Am I being under appreciated in my (M20) relationship? (F19)

My nature is to feel as if I’m over exaggerating, however I’m struggling to ignore the feeling of being under appreciated and loosely recognised. I don’t know how to communicate this without coming across as arrogant or desperate.

I have been in my relationship for just over a year now. I’ve known my girlfriend as a life long friend and only last year had we decided this is the route we wanted to go down. We live together in her family home which has brought us our fair share of learning curves. Recently I’ve started to feel a bit under appreciated by my partner and in some cases a bit vulnerable in my relationship.

Firstly I’d like to share the fairly petty situation which really made me start taking this feeling seriously. I’d like to think I’m a very giving person and I almost always get through the door from work and make my girlfriend something to eat and a cup of tea. Sometimes I offer, sometimes I just make it. I also find myself cooking in the evenings not only for her but for her family, specifically her dad who gets in from work the same time as me. I don’t do this because I want a pat on the back or a medal, I just do it because I like to and that’s how I’ve been brought up. It’s important to note that I always receive appreciation from my girlfriend for what I do she has never not said thank you. Cutting to the chase I was halfway through quite a heavy week, where I had been doing the brunt of the cooking, offering tea and coffee to everyone in the house and all around feeling as if I was going the extra mile for my girlfriend whilst she had been complaining quite a lot about being tired and going to sleep very early. I don’t mind this, but as I was already feeling as if I wasn’t getting much of a return for my efforts it felt a bit more of a kick in the stomach as I wasn’t actually spending much quality time with her. The next day, she asked me if I wanted any lunch that she was making in the morning, a sandwich and I politely declined as I wasn’t feeling up to it at the time. My hunger came around a bit and noticed she had made 2 sandwiches so I politely asked her if I could have a slice of just one. She wasn’t necessarily rude about it but she just hit me with a “fine” and a sigh and said she did ask me this morning and I didn’t want one and that she was expecting on eating both of her sandwiches. Now I don’t know if I was over exaggerating and it’s already how I was feeling that made me reply as such but I just declined wanting the sandwich anymore. I didn’t feel up to it and I really just felt let down. I felt like saying all I asked is for a slice of your sandwich after all I’ve done for you and your family this week whilst you have spent most of every evening asleep and you turn your nose up at me. She expectedly made out I was being a baby and told me just to grow up and have it now.

I know this probably sounds ridiculous and it probably was it was more just to portray the exact way I’ve felt over the past few months. I feel like I give so much and I receive to be honest quite little. Endless teas, breakfasts in bed every now and then, cooking and cleaning not just for her but for her family. I struggle to get a coffee even once a week and whenever I do ask for something I feel as if there’s always a string attached.

I struggle to communicate my emotions and I am often very anxious of over exaggerating situations but I just feel a bit run down by it all at the moment. I’d like to hear from anyone who has been in similar situations such as this or maybe even disagrees with the situation I am in. Advice in this format is often really helpful to me.

Thanks guys, have a great day.

TL:DR

I am feeling very under appreciated and unrecognised in my relationship. I feel like I’m giving it a lot and recurring quite little. I want to communicate this but I’m worried I’m going to sound like I’m overeacting and overexaggerating the situation.