Young lovers do silly things sometimes. When my husband and I were courting, we frequently left silly little poems on small slips of paper for each other. We then hid the papers in hidden places for each other to discover later, such as in a book or in a coat pocket. After 19 years of marriage, we still giggle when we recall those silly– and sentimental– moments of our early years.

Roses are red,
Violets are blue;
I’ll meet you at the park
Where sweet kisses are due!

Roses are red,
Violets are turquoise;
When we are together
I want to make lots of noise!

I think I made a poem for every color in the Crayola crayon box! But my husband loved finding these little notes in unsuspected places. He fondly chuckles when he remembers them.

If you’ve been together with your spouse for a long time, those silly little moments are easily swallowed up with other things. Building careers, raising children, buying a home, etc., come to the forefront and the sentimentality of romance and relationship are shifted to the back burner. We marrieds don’t intentionally neglect those times of sweet romance; it just kind of happens. So, it takes effort to stir up those sparks. Doing so can really revitalize your relationship and prevent entropy.

But how does one go about it? Sometimes finances are tight. Sometimes they are not! But whether you buy your love a new kitchen or sports car or a chocolate bar, what really matters is that you keep it personal. Your goal is to stoke those fires that burned during those early years. Sometimes all we have to do is shut out everything– the bills, the TV, the kids, the pets, the clamor of the day– turn off the lights, light the candles, and enjoy each other’s presence. Remember together why you chose each other to have and to hold, for better or for worse, til death do you part. Every relationship needs this kind of attention, but it seems the longer you are together, the more you need to do it.

Take some alone time with your spouse. You’ll probably have to schedule it in! That may make it seem “less romantic” but it needn’t be. Remember those early love notes or sweet things you did together. Stir up the embers of those first days, and before long you’ll have a steady flame going.

Remember that old Beatles’ song, “Can’t Buy Me Love”?

Don’t you believe it.

To a hard-working wife, “stuff” is a wonderful benefit. Yet, guys, come on– we women really don’t want the stuff that gives us more to do– toaster ovens, food choppers, coffeemakers. Those are things we expect. They are part and parcel of the job, ya know? By now you husbands probably have arms up in air, eyes rolling, wondering aloud, “Well then, what?”

Jacuzzi.

Oh yeah. The staff of life. Men, we women want a Jacuzzi.

Maybe you men think we wives have it easy here at home all day. Yeah, right. That’s why you have this insatiable desire to quit your job to stay home with the kids, right? Deep down, you guys know that we women work hard, 24/7. We are always on call. Dirty diapers, health insurance applications, soccer practice, math homework, sick kids, babysitting, cleaning toilets, telemarketers… And it is sometimes very stressful. So unless you husbands are willing to rub our backs all night and work out those tension knots (which isn’t a bad idea, either), what women want is a Jacuzzi. I don’t have one (not yet– still working on it) but someday I’m going to get one. Just the thought of sinking my weary, worrisome carcass into a hot tub of bubbles and fragrance make my heart melt and my eyes glaze over.

You love your wife? Prove it. Get her a Jacuzzi.

My Mother loved daisies. Chris’ Mom liked Forget-Me-Nots. I like pink roses, personally. I had a beautiful bunch of them in my wedding bouquet, and Chris brought them to me in the hospital each time one of the kids was born.

If you don’t know what your wife or girlfriend’s favorite type of flower is, ask! Or, to be less obvious, wait until you are shopping at a store that has an outdoor garden center, steer her in that direction, and pay attention to what kinds of flowers she looks at.

Not sure where to buy the freshest, nicest flowers? Look in the Yellow Pages under florists, or for convenient delivery, try using an online <a type=”amzn”>flower delivery</a> service like ProFlowers. When I worked in an office, I never saw a single female coworker NOT be thrilled at the site of a delivery person walking up to the reception desk with a flower delivery! We all secretly hoped it was for us

You don’t need a special occasion to send flowers, you can send them “just because”. Your special lady will feel spoiled by your attention, too.

Recently, I ran across a blog where the writer was impressed by the fact that her husband had written “I Love You” in the mildew on their deck. I think she may have been more impressed that he was going to clean said mildew off the deck but who am I to say? There are so many ways to say I love you.

One of the ways my husband lets me know that I am special is when he tiptoes around the bedroom to try and let me sleep. This was not always the case. When we first married he would flip the overhead light on and declare it was time to get up. That habit was changed quickly. My favorite hobby is sleeping and if he wants a non-cranky wife he had better ensure me a good night of sleep. We took turns getting up when our children were babies and needed us during the night. That was unless vomit was involved. I dealt better with that and unless I wanted a bigger mess, I dealt with that crises. Marriage is a give and take proposition. He gives and I take. Just kidding!

There have been many nights that I have become engrossed in the latest Harry Potter book and it means the world to me to be able to leave my night stand light on without someone making sighing noises. My heros, Harry Potter and my hubby. Going to sleep with a good book and getting to sleep in. True love.

“You have ravished my heart with one look of your eyes, with one link of your necklace. How fair is your love…” Song of Songs 4:9, 10

When I was a kid growing up in the 70s, there was a television advertising blitz of “greatest songs” albums. Those old TV ads were something like the Ronco Ginsu knife– actually, I think the same guy narrated both kinds of commercials! There was the ad for “Greatest Disco Songs of 1978,” “Greatest All-Time Favorite Polka Hits,” and “Greatest Piano Solos by Liberace.” As a burgeoning young lass at the tender age of 14, my favorite was “Greatest Love Songs of Soft Rock.” My favorite song was, and still is, “You’re the Only Woman” by Ambrosia. The lead singer’s silky smooth voice swept over my heartstrings and literally left me swooning. The song is still one of my favorite songs, and makes me do crazy things! From time to time I ask my husband to sing it to me. (In case you’re wondering, asking him to sing is not the crazy thing I’m referring to). I’ll take the liberty of quoting the most thrilling part of the song:

When the pain of love surrounds you
And the world may be unkind
I’ll put my lovin’ arms around you
Take you far from this place and time

Because you and I’ve been in love too long
To worry ’bout tomorrow
Here’s a place where we both belong
I know you’re the only woman that I’m dreamin’ of
You’re the only woman that I really love

More than the softly sung words and gentle lull of soft rock, it was the meaning of the song that got to me: you’re the only one.

Every woman wants to be the only one to her man. Adversely, this is summed up in that proverb, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” There’s some truth to that! Women are emotional, affectionate creatures. We need to feel loved, and we revel in your undivided attention. Gifts, goodies, and flowers are so wonderful, but it’s more meaningful when they come accompanied with warm kisses, googly-eyes of love, and the assurance that you, man, can’t live without your woman. So if you want to spoil your girl, make her the only one. You’ll have her wrapped around your finger if you do.

Now that March is turning to April and the snow is finally melting in Eastern half of the U.S., women’s thoughts will soon be turning to sandals. We can finally pull off our boots and our thick socks and slip our feet into all kinds of strappy, thong-y, letting-our-feet-breathe sandals. Aaaahhhhh.

But first, we have to get our feet ready. We have to have layers of thick winter skin pumiced off, cuticles pushed back and nipped, and our toenails buffed and polished so that they look pretty and soft. And that, gentlemen, requires a pedicure.

Surprise your wife or girlfriend with a gift certificate to a nail salon for a relaxing pedicure and I promise she will be thrilled. Dads, don’t even hesitate when she asks “what about the kids?” Just tell her “the kids and I will be fine, don’t worry”, and send her out the door.

She will return with a smile on her face wearing disposable flip-flops and sporting lovely toes and feet. Make sure to compliment her on how pretty her feet look, say something nice about the color of the nail polish. Want to score even MORE spoiling points? Tell her you’d like her to go buy a nice new pair of sandals to show off the pedicure.

And Dads, don’t forget to give her newly pedicured feet a massage after the kids go to bed

Tonight I got home from a long day of life and my wife and children were in bed. My wife and I had agreed that we weren’t going to spend any money this Valentine’s Day. That doesn’t mean you don’t give a gift to your wife for Valentine’s Day. It just means that you have to be more creative in the gifts that you give her. Tomorrow I’m going to give her a CD mix and redo the ones I gave her previously that have gotten scratches. Should be a nice touch.

However, I’ve wanted to do something more. When I got home tonight the house was quite the mess. See the pictures to see what I’m talking about.

Bathroom Before

Living Room Before

Kitchen Before

In popped the perfect idea. Clean the house. What better Valentine’s gift or any gift could my wife wake up to than a clean house? So, I went to work picking up all the crap my children had spread throughout the house. The bathroom was a particular joy. My children had enjoyed themselves so much in there I couldn’t even walk into the bathroom because there was crap everywhere. I’m sure my wife was looking forward to cleaning it up tomorrow, but instead she’ll have a nice Valentine’s surprise when she sees it all cleaned up and organized. For good measure I also did all the dishes and put the laundry in. Here’s the after shot:
Bathroom After

Living Room After

Kitchen After

Now I just wish that I could get a picture of my wife’s face tomorrow when she sees it all clean. The amazing thing is that seeing her happy actually turns out to be a great gift for me too.

It’s close to Valentine’s Day.
Well, make that painfully close to Valentine’s Day, if your a guy without a gift for your special someone.
There are still easy gifts to snag. Here are some easy picker-uppers:

• Flowers
• Picture frames
• Chocolates and candies
• Restaurant reservations

It’s not necessarily the timing that matters for Valentine’s Day… it’s the availability. If you don’t move on things early, you’re left with the scraps left by other guys, who move a little quicker than you.
On Valentine’s Day, it’s survival of the fastest.

True Love Dozen Roses Vased This popular vased bouquet features one dozen beautiful roses arranged with greens and accents. A sure-fire way to make any heart skip a beat. When ordering simply click on your color preference.

Amazon Unbox is a really cool service that sells movie downloads that would make a really high tech Valentine’s gift. Sure, there is something cool about having the movie in your hand, wrapped and ready to be opened. However, for those people interested in being a little more green this Valentines, you might consider giving the gift of a downloaded movie. Same great gift, but no wasted paper or other packing materials. Check out some of the hot movies Amazon Unbox has available for this Valentines:

We previously wrote about giving the Amazon Kindle as a gift. It turned out to be very popular with our readers and many people were able to give their loved one the very unique Amazon Kindle as a gift this year. The problem was that back in December the Amazon Kindle was quickly sold out and so many people had to wait over a month to get their Kindle actually shipped to them.

Well, no need to worry about that problem for Valentine’s Day. The Amazon Kindle is a great gift for the readers in your life. That turns out to be most people. Add in the incredible battery life, free wireless connection to download books and you have a very unique gift for that person you love. One review I read of the Kindle even described how the user was able to download for free the first couple chapters of a book and decide whether it was worth purchasing before doing so. Ended up saving him a bunch of money.

Buy the Amazon Kindle for the love of your life this Valentine’s Day. You’ll be glad you did.