Craig isn’t super romantic. I’ve never been swept off of my feet on a romantic date, I’ve never gotten a pice of jewelry other than my engagement ring, flowers aren’t his thing.
This used to really bother me. I would try to get my mom to help him get me a present, I would hint around what I wanted. Honestly, I was trying to trick Craig into someone he wasn’t. It’s easy to get swept up in the comparison game when you see other couples surprise each other and sporting new jewelry form Valentines day when I’ve never even gotten a card.
In Craig’s defense, he doesn’t care if/when I spent money on whatever I want. We have a joint bank account and he can’t keep a secret or a surprise to save his life. Craig isn’t a bad guy, he just isn’t the kind of guy who finds value in giving or receiving gifts.
That being said, Craig shows his love in other ways. In fact, it just about brought me to tears the other morning.
We bought workout mats for the garage a few months back. I had intended on going out there to work out. The mats are still in the original packaging – untouched. The days got colder, so did the garage, and my intention to work out slowly faded.
The other morning, I went to leave the house to meet my personal trainer and was met with a few inches of unexpected snowfall. I texted her to let her know I wouldn’t be coming because we got a lot more snow than expected and at 5 am, the plows hadn’t touched it yet.

I went back upstairs to let Craig know and he said “That’s okay, we will work out together.”
Okay, Craig DOESN’T workout, or eat healthy, or show any interest in either. This is not a statement that Craig has said before. I was very confused but Craig was very enthusiastic. He jumped out of bed and at 5 am, he ran out to the detached garage, in the newly fallen snow, got the mats, and set them up in my newly cleaned out basement.
He asked us what we were doing, and did a few squats with me as I explained the proper form. He ended up just sitting and chatting with me as I worked out. He brought me down a big glass of water and he fished my air pods out of my car so I could listen to music.
It was just so sweet, I had no idea how much his genuine interest, excitement and encouragement really touched me. It was such a sweet thing to do. He knows how much happier I’ve been since I’ve achieved a healthier lifestyle and he finds little things like this to encourage me and keep me going.
If you need a good workout, here’s what I did – never skip leg day!

Honestly, it was a GREAT workout and I’m still sore as I’m sitting here in the hotel room (snow storm is coming between shifts so I’m staying in town) Every time I see these mats, I’ll remember Craig is cheering me on even if he isn’t great at showing it.

Some of you may read this and think “whoopdy doo he set up some mats” but to that I challenge you to be thankful for the little things. If I were to say to Craig “yeah, nice you want to spend time with me but where’s a new necklace?” I would spend my whole life trying to turn Craig into someone he isn’t and I would be so unhappy waiting for him to change. I’m thankful, I am happy, I am grateful. I find joy in the small moments and kind gestures. What kind of life is it if you can’t do that?
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- My Farewell Letter to Rachel Hollis
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