For me, morning pages are Unfiltered. No prompt unless I’m wanting a prompt. Morning pages allows me to write lists of what I need to do. It allows me to process through the argument I had with my husband the night before. It allows me to explore ideas or thoughts sitting on the edges of my mind. It allows me to get more in touch with my feelings instead of avoiding them. Morning pages are not about perfection and for a recovering perfectionist, that’s so so refreshing. It allows me to connect my thoughts to my creativity to my relational life to my spiritual life. It’s a big dump of thoughts before I begin my workday. And I love what it does for me and for my own sanity and clarity.

Just a few vintage meets modern Valentine’s Date night outfit ideas for those of you who like to get dressed up and go out on the town!

So, shitty date nights…. are another good reminder that for an idealist like myself, it’s important to keep expectations low in literally everything I do. I’m pretty sure idealists need a few reminders throughout the year to keep expectations low. This one counts for me. In fact, I’m happy to take this one for the team if it means saving someone else from date night disappointment.

Four months into long-distance dating, Brett wrote me a list of meaningful things about myself and our relationship he thought I would appreciate. Here are just a few things that made me tear up or LOL while reading them.

Yesterday, Brett cried while telling me why he loves me.

Every now and then, he shares with me things I don't see in myself. This time, it was an affirmation I'd never heard before, and by the time he was done, we were both crying.

We went through some really hard stuff when we first got married, and he told me that because I had to sit in a really dark and challenging season for so long, he sees me now able to sit in the dark and challenging seasons of those around me, without necessarily having to speak into or fix their season-- he sees me showing up for their highs and the lows, aware that seasons aren't always quick or easily controlled.

Herbivore botanicals makes my face feel like a soft bunny. I wake up with a hydrated face and my makeup actually sinks into my skin instead of flaking it up. SEE YA LATER, dry skin.

Take a foggy walk with us! We walked the Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s Japanese Garden and walked by Eagle Mountain Lake too. Aren’t these foggy pics giving off a foggy Riverdale vibe?!

Here are a few phrases and questions we have learned to communicate to one another that might be helpful to you in your relationships or marriage when dealing with anger (potentially very helpful if you are married to an enneagram 9):

1. “Is [fill in the blank] really what you are upset about, or is it someting else?” Sometimes we think we’re upset about one thing, when it’s really someting else (or many something elses).

2. Brett and I think it’s important to recognize we can’t read each other’s minds—can anyone? So sometimes we just have to get direct, “Are you frustrated? What about?”

When I asked Brett what conversation he wished we’d had in our first few years of marriage, his answer didn’t surprise me. Because it was my answer too. We both wish we would have communicated more about how destructive my anger outbursts were. They would come out of nowhere, were challenging to navigate, and we both wish we’d have known how to talk about it, instead of passively and hurtfully allowing it to happen.

We would be right in the middle of laughing till we cried in a snuggle fest, and, all of a sudden, without much notice, I would be erupting into an anger tornado about how upset I was with myself, my circumstances, or something Brett said. It was so defeating.

How to create daily rituals to combat feelings of apathy and distraction.

If you can’t tell, I love Galentine’s just about as much as Leslie Knope.

Print off one of these GAL PAL Cards and write a letter of encouragement to your best Gal Pal on the back! If you need ideas for how to encourage your gals, here’s a few ideas.

If you are or know a couple who is very independent of one another, who doesn’t often have shared interests, then you know finding something you both love is a big win.

And especially in our case, most of our arguments start in the kitchen because of one person critiquing the cooking, chopping, or dish-washing decisions of the other— so it’s nice to be in the kitchen in a peaceful way! Can you relate?

A few ways to encourage your friends or family (maybe even strangers) verbally:

1. You are seen in this hurt, friend. I can’t fix it, but I see you and am sending virtual hand squeezes.

2. I see how you are [fill in the blank] to those around you and it encourages me to do the same.

3. You inspire me to [fill in the blank].

I always LOVE a movie theatre popcorn + bubbly sugary soda. Movie theatre popcorn is nothing to me without extra butter and that buttery mystery salt.

Y’all, I sound a little crazy when I write it, but I get teary-eyed when I think about the first time I’ll be able to go back to a movie theatre. I’m thinking there will be a lot of “firsts” I’ll cry happy tears over. But fresh movie theatre popcorn and a soda will definitely be one of them.

I fell in love with Brett in Denton, TX and it's always a treat to spend a day there drinking coffee, remembering conversations, uttering thanks for the people we were and the people we've become, mourning shops or restaurants we loved that have come and gone, and taking a few pictures in our favorite spots. We took our engagement pictures in Recycled Books eight years ago and while we've certainly bought a lot of books from them, we've never taken any pictures of us there again, so we set the timer and took a few of one another. It was special and I smiled a lot.

One of the ways I choose to live healthy every day, is by reading a morning mantra that directly addresses the pitfalls and struggles of an Enneagram 9. My mantra is filled with truth about myself. It reminds me I am not the pitfalls of an Enneagram 9. I do not have to be a procrastinator. I do not have to wonder where the week went and get mad at myself for not getting anything done I was hoping to get done.

Before I dive into the three steps, you need to know, I took the enneagram dive about two years ago and ever since, have been significantly challenged and changed for the better. I was down on myself, feeling always stuck in a rut, always procrastinating, or feeling as if I was living a life I didn’t want to live— and so many questions about why I lived life so “frustratingly” were answered through the Enneagram.

I felt as if I was seeing myself in an entirely new (and helpful) light. Not only was the enneagram pointing out my many road bumps and struggles, it was helping me consider how I could positively respond to the very triggers and thoughts about myself that trip me up.

This week I’ve been feeling like we need a bit of Gratitude. When I say “we”, I mean me.

Sometimes I need to write and document what it is I love or don’t love about certain seasons of life. This one, I think, I need to document what I have been grateful for— specifically in my marriage.

Because I have never felt more married than right now.

Staying mad at myself or walking around my home believing whatever I do I’ll ruin everything— that’s not a way to live. It brings me down and it brings Brett down too.

Stacie Stine’s week in New York, according to her iphone.