Hello Christmas

 

Life with him is wonderful and full of profound moments. I sit here in our reading room and the sunshine is pouring through the windows of our home. It's the 2nd of 4 days off together. That alone is welcomed and refreshing. 

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. Our home in autumn decor, cooking together and enjoying the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, we welcomed family from noon until after 9:00 p.m. It was our 1st Thanksgiving in our new home. 

Our large island ideal for the entree of the day, turkey, and so many fabulous side dishes, and desserts. Endless conversations, a lot of laughter, and the energy of all our grandbabies. Brooke's belly large with my granddaughter arriving soon. It's so good to have everyone together and I don't take that for granted. 

We woke up this morning excited to transition from autumn to Christmas. After a yummy breakfast, Christmas music filling the air, we pulled out boxes and began staging our new home for the 1st time.

It's beautiful. It's absolutely perfect! Hello Christmas, our home and hearts are so ready for you. 

David is relaxed on the couch watching a football game and I am about to run in there and kiss him and he will light up light the northern lights, delighted every time I do. 

I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. 

Winter, I Embrace You

It's snowing and I'm grateful. 

Life is a beautiful blur of hustle-n-bustle and wonderful things, and I'm so grateful. I'm ready for it to slow down though. 

This year, 2022, was three fabulous vacations, our engagement, our wedding, selling and buying our new home we are so in love with, Brooke & Alex's pregnancy announcement, a gender reveal, a most beautiful baby shower, and my smokin' hot husband turned 60 which cracks me up (he has an 8-pack stomach). 

Life with now six children between us, four son-in-laws, and a 6th grandbaby on the way, there is always something going on, a celebration to be had! 

We fell in love with pickleball, enjoying many evenings a week playing together and with my mom & dad.

Our home, already new and picture perfect, had us wanting to purge and go all new. Custom-made pieces for this home and new furniture arriving and on it's way has transformed our home into us. 

Us, it's a word that makes my heart soar! Life with David is abundantly, exceedingly and beyond anything that I could have imagined. 

I have so much to share and I'm glad life is slowing down. What I mean by slowing down is... it's dark early and cold out so we are not running to make the most of daylight hours. It's more staying in, binge-watching our favorite shows, snuggled on the couch, and him cooking fabulous dinners. 

I'm so grateful for every wonderful event this year has brought to us, but I am ready for less major events, normalcy, and calm. For our free time to be, "what do you want to do?" Less, look at our calendar, what is going on this week. Let's play pickleball (inside now). 

November, I have looked forward to you, appreciate your most beautiful first couple of weeks, and happy you've transitioned into winter. 

Next week is Thanksgiving. 

 

A Surprise Date

 

I've always said [well, maybe about 5 times in my life], if you want to be a doctor you have to learn  how to be. To be a teacher you must learn how to be, an electrician, you get the point. Many professions in life you have to learn how do accomplish them.

Shouldn't it be the same in your marriage? Your most important relationship. 

I like to study and continuously learn and I believe most couples reach out for help in crisis mode, but why wait until crisis mode to learn healthy marriage habits. So, I found a Christian marriage retreat. It would serve as a fun weekend away, learn something new, and always strengthen our marriage.

When we both finally figured our schedules out, the marriage retreat was SOLD OUT. In fact, another won't be local for five months. With my heart set on an out of town trip and my excitement to learn something new pulled out from underneath my feet, I deferred to another mantra I've said a few times in life, "Out smart, out think, out last!" 

So, I created our own marriage retreat. 

Searching for a marriage book to read together, I discovered something far greater. Audible!! A lot of the books on Amazon come in a version where the book you want is read to you. Audible is FREE for the first 30 days. And, I managed to get 2 free credits, which bought me two FREE books. 

With an out of town road trip needed, I made reservations, created clues for David, and had our day trip agenda firmed:

           7:30 a.m.        Depart our home, off to a delicious breakfast I had two FREE passes to use. 

           8:45 a.m.        Stop at Starbucks for an autumn beverage for our road trip. FREE using gift cards

           9:00 a.m.        Autumn beverages in hand, address put into navigation, we were off on a 2.5 hour road trip. This is where our Audible Christian marriage book played for 1.5 hours and we had another hour to discuss many topics, come up with an action plans to practice healthy tools to apply to our marriage. 

         12:00 p.m.        Arrive in Hocking Hills State Park, we were off on the "X" Tour 3-hour Zip Line Tour!!!! He was THRILLED! We zipped at one point 80 feet high through trees, up to 45 miles per hour, and our favorite was riding the zip line down the middle of a river!

           3:30 p.m.       Cold drinks (we always split a Diet Coke) and snacks in the car, we preferred to go home to eat dinner versus eating out. We had homemade Tortilla soup and made chicken quesadillas. 

           8:00 p.m.       We met Brookie at the park and listened to a Journey tribute band as the last summer concert in the park (FREE). 

We may not have made the retreat, but we had our road trip, we listened to a fabulous Christian marriage audio tape and had a great conversation about us and our marriage, went on an adventure, and enjoyed the day together. And, saved a lot of money it would of cost on hotel stays and eating out if we had attended the retreat. I TOTALLY recommend Audible through Amazon Prime!! I totally recommend studying and constantly learning new best practices for your marriage. I totally recommend going on an adventure together.

Autumn day, how I love thee! 

I'm glad it was colder outside today, cloudy, and rainy off and on. What a perfect excuse to stay home and relax. He made the pie he had been looking forward to making. I made homemade chicken noodle soup, we snuggled on the couch, I fell asleep in his arms, it feels amazing to just be home.

What a wonderful weekend. 

 

"pErNoMaL!"

A FaceTime call and I learned little brother wasn't feeling well, so I picked up a fun project to take over to build with the kids and snuggle Rowan. The cardboard ice cream truck was a huge hit! Two packs of crayons (I should have bought three), me and my babies put it together.

Snuggle time with Rowan and when both Rowan and Claire took a nap, Sofia came home with me for the day. 

There are moments with my granddaughter that are so precious, I laugh and want time to slow down. 

I had Sofia for the day and we had endless conversations when she said the sweetest word. She asked me if I like fish and told me she likes to eat fish and her daddy made fish chips when she said, "tHeY wErE pErNoMaL!" I love her use of what she meant to say, phenomenal, which became pernomal. I'm smiling listening to her share and I love her mind at only 5 years old.

Later in the afternoon we were snuggled watching Stuart Little together when she contemplated and asked me, "wHo dO yOu lOvE?" I prattled off a list starting with her. She listened intently and at the end said, "tHaT's a lOt oF pEoPlE." Then, I asked her who she loved. She was very honest, gave it some thought, and I was relieved I was at the top of the list. Some made the list, some didn't. 

She is beautiful, smart, sweet, thoughtful, funny, and kind. My time with her is always treasured. I love to listen to her heart, I love when she snuggles up to me to relax and watch a movie, I love watching her laugh in delight. What joy she is!

That Moment

 

We haven't been to the gym since before our engagement vacation in April. Since vacation, every day was filled with wedding planning details on my days off. After our wedding, our days off were packing and planning for our move into our new home. Then it took us weeks to move my full household and his packed-up household. 

I would say... "I cannot wait for our first day when we say, what do you want to do?" Because there will soon be no one thing we have to do. Little moments hit me and I grateful we are finally here.

David LOVES to cook. He orders cookbooks, ponders what he wants to cook next, buys lots of ingredients, and will spend the day in the kitchen cooking from scratch. I came home after an event last weekend to three different kinds of chicken and a hodge podge of grilled vegetables. He's an excellent cook and we eat better at home than ever going out.

It was yesterday evening, the weather comfortable, he was having fun in the kitchen trying new recipes (thank you, God, for this wonderful perk in my husband!!!), when I said we should walk down to the clubhouse and play pickleball. 

I love our home. I love our neighborhood. I love holding hands with my husband as we walk outdoors on a summers evening to play a game together. 

A thought comes to mind over and over... this is "that moment." We made it. 

He or She What Will it Bee?

 

We couldn't wait!! Testing for the baby's gender was done, the results sent to one of my dear friends, Charlotte, who ordered the correct gender color.

I would say 80% of the family guessed BOY. It was me, Sofia (Jeremy guessed along with Sofia, because Sofia has great intuition), and Jeremy that guessed GIRL.

The drum roll...

IT'S A GIRL!!!!! I am delighted!! From the moment Brooke found out she was pregnant, I had sign after sign it was absolutely a girl. IF it had turned out to be a boy, I would have questioned my own intuition. 

Mama is doing great and her belly is bigger every week I see her. She is feeling her little girl inside her and I know she is overjoyed knowing she has a built in best friend for life growing inside her. 

It was a wonderful celebration, there were screams of excitement when the balloons popped, pink confetti burst in the air and my next grandbaby's gender was revealed. What a wonderful moment and we have so much to look forward to. 

My, Mine... Ours

 

Marriage vows are much like the bible, people tend to use a few words put together to their advantage and call it the gospel. 

WE like to remind one another the words of our vows, "... and all my worldly possessions" which transforms the words yours and mine into ours. 

I haven't had to share in decades. You know the buy what you want, when you want, hang what you want where ever you want. This husband-person I now have has opinions, too. Fortunately for me, my happiness is everything to him and truth be told, he trusts my opinion. 

What I've quickly learned is, if I quickly hang something where I like it, and present it to him in excitement, it removes the opportunity of something else placed there I am not fond of and in busyness we move on to the next item. 

He's so good to me. 

Me, I am learning to work on not saying the words, "my and mine." It's actually habit. He is quick to remind me of our vows.