I choose to love you...every day.

When I was younger and filled with sappy, unrealistic, Hollywood-induced notions of what love would be like...I was fascinated with the idea of "falling" in love. What took a few years and lots of learning experiences to realize is that love is not some whirlwind emotion that sweeps you unwittingly away into blissful happiness. 

 At one time, when I heard long-time couples speak of their peaceful connection and deep and abiding love for each other...it sounded so boring and disappointing compared to the sparks and fireworks of movie romances. But having had a small taste of each, I know that the sparks and fireworks die very quickly and leave very little behind if they are not replaced with something else....something better and of so much more substance. The kind of love that lasts is the kind that brings real joy, peace, and a feeling of wholeness. But it does not come without purposeful effort.

We must CHOOSE to love. We make that choice by CHOOSING to spend time with someone. We make that choice by showing love with our actions. "Love", the emotion, comes AFTER "Love", the verb. The choice to love someone is not a choice we simply make once and the deal is sealed. We have to make it EVERY DAY. 

When I start feeling disconnected from my husband, it isn't ever because of something he did. It is ALWAYS because I have gotten distracted by other things and have forgotten to CHOOSE him. There's no such thing as "falling out of love" just as there is no such thing as "falling IN love." We grow apart from someone because we stop making the conscious effort to put them first, to think of their feelings instead of ours, and to SHOW them love. 

I believe this is true for EVERY relationship, not just romantic love. The same thing happens with my kids. The more effort I put into spending time with them- the kind of time that THEY need...the easier it is to love them and be patient with them and we have much less contention in our home.

I have not yet met a person that I didn't grow to love to at least some degree once I had spent enough time with them to really get to know them. I grew up hearing the phrase, "you love those you serve," but came to know the truth of this principle while working as a C.N.A in a nursing home. 

I have certainly not perfected relationships, but I know that the reward for our efforts to truly love those around us is REAL happiness. It's just so easy to forget, to get distracted by all of life's craziness, and to forget to spend our time doing what REALLY matters...so we all need reminders. This quote is mine, and it hangs in our family room.

And that's really what we are trying to do with our business...to help you show love to your loved ones. To help you remember to celebrate your relationships and make people feel loved. This isn't just a business for us, it's something we feel very strongly about because our family means so much to us and we hope yours does too.