the great adventure: February 2009

Friday, February 27, 2009

~ My Husband Rocks! ~ Sweet Concern

Click here to read about why I started MHR Fridays!

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Austin is such a sweetheart! I woke up on Saturday morning feeling like a very large anvil had settled in the middle of my chest. My head was stuffy and I had this tight, wheezing chest cough - it was bad! Thankfully I hardly ever get sick, so my poor hubby does not yet really know what to think of the situation when I am (in fact, this may very well have been the first time I have been sick since we got married in 2007) - anyway, he was amazing!

He laid around with me all day - we never even got out of our pajamas all day on Saturday - and he made sure that I was taking my medicine and put me to bed early so I could feel better for church on Sunday! Sunday I wasn't completely up to par, but was feeling a whole lot better, so we did go to church, but after church we went straight back home and vegged the whole afternoon.

He even hit every Redbox in town trying to find the movie Changeling - only to have to get it as a pay-per-view when he couldn't find it at any of them! He wasn't really dying to see it, but he knew that I wanted to see it very badly, so he made sure we got our hands on it!

He takes such good care of me! Doesn't he rock?

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Challenges:

1. Pray this prayer: Lord, how can I love my spouse today like (s)he's never been loved and never will be loved? every day for the next week, and see what happens!

2. Pick 1 book on marriage from this list that you will commit to read (either on your own or with your spouse) within the next three months!
I'm going to grab the book Sacred Marriage to read on the plane/on the beach during our upcoming vacation :)

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Be sure to check in with the other ladies who are bragging on their rocking hubbies today by clicking on the "My Husband Rocks Participants" button in the left sidebar.

(if you would like to add the MHR Fridays button to your sidebar, use this code ).

If you're not a blogger, but still want the world to know about your amazing husband (or wife, or husband to be, or wife to be, etc.) leave a shout-out in the form of a comment! If you're unable to comment, e-mail me at katylinvw [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll add your shout out to this post!

As always, on Fridays From*me Tees will refund your shipping on any order of two or more items if you mention the great adventure and ~my husband rocks! Fridays~ in the "how did you hear about us?" section of your order form, so run on over there and check them out, too! Thank you From*me Tees!

Hope you all have a wonderful Friday, and a fantastic weekend!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

MHR Inspiration #12

Another week, another Thursday! I hope you are all doing well out there in blogland! :)

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I found the following quotes this week while doing my "marriag research," and I thought they were fantastic:

When a husband and wife both want their partner to receive life’s best before they do, you have a marriage that’s going to exceed every wedding day dream. Their love not only lasts; it continually grows. — Gary Smalley

How to ride the rough waves in a relation long enough for the waters to get calm? When does it sink in that overcoming difficult times gets easier with practice? How do you drag some of the good feelings, good times vibrations into the stormy places? To love someone long and deep is a "consummation devoutly to be wished"!... It is day by day, one step at a time. It may not mean two bathrooms, but just some space, some privacy, some area to be alone. ...Unlike the wedding event, that takes place in a day, marriage is a long process that goes on at some level every day for the rest of your life....We have to learn how to live together... I thought I loved you, Ossie, when we got married, but as I see now, I was only in the kindergarten of the proposition. To arrive at love is like working on a double doctorate in the subject of Life. - Ruby Dee

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Only one article this week, but it's a really good one:

God's Design for Marriage
by Carol Heffernan

In this article, she references the Book Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. I have never read this book, but I have heard nothing but good things about it, and after reading this article, I think I'll pick it up to read on our upcoming vacation! :)

My favorite line in the artile is "What if your relationship isn't as much about you and your spouse as it is about you and God?" So often I think that we look at our circumstances and the difficulties in our situations and try to "fix" the symptoms while ignoring our true need for deeper and more meaningful relationship with God.

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Prompt/Theme for Friday, February 27, 2009

Free Form! No prompt this week! Share anything you'd like the world to know about your rocking awesome hubby! :)

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Challenge:

1. Pray this prayer: Lord, how can I love my spouse today like (s)he's never been loved and never will be loved? every day for the next week, and see what happens!

2. Pick 1 book on marriage from this list that you will commit to read (either on your own or with your spouse) within the next three months!

Have a great Thursday everybody!

Friday, February 20, 2009

~ My Husband Rocks! ~ Married Moments :)

Click here to read about why I started MHR Fridays!

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As a relatively-newly married woman (1 year, 4 months, and change), I am constantly surprised and excited at all of the wonders of marriage. Don't get me wrong, I'm constantly surprised (in the not always positive way) at the difficulties of marriage, too; however, this week I have been reminded of the special little moments I get to enjoy being married to my best friend, and the love of my life.

For example, Hoss was on a business trip last Wednesday, Thursday, and did not pull into the driveway until I was leaving for work on Friday morning. It had been a VERY quick trip driving straight down to Alabama, staying one night, picking up a vehicle, and driving straight back through the middle of the following night. So, needless, to say, he was exhausted.

A couple of things happened in conjunction to the trip that made my heart get the flutters :)

On Thursday, while he was driving between Alabama and home (I think he was somewhere near Nashville at the time), we were chatting on the phone for a quick minute when I headed out for lunch, and I before we signed off, I said "I miss you." To which he replied, "I know it's silly since I've only been gone for a day, but I really miss you, too." :)

And on Friday night, he fell asleep on the couch around 6:30, and rather than go upstairs at our normal bedtime, we decided to stay on the couches and "camp out" in the family room. It made for some stiff necks the next morning, but it was just one of those silly things that was special because we did it together.

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Challenges:

1. Ask your hubby the "loaded question" from the first article, and dilligently follow through on his request.

2. Implement the "VIP" system from the third article in the way you relate to your spouse.

3. Pick one piece of advice from the "How to Have a Happy Husband" article to focus on improving in yourself.

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Thursday, February 19, 2009

MHR Inspiration #11

Hello and happy Thursday everyone!!! Where do these weeks go? I cannot believe that it is already Thursday again! I promise that my blog will not always be a simply Thursday/Friday MHR event! I will at some point begin my regularly scheduled programming and visiting around at everyone else's blogs, too! Sorry that I've been such a slacker lately!

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I really enjoy researching and finding different articles and challenges for us every week, but if any of you have found a great resource that I've missed, please shoot me an e-mail to let me know! (katylinvw{at}yahoo{dot}com) I love finding new sites and blogs and ministries that focus on our marriages.

Speaking of Focus on Marriage, has anyone registered, or is anyone thinking about attending one of thes simulcasts? It looks SOOOOOOOOO great! The date is Saturday, February 28th, so there's still more than a week to find a location near you!

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This week I started out with more than a dozen articles that I really liked, and I was able to narrow it down to three. They are all phenomenal, so if you have time, please check them out, or bookmark them to read later! :)

Loaded Question
by Eva Marie Everson

How to Have a Happy Husband
by Lindsey Meier

Respect Your Husband (Even If You Don't Think He "Deserves" It)
by Nancy C. Anderson

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Prompt/Theme for Friday, February 20, 2009

Share your favorite "married moment" from the past couple of weeks. Anything that was special, made you smile, or made you feel all "warm and fuzzy" :)

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CHALLENGES
1. Ask your hubby the "loaded question" from the first article, and dilligently follow through on his request.

2. Implement the "VIP" system from the third article in the way you relate to your spouse.

3. Pick one piece of advice from the "How to Have a Happy Husband" article to focus on improving in yourself.

Thanks for reading everybody! Hope you have a phenomenal day, can't wait to read all about your rocking hubbies tomorrow!!!

Friday, February 13, 2009

~ My Husband Rocks! ~ Valentine's Day Edition

Click here to read about why I started MHR Fridays!

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The first Valentine's Day that Austin and I ever spent together was February 14, 2005. It seems crarzy that it has already been four years, but at the same time, I feel like we have been together all of our lives.

We were still in college over our first V-Day, so we both got ready for our big date in the dorms :) The girls on my floor were all abuzz getting ready for their respective dates, and we all had a great time speculating about our boyfriends' plans.

Austin and I met in the commons area, where a friend snapped a pic:

Then we headed for a local restaurant. I left Austin's gift in the car, but when we finished eating, Austin pulled out a small box that inside held a pair of diamond earrings! I had never before in my life owned a real diamond! I was so excited! In fact, I still wear them every day!

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I am so, so blessed! My hubby spoils me rotten. He was on a hard and fast business trip for the last couple of days, and he pulled into the driveway as I was leaving for work this morning. So he's exhausted, but he was still such a sweetheart, and happy to see us (me & Diddy) :)

I fell so spoiled because not only is he taking me to Mexico next month, but I just found out we're going on a double date tomorrow night and he's been hinting around about a gift (which I was positive we were forgoeing due to the vacation!) He's such a great catch :)

Love you baby!

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Challenges:

1. Even though I do not always agree with the commercial hype of Valentine's Day, take advantage of the excuse to be especially romantic and dote upon your hubby!

2. Even after Valentine's Day is over, be intentional about showing genuine kindness and tenderness to your husband!

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Hope you all have a wonderful Friday, and a fantastic weekend!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

MHR Inspiration #10

Hello to everyone out there in blogland! No, I haven't died, I have just ben a bad, bad blogger of late! :)

I am excited for the upcoming Valentine's Day. Austin thinks of it as just another way to line the card companies' pockets, and I can't say that I fully disagree with him! Also coming up next week is the two year anniversary of our engagment. Austin has been gone for the last couple of days as well, so it will be an especially nice weekend :)

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I have two articles again this week. The first is short, but chock full of great advice:

10 Secrets to a Successful Marriage
by Mitch Temple

The second is more geared for the holiday itelf:

The Romance Factor
by Twanda R. Smith

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Prompt/Theme for Friday, February 13, 2009

1. Tell the story of your first Valentine's Day together.

2. In reference to the first article, which "secrets" do you do well, which could you work on, which do you struggle with?

3. If you decide to take the advice of the second article, tell us what you're going to do, or share pictures if you have time!

Challenges:

1. Even though I do not always agree with the commercial hype of Valentine's Day, take advantage of the excuse to be especially romantic and dote upon your hubby!

2. Even after Valentine's Day is over, be intentional about showing genuine kindness and tenderness to your husband!

Hope you have a wonderful evening!

Friday, February 6, 2009

~ My Husband Rocks! ~ laughter & fun

Click here to read about why I started MHR Fridays!

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2. Tell the story of a memory about your husband that brings you a smile and a giggle every time you think about it!

I picked this topic thinking that it was going to be so easy to come up with the perfect memory to share, but my problem was that there are soooooooooooo many!!! Austin is the kind of guy that makes even the most mundane of situations fun and enjoyable, and he has always been able to make me laugh regardless of my initial mood.

First I was thinking of telling you all about the time that we were driving between college and Colorado, and Austin saw flashing lights behind us. Thinking he was going to be pulled over, he quickly took the nearest exit ramp only to watch an ambulance go screaming past! (teehee, that one makes me giggle every time)

Or, I could talk about the horseback riding tour we took on our honeymoon where Austin quickly befriended the other family in our group as well as our tour guide with his gregarious personality, then enjoyed immensely pretending that he was John Wayne and galloping off into the sunset.

Even when we were doing all the work on the house, we had a blast! I remember one Saturday in particular, it was a "haul-out" day after we had a TON of debris on the floors from the demolition process we would rent a huge roll-off dumpster and shovel the chunks of plaster and lath and drywall and trim and termite-eaten wood into the bucket of a skid-loader and then Austin would drive it around and dump it into the dumpster. This particular Saturday, it was just the two of us working at the house, and it was HOT! The house had no air conditioning at the time, and we were working on the second floor. There were several times during the day where we looked at the mess around us and thought that we would never finish, but when the sun was going down and we were sitting in the bucket of the skid loader, drinking our Vault, we were both so happy that we had gotten so much done! It was not a particularly fun job, but I remember that being such a satisfying day because we had accomplished something huge together!

But one of my absolute favorite memories took place when we were in Switzerland with a group from our college. We had just spent three weeks in France as a missions trip, and one of the girls in our group lived in Switzerland, right on Lake Geneva, so we spent a week at her home before going back to Paris for the trip home. One evening while we were there, her entire family came to her parents' house, where we were staying, including her older sister, and her little niece Klalia, who had to be about 6 months old at the time. Austin spent a good amount of time on the floor that evening playing with Klalia, and making her squeal with laughter. I had never seen him so enjoy a little one, and it was precious to watch. I was able to catch a picture of that moment, and I love it because he has the most genuinely happy smile on his face! :) I love that memory.

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Challenges:

~ Set an appointment with your hubby to have a "goals and dreams" talk as described in the first article.

~ If you already know some of your husbands goals and dreams, be intentional about encouraging him and helping him to reach them.

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Thursday, February 5, 2009

MHR Inspiration #9

Hey everybody!!! Sorry I've been so sporadic lately! We've been reeling about our fantabulous vacation, getting ready for my parents to be here this weekend, working a lot of hours, and wowza, it's been kind of crazy! :)

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In order to make up for that, I have TWO articles for us this week!

I Believe in You!
by Gary Smalley

and

A Time to Laugh
by Erin Smalley

Both of these articles were on MarriagePartnership, a branch of Christianity Today's website. In the first one, Gary talks about learning about his wife's goals and dreams, and the second one is all about keeping the laughter in your marriage.

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Prompt/Theme for Friday, February 6, 2009

We have a couple of different options for this week:

1. Tell us about some of the things that you and your husband do to just have fun together!

2. Tell the story of a memory about your husband that brings you a smile and a giggle every time you think about it!

3. Give us your best, most creative Valentine's Day gifts (and yes, this one is a shameless way to use your creativity to help me come up with a Valentine's Day gift, lol!)

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Challenges:

~ Set an appointment with your hubby to have a "goals and dreams" talk as described in the first article.

~ If you already know some of your husbands goals and dreams, be intentional about encouraging him and helping him to reach them.

Hope you have all been having a great week! Looking forward to hearing all about things that make us laugh and smile tomorrow!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

We booked it! :)

I mentioned that we were planning a vacation in this post. My ever frugal hubby spent hours researching destinations and flights and hotels until he found the absolute best deal. In fact, he was on the computer for most of the day on Saturday doing just that. I ran to the grocery store late Saturday afternoon, and when I returned he had bookd our trip!

Ummm, yeah . . . excited is not a strong enough word for the way I feel!!! Cozumel, Mexico, 7 nights, 8 days, all inclusive!!!! :)