10 limit for your partner to buy you an outfit at the local thrift store and enjoy a night at the movies. Take a picture for the hilarity of it.

Old time Drive-in. This is the best deal for a movie date. Two movies for the price of one. Plus you can often bring your own food – without breaking the rules – and enjoy the fresh night air. Relax in the car or set up lawn chairs or sleeping bags to give it the living room feel.

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What's your favorite inexpensive date?  I need more ideas. Smile

Posted by on October 23rd, 2011 11 Comments

Self-Love Reflection: The Other Side Of A Miscarriage

Please welcome Stephanie as she shares her story for today’s Self-Love Reflection. It is immensely touching, with an inspiring message of loving yourself and life.

My name is Stephanie and I write about health, balance and seeking adventure on my happy living blog, Love Life Project. I’m so happy to be guest posting on Faith Fitness Fun! Tina’s blog is always joyful and encouraging. I’m glad to be a part of it.

At this time last year, I was newly married and glowing with the knowledge that I carried a baby inside of me. I wondered at every new feeling of early pregnancy: the strange churning in my stomach, the aching breasts, the need to go to bed at 8:00 PM every night.

My husband and I argued good-naturedly over names and talked about all of the things that we would do with our child. We discussed how we’d reorganize the house so that our little one would have a room. As Halloween approached, we started talking about what kinds of Halloween costumes we’d dress our baby in the following year. I half-joked that before too long I wouldn’t be able to tie my shoes. On October 31st of last year, I lost my pregnancy.

It hurt, both physically and emotionally. My heart was broken and I grieved. I missed my little bean with all of my being.

My loved ones empathized and supported me, although I don’t believe that anyone else missed my baby the way that I did and still do. I felt angry and sad and lethargic and lonely. All I wanted was to be pregnant again. Despite my grief, I knew that I’d be pregnant again soon. It had only taken one month the first time; I was obviously someone who got pregnant quickly.

Milestone dates came and went, and all the while I told myself that it was just a matter of time: I’ll be pregnant again within the first month. I’ll be pregnant again before Mother’s Day. I’ll be pregnant again before my birthday. I’ll be pregnant again before my due date. I’ll be pregnant again before the one year anniversary of my miscarriage. In 16 days, it will have been exactly one year since I lost my baby. I’m still not pregnant.

Logically, I know that this isn’t necessarily something to worry about. My husband is in the air force, and he isn’t always around at the right time. People tell me – over and over again – that it will happen if it’s meant to happen. I can’t help wondering, though, if maybe it won’t happen. Maybe it isn’t meant to happen.

Have you ever had a toothache or a canker sore? You know how you touch it gently with your tongue, testing to see how much it hurts? As the one year mark approaches, that’s how I’ve started considering the possibility that I might not have a baby. I touch the possibility gently with my mind, and then back off. Little by little, I’m starting to imagine how life might look if it were just me and my husband and our dog. On many days it doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it might.


This is my family. This is enough.

I have a good life. I have a husband who loves and respects me. We have close-knit families – parents, siblings, nieces and nephews. I love my house and my big goof of a dog. I'm taking better care of myself and starting to explore my creative side.

Even if it turns out that luck has kicked me in the uterus, I know that I can live a rich, happy, full life. For now, I'm seeking a balance between being hopeful and planning for a future with kids, and loving myself and my life right now, as it is. That's what self-love is to me: trusting that the future is wide open while still understanding that what really matters is what and how I'm living today.

What’s holding you back from truly loving life right now? What richness in life can you (or are you) focus(ing) on instead?

Posted by on October 16th, 2011 35 Comments

 

 
Catch Up With Recent Posts

Announcement Time

Posted: November 23, 2011 at 7:47 am

Well, I have had a whirlwind of a few weeks over here. I missed all of you so much! I can’t express enough gratitude for your patience while I got some important things sorted out. Some scary things. Are you ready for the announcement? Here goes! I will no longer be blogging at Faith Fitness […]

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Self-Love Reflection: The Road Not Taken

Posted: November 20, 2011 at 11:47 am

Hello FFF readers! Nice to meet ya! My name is Carissa and my husband and I blog at Fit2Flex.  Well, I blog…he consults! We are both certified personal trainers with a passion for healthy, active living and clean eating.  I am also studying to become a registered dietitian, a race announcer, and a runner.  Stop […]

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Healthier Eating For Kids

Posted: November 19, 2011 at 10:56 am

Thanks to Plum Organics for sponsoring my post about tips for baby feeding magic. What if you let baby choose what’s for dinner? Check out their cute "Quest for Yum!" video and see what happens! As parents, we want the best for our children. We help them to feel loved. We strive to teach them […]

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Announcement

Posted: November 17, 2011 at 3:36 pm

Hey, everyone! I wanted to pop in and say I am working on some new and exciting changes.  As a result,I may not be posting as much during the coming week.  Please stay tuned for the big announcement! Love you all! And still feel free to find me on Twitter and Facebook for the time […]

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Where The Change Happens

Posted: November 16, 2011 at 7:54 am

It’s kind of funny. I become a certified personal trainer and the first workouts I turn to this week come from someone else. The book came in for me at the library last week and, after flipping through it, I couldn’t wait to give the circuits a go. Making The Cut includes a lot of […]

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From Beginning To End

Posted: November 15, 2011 at 11:53 am

Good morning! First off, thanks for the many congrats yesterday. Love you all bunches for the tons of support you have given me in so many things this year. I hope I can return a little bit of that love through this here blog as well. So yesterday I had my first parent-teacher “conference” for […]

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