I kicked butt!

This July was the most successful HH challenge yet! I had a total of 56 individual things I did for my deserving hubby, ranging from playing video games with him more, choosing his type of movies, making MANY bacon dishes (both meals and desserts, yes, desserts! which led to bragging about me at work :), surprising him with homemade saurkraut bacon perogies, making a lot of his favorite meals (which were actually easy on me, like pizza, chicken nuggets, chicken balls, etc.), watching his choice of t.v. shows without complaint (even showing interest occasionally ;), encouraged guys nights out and drove so he could have beer, got a new 'hubby rocks' shirt and wore both of mine a couple of times a week, sent 'thankful' emails to him on the weekend so he'd get them on Monday mornings, saved him from having to accompany me on errands he doesn't like, helped with his 'chores', got him little gifts of food he likes, etc. And of course, on top of that I was doing my best to be the kind of wife God wants me to be; being encouraging, being someone who listens, being his complimentary partner in everything in everyway, praying for him a lot, reading my Bible more-studying what God wants a wife/woman to be, becoming a healthy woman free of past baggage, etc. I started the Love Dare book but I was repeating stuff I had just done voluntarily for my own HH challenge, so I'm going to start again with the book in September (when the initiating of appreciating him will most likely be slowing).
Signs this was a big success, well, I'm pretty sure I made him feel more manly, as all of a sudden he's working out in our gym more and making sure I'm noticing the results, lol. Also, intimacy has very noticeably changed for the better :) and I'll leave that at that. Hubby has seemed to bring less of his work stress home, so in our free time he's more carefree, more energetic, and just seems more content and confident in our relationship and life in general.
This has been one of the best months of our lives, maybe THE best. It amazes me how each year I can still be surprised at the wonderful outcome from this challenge. But I'm glad that each year it is proved to me more and more how investing in my marriage pays HUGE dividends and continually makes it easier for me to carry on my intentional investments throughout the year. And with my birthday right at the end of July, knowing how happy I've made my husband is the best birthday gift I could ever get!