Talking about love....

This past weekend at our Newlywed bible study our lesson was on love languages. Like every other woman out there I have read "The Five Love Languages" How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate by Gary Chapman, but it never really had the same meaning then as it does now. I read it back in high school, before I had met the man I was going to marry... before I had really learned what my love language was. When Kyle and I sat down to do our lesson, it was so easy to pick out what our love languages were and we agreed 100% on eachothers. We had to rate them 1-5 of what priority they are in our lives, which was really interesting to see how different our priorities are... but then to realize what efforts we have to put forth in our marriage to help fill our spouses "love tank".

So what are the 5 love languages, you ask?
1) Quality Time
2) Receiving Gifts
3) Acts of Service
4) Physical Touch
5) Words of Affirmation

The love language that is most important to me is Quality Time. Kyle learned that our weekend travels are not what I count as "quality time"... being stuck in traffic- stressed out in our car on our way to NC is NOT what I count as quality time. There are 2 types: quality conversation and quality activites. Both are very important to me, and I've found if we go weeks without these it's very hard on me. I need time with JUST him to feel fullfilled, not time just being around him with friends or family. Kyle knows this, planning our Wyoming trip JUST US has meant more to me than he realizes.

The love language that is most important to Kyle is Words of Affirmation. I've learned that Kyle truly needs feedback from me, whether that means encouragement, support, love or even the honest truth of how I feel. It helps him feel fullfilled in our relationship when I give him words of affirmation, knowing that I'm listening to whatever he is saying and responding to his needs. The one that came close in second to him was Physical Touch. I can completely turn his entire day around with just a hug or a rub on his back. I am not a very touchy-feely type person so I truly have to put effort forth everyday to show him in this way that I love him.

Kyle and I are the "oldest" in the class...being married the longest (we noticed we've been together 7 years and some people are still under a year!) It's neat to finally be getting to that point in our marriage where we have already learned some of these lessons just from our experiences before it's taught to us in the biblestudy. Before we knew the "official terms" of the love languages, we definitely would have been able to describe what's important to our mate to keep their "love tank full"! What's your love language?

Tagged: 7 little known facts

So about a month ago we were tagged from Tara and I'm JUST now getting to it :) haha we'll try to think of things we haven't said on here before!

Leah
1)I purposely don't make eye contact with anyone while I'm in the drive through at McDonalds... I am secretly ashamed and I don't want anyone to see me or talk to me about our mutual love of terrible food.

2)I give bad looks to the girls in gyms that wear makeup, tight clothes, and dangly earrings... what is the point?!?!

3) Over the years I have become a little moody. Kyle pretends like he's riding a real rollercoaster (puts his arms up in the air, leans over to the side and screams haha).

4) Kyle once told me that I could not wear a sweatsuit anymore. It was winter of my sophomore year up at ASU... and I guess that was my favorite outfit for over a month HAHA.

5) I really want to learn how to play the guitar and make a quilt. I will do both before I leave this earth. (Nick stop laughing about the guitar)

6) I LOVE rap music-- the beats are crazy. My favorite song right now is by Rhianna called Rehab. (not rap but I still thought I would share)

7) I have slowly turned into a MAC freak... Anything PC or Microsoft related really just isn't cool.

Kyle
1) I am left handed. (Fun Fact: 11% of the world's population is left-handed)

2) I read as fast as a 7 year old

3) I have zero musical ability, but sometimes I pretend and think I am good at things until Leah tells me otherwise.

4) I don't pay full price...for anything

5) Even though I consider myself relatively athletic, I am a total spaz when it comes to basketball, baseball and golf

6) I have a 1931 Model A Ford Pick Up that I am going to restore as soon as we have room to keep it.

7) I could eat Mexican food for every meal and be perfectly happy, even though I didnt even like Mexican food until college

Hope you enjoyed :) Now we tag EVERYONE! Either leave us yours in a comment or post on your own blog!!

76-100 Fun Facts

It's going to be tough for these last 25 to come close to Leah's first 75 facts, but I promised I would try so here goes nothing.

76) We use the phrase "bacon head" as a term of endearment.

77) When all else fails to make Leah happy, Happy Meals are the way to go... or sometimes if she punches me repeatedly that helps too.

78) There are two versions of what took place on our first kiss. Version 1: Leah came in for more than just a peck. Version 2: Kyle came in for more than just a peck. I know what really happened.

79) Leah told me that if I leave the toilet seat up one more time she was going to make me pee outside.

80) We've been to 18 states and 4 countries together.

81) I was attracted to Leah our first day of English class. She was really trying hard with her wet hair, dance team t-shirt and jeans. (she would look beautiful in anything)

82) I had a girlfriend at the time, so I tried to set Leah up with my best friend Chris, luckily that didn't work out.

83) One night when Leah and I were just friends. She decided to walk around campus by herself, very upset, at 2:00 in the morning. I covered the entire campus on foot in record time looking for her that night. When I found her, I found out that "walking around" meant doing laps in the hallway of her dorm... at least I got some exercise.

84) Our favorite indoor activities are: cook, eat, sleep, tv. Our favorite outdoor activities are: hiking, biking, frisbee golf, snowboarding.

85) I have taught Leah to: snowboard, throw a football, use a hammer, hang a picture... correctly, drive in the snow, water ski.

86) Leah has taught me to: clap to the beat of rap songs, swing dance, snorkel... trust me I was horrible, name Ballet maneuvers, appreciate Broadway shows, write letters, and put others before myself.

87) Leah basically talks a different language and most of the time I can translate for her. One time she said "that came out of ball park #4", meaning "that came out of left field".

88) Words Leah refused to say when we met: Mustard, Pus, Custard, Tinkle. She successfully says every one of those words now without cringing.

89) Leah and I were on a co-ed flag football team in college that consisted of half of the ASU Dance Team, the entire starting line up for the ASU Basketball team, and me. We were freakin awesome.

90) I think I paid more attention at the ASU Basketball games than Leah did, because every time without fail she picked me out of the crowd within 15 seconds of my arrival. On Leah's last basketball game, which was also during the peak of the "Got milk?" advertising campaign, I made a sign that said "Got Leah?" on one side and "I Do" on the other. I didn't realize till later that she might have thought I was proposing, but luckily that didn't cross her mind.

91) Leah has a chocolate soul. Luckily she brings musicality and creativity to the Guenther family, because Lord knows we need it.

92) On road trips, I drive and Leah uses Wikipedia on my blackberry to try and broaden our knowledge of the world around us. We pick a topic relevant to our travel and it helps us get the most out of our trips.

93) Leah's only made me sleep in the guest bedroom once... I deserved it.

94) Our arguments tend to be longer than they are for most people. Because we successfully cover the top 2 most stubborn people on the planet.

95) Both of our families kidded us that we were the adopted children.

96) There are a lot of similarities with our families. Leah is the middle child, and both her parents are middle children. I am the youngest child and both my parents are the youngest children. Both of our families have 2 girls and a boy. Both of our dads worked for IBM. Both of our moms were special ed teachers.
97) Our favorite candy is swedish fish & sour patch kids. About a month ago we found a sweet bargain at Walgreens, 2 for $5. We thought we were saving a ton of money so we always bought both bags... turns out we were saving 10 cents!

98) One time Leah was chasing me around the house with a squirt bottle and I still had my dress socks on. I lost my footing, slid into the refrigerator knees first, bruised my knee and dented the refrigerator.

99) Leah and I were practicing our wedding kiss one day and I got a little aggressive. I wrapped my leg around her, lost my balance (shocking I know) and my dress shoe landed on leahs bare foot leaving a bruise that is still evident 18 months later. I felt terrible.

100) Last but certainly not least, I'm totally out of things to say and I have no idea how Leah did 75. Hope you enjoyed it.

Oh and here is the pic of our countdown:

51-75 Fun Facts

Alright here are the fun facts 51-75. This is really turning into the "Kyle & Leah" story since I'm going chronologically... hopefully it's not boring!

51) When our countdown till the wedding day from 100 started, I made & cut sheets of paper with numbers on them, punched holes in the top, and strung them from the wall in my apartment in Charlotte. Kyle and I had a blast pulling down all the numbers. (I can't find the picture right now so in the video underneath, just watch at the end and you'll see it behind Kyle)

52) On July 4th, Kyle and I had headed up to Lake Gaston in North Carolina for a family get together. We stopped by the grocery store to pick up last minute food necessities, and on the bulletin board at the entrance of the store was a "for sale" sign. It had an adorable picture of a pure bred black lab on top of a picnic table... only 1 left! Kyle and I looked at each other and said "well we can just go look at it". We drove into the country with Kyle's family and met Tyson. Well we named him that, but he was adorable and so laid back! (Turns out he had worms and other things that were making him really sick... once he got better as you all know he is NOT laid back! We just had to get him, so we did and the rest is history :)

All grown up and SO CUTE:

53) One night after we had cooked dinner I took out the camera & video taped Kyle. We think this video is so funny and a great memory.

54) Our wedding day was so much fun and we were both so anxious to see each other. The weather was perfect for being December 16th, 2006-- which also happens to be my sister, Tara and her husband, Jamie's wedding anniversary.
Unbelievably neither one of us cried during the vows, and all of our guests could hear us so clearly. We love the picture that was taken by our friend, Tiffin, when Jamie announced us as husband and wife.

55) Unfortunately most of our pictures were ruined by our photographer, Always Autumn Studios (yes I am DEFINITELY putting their name out there). Supposedly his flash malfunctioned for part of the night, but that doesn't even come close to explaining why he missed out on so many of our special moments. Hmm maybe watching him sitting in the pews during our ceremony on our video explains some of it... lazy piece of crap. (FYI we did get all of our money back & rights to all the images, and that helped a little :/ )

56) After leaving the reception, Kyle and I were on the way to our hotel, talking about the day and I yelled "PULL OVER". After I threw up everything I felt MUCH better and we headed to the hotel to actually eat our delicious food that was packed for us. It's a funny memory that only would happen to Leah Baker.

57) Our honeymoon was the best week of our lives, we both agree to that. We had so much fun just being together and doing exactly what we wanted to spend our time doing. We ended up getting bumped to an adult only boutique hotel, and man are we so grateful. We had our own pool on our balcony and loved doing adventures every other day!
We drove in a dune-buggy one afternoon and had a great time EXCEPT for when Kyle drove through a mud puddle and only seemed to get me soaking in the mud!

And how could I leave off this video... I was scared half to death b/c we didn't take trails the whole time... we drove stickshift ON THE HIGHWAY:

58) We came home and had a wonderful time living in our apartment in Charlotte. It was right in the middle of where we both worked so it worked out perfectly. Meanwhile, our house in Charlotte was almost done being built, and we were scheduled to move in around March. It was so neat walking around the lot full of dirt and imagining our first house together.

59) In the middle of February on a Monday morning, Kyle along with 12 other guys from Irwin lost their jobs. It came as a total shock to everyone, including the men who had to tell everyone the news. It wasn't anything any of the guys had done performance wise, unfortunately Irwin had not hit their numbers for the year and they had to downsize a whole department. Kyle immediately started looking for other jobs and by Wednesday he had been offered 2 new jobs... one with Rubbermaid Home (a sister company of Irwin) and one with Hunter Fan down in Atlanta, Georgia. We took a leap of faith and decided on Hunter Fan. Luckily our house in Charlotte let us out of the contract.

60) Kyle went ahead and moved down to Georgia. Hunter put him up in a Residence, while I stayed in North Carolina to finish up my work and help train the new graphic designers. We did long distance for 2 months.

62) Kyle & Chris actually found our home one day when they were wandering around Marietta. We had looked at dozens of homes but when Kyle saw this one he knew I would love it and knew it would be ours. We moved in April 16th, 2007.
We are the end unit of 6 cottages. We are the youngest couple living there, and were actually voted to be the president of our HOA... haha.

63) We both absolutely LOVE our house. We have the best time walking/skateboarding up to the square to go to restaurants, concerts or festivals. Tyson pulls Kyle on the skateboard... and I walk behind watching all the cars laugh & stare at them :) Sorry this video, I can't figure out how to flip it... so just turn your heads to the left!

64) Kyle loves his job and his boss. He is lucky enough to bring Tyson with him to work everyday! It's been so nice, and Tyson absolutely loves it.

65) Kyle & I are getting great experience with my sisters' twins, Natalie & Nathan.
66) We LOVE Guitar Hero.

67) We've been having lots of fun down here going to Thrashers & Braves Games.

68) Kyle started training for sprint triathlons last summer to get back in shape. It was fun going and watching all the events.

69) We've really enjoyed having the Kennesaw Battlefield so close. It's gorgeous there and we love taking hikes through all the trails.
70) Kyle took me to the Georgia fair since we couldn't make it home for the Raleigh fair. Unfortunately it didn't measure up, but we still had fun eating all of our favorite foods.

71) We've never dressed up for a Halloween party before until this past year. We had a great time and dressed up as Popeye and Olive Oyl.
72) We turned half of our garage into an office for Kyle. My parents came down and Kyle & Dad worked for a week straight. It looks so great!

73) For our 1 year anniversary, we went up to Chattanooga, TN for AppState's National Championship. We ended up winning the game and it was such a neat experience to be there. We spent the rest of the weekend in a bed & breakfast, walking around the quaint town & seeing what it was all about.

74) Valentines Day has turned into "Pamper Leah Day", and I look forward to it! Kyle totally spoils me by going grocery shopping for a fancy meal, cooking it and buying me flowers. He's the sweetest :)

75) In March we took a trip to Telluride, CO with Kyle's family. We hadn't been back there in a couple years, and had a ball snowboarding together again. The snow was better than Kyle had seen in 6 years and it was great ridin' down all the slopes!

Kyle will do the last 25 because I'm totally running out of things to say... haha who knows what he's going to come up with! Till next time :)

26-50 Fun Facts

I'm so glad you guys are enjoying these! Thanks for all your comments... Kyle and I loved reading them! Okay here is 26-50!

26) Unfortunately I had to do a lot of "all nighters" during school, staying up doing all my graphic design projects before we had a critique on them the next day. One night Kyle said he would stay at my apartment, help me stay awake and help me on the project. Needless to say I woke Kyle up around 7:00 am, when I had just finished my project so he could go ahead and head to work. He never offered to help me again... ha. (This is Raven in the pic).
27) Neither one of us are good at basketball... here is an example... no one will ever pass to us.
28) Kyle taught me how to snowboard our sophomore year of college, and now it's one of our favorite things to do together. But it was a VERY long night at Appalachian Ski mountain learning. I cried 17 times (Kyle kept count). Also, my toe edge caught one time when I actually had some speed behind me, and I flung myself face forward into the snow then rolled/flipped/did cartwheels for a good 50 feet down the hill. Kyle thought I had a concussion, until I looked up at him, motioned him over with my hands, and started crying. Again sweet sweet man for sticking with me.

29) I remember being SHOCKED that Kyle would pay for my meals when we went out on dates. This picture was taken on our 1 year anniversary, before we went to a nice dinner in downtown Raleigh, which Kyle paid for!

30) Kyle and I love John Mayer, especially in his concerts. We've gone to 2 of them and still get amazed by his incredible talent as a guitar player and singer. Our first concert we drove down to Charlotte for the night from Boone, and then drove back up after the concert was over. Long night but TOTALLY worth it.

31) Kyle played on the ASU Ice Hockey Team his freshman year, and continued with it until he graduated. Unfortunately there was not a big enough ice rink in Boone, so they had to schedule late night practices in the closest rink late at night. So down to Charlotte they drove with practice going from 11:30 pm till 1 am, then they would drive back up the same night. Crazy is the only word to explain it.

32) Kyle made it to every Dance Ensemble performance.... 5 years! He knew the rule how you never said "break a leg" and you ALWAYS bring flowers... no matter what.
33) We normally would go to Ruby Tuesday and get the chocolate tall cake after performances.
34) We broke up for a little bit our junior year of college... longest month & a half ever. When we started dating again, we knew it would be for forever.

35) Kyle got an internship in Germany the summer after our junior year. I made him a count down book with pictures of us on each page and one of our favorite quotes. He loved it.

36) For my 21st birthday present, my parents gave me their frequent flyer miles for me to go over and visit Kyle in Germany for a week. We had SUCH a fun time! I had my first beer there!

37) One of our favorite memories from our Germany trip was when we traveled to Austria. We must have misunderstood the Pizza man by what he qualified as "one piece" of pizza. Between the two of us we pretty much had 2 whole pizzas... instead of 2 slices. It was hilarious and everyone in that restaurant looked at us like we were such fatties.
38) Kyle also took me out to a restaurant in Munich that rotates 360 degrees while you eat. It was really cool.
39) Okay last story from Germany. We took the "Sound of Music Tour" and laughed the entire time because we were the only Americans on the entire tour. We pretended to take a picture of ourselves, but aimed it a little higher so everyone could see who was on our tour.
40) Kyle was given a boat from a good family friend, Craig, for $1. Every time we took it out we had problems, no matter what and always had to get towed back to shore. Kyle ended up selling it for $1,500 and we used it as part of our down payment for our house!

41) Kyle and I always took long walks around campus, and would stop at "our bench" right in the park entering App State. They later replaced our bench with a gazebo.
42) Although we didn't know each other for prom, we did get to go to a debutante ball (my first potluck roomate at App was a debutante) and dress up for that.

43) One Halloween we thought it would be fun to pose like our pumpkin that we had carved. No matter what this picture always brings a smile to our face.

44) Kyle and I not only worked together as Telemarketers, but we also worked together for a man named Ben Logan. Kyle & Ben flipped houses and put in new HVAC systems. I came along afterwards and helped paint the new homes.

45) Everyone always told me to date someone like your dad. WELL I ended up dating someone exactly like my brother. Kyle & Nick get along so well, and really enjoy each other's company and that means the world to me. (This picture was taken on a family vacation in Cabo, Mexico. They would both run from these HUGE waves that splashed onto the rocks).

46) Kyle graduated in 4 years right on time and was offered a job working for Newell Rubbermaid. After his interviews he was told there was only a job opening in Florida, so we were preparing to do long distance. When he got his acceptance letter it said Charlotte, NC.

47) Kyle & I did long distance my last year in school (since I took 5 years), but we still managed to see each other every weekend.
48) I went on a work trip with Kyle down to Charleston, SC. We ate wonderful meals and had a great time walking around downtown Charleston. I thought FOR SURE Kyle was going to propose then.... but no!
49) When Kyle proposed it was perfect. I had no idea even when I saw the gazebo (the same one that replaced our bench) filled with bouquets of wild flowers and candles. Although, the second Kyle told me "You are going to have to sit down now".... I immediately said "Oh my gosh it's happening!!!" and started shaking!
50) The next week I found out that I had gotten the graphic design position with Sports Business Journal, in Charlotte, NC. Little did I know I was about to spend a year with the most wonderful boss out there and amazing coworkers-- and all the while finally living in the same city as Kyle while we planned our wedding!