Workin' It Out

Ouch. Two weeks since my last post. My bad! I’ve actually been meaning to post about a thought that I’ve been working through, lately. Kind’ve a gigantic metaphor for marriage, if you will. But first, a little back-story... I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, because it’s not something that we typically broadcast (mainly because we know it can be controversial in some circles), but Studly and I haven’t been part of a church for coming up on 1 year, now. In the interest of full disclosure, it’s been for no other reason than that we just haven’t found a church family in which we felt like we really were a part, but that's not really the point of this post. I miss it terribly, at times. The accountability. The genuine friendships. The corporate worship. The different perspectives preached ever Sunday. But honestly? I think more than anything, we needed this time away from an organized church atmosphere. We have grown SO much in the past year. And in the past few months, it’s been even greater. We are a daily work-in-progress, but I genuinely feel like we’re starting to adjust to our intended roles in marriage. I fully believe that men and women were created uniquely to fit a specific role. That’s what the bible says, and therefore it’s what I believe. I’m not feminist by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know that it was NOT an easy pill to swallow. I felt like I shouldn’t have to ANSWER to anyone, but God. I shouldn’t be ruled over by some guy that isn’t perfect, either… how is that fair? But can I just tell you that it’s not like that at ALL?! Whether Studly fulfills his role or not, I’m to submit to his leadership as the Priest of our home. Yes, he does have rules of his own, but I think as women (at least I did) we tend to jump straight to “but HE’S supposed to…” instead of just reading our own job description and applying it ourselves. It’s hard not to be the Holy Spirit FOR my husband. But that’s not the idea, here. Can I tell you one more thing? It is SOOO beautiful, the thing that happens when you both work towards your own role. When you are living in the way that God intended, it is AMAZING how much better things will flow together. Seriously!! Now, some of you have GOT to know what I’m talking about, here. There are so many metaphors I can use to throw this thing into gear, but it’s true. If each part of the body doesn’t do its own intended function, and instead argues that another body part gets the “better” job, or the more “important” job and tries to do that instead, then we’d be doomed. Every organ can’t be the heart, or there’d be no lungs, no brain, no stomach. Everything serves a purpose!! Oops. Tangent much? Sorry. What I’m trying to say is that we are learning a lot these days. And it really took us being out of an organized church environment for us to no longer rely on what we learned on the weekends to deepen our respective relationships with God. Not having a crutch to lean on required us to work through things diligently. To be more earnest in the time we DO spend with each other and with God. To be purposeful. And therefore, we’re not just checking some box off of the list, but we’re actually learning and training ourselves in the process. Now please know this: I am ABSOLUTELY NOT saying that ANYone should stop going to church in order to find this. I’m not even pretending that is some kind of magical equation to any kind of desired goal. Please don’t think that. I’m just saying that through everything, this is what came of that for us. We had a large number of reasons for leaving the church we once attended, but not becoming a part of another church right away was not the plan at all. It’s what happened, and through it all we sought after God’s will for our lives. It’s been a tough road, but we really believe that we’ve grown so so much. Anywho, I just wanted to give you a teeny little update on where we’ve been lately, but it’s all leading up to a post I’ve been wanting to write on a metaphor for marriage that I’ve come to understand. It’s nothing vast and it’ll probably be nothing to knew to any of you married people (possibly even a few singles), but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a little refresher or reminder from time to time. And for any single people, maybe it’ll be a bit of a window to what marriage will be like when that time comes. Alright. That’s enough for today, but I’m eager to hear your thoughts on the above “stuff.” Have any of you gone a length of time without being active in a church? Are there any of you that don’t go to church, and don’t plan to? What are you thoughts on the biblical roles intended for marriage? And Be Honest, Guys. This is a judgement free zone. I can totally handle hearing that someone doesn’t agree with me and I would love to discuss why it is you believe what you believe, whatever that may be. I can agree to disagree, so bring it on. :)

Provision

It's been a great year... and I've been blog-M.I.A. for most of it (yeah. Sorry about that!), but it's been great, nonetheless.

With so much that's happened this year, I can't help but see God's hand and provision in our lives. Even through that crazy chaotic man-made house flood of ours, we received new carpet throughout the house, tiling in the bathroom (which we would've had to pay for ourselves), fresh new paint in various rooms... we couldn't have PLANNED that!

When McStudly was diagnosed with Crohns' disease, even after several hospital stays and medical appointments... countless pills and medicine trials... we hardly payed a dime for any of it (I actually don't think that we payed anything for any of it). We had amazing medical coverage through the military, fabulous doctors and facilities in our local area, understanding bosses and co-workers that covered for us, supportive family that checked in on us, and fabulous friends that helped make sure we felt loved and were taken care of. We couldn't have ASKED for anything better!

Even in our finances I can see him working. When bills came in higher than planned for (like when the electric company WAY overestimated our charges: think 8 months worth of bill credits) and life just... happened - cracked windshields, a sick dog, and home makeover mishaps (plenty of those in this house) - we were covered.

Just this month, Austin had quite a few dollars spent on vet bills... and by quite a few I mean the total is now over $1.2k on something as simple as ringworm (PS: much more serious on dogs, than humans, fyi). Somehow we were able to pay for (not charge) his vet bills the first time around... don't ask me how! But I thought for sure that there would be no way we could do it again. And I was right - we could not. But with God, all things are possible - and we are able to do it again. The vet said he needs one more round of meds to be sure it doesn't come back, and "somehow" we have the extra money to pay for that and his boarding expenses. I noticed last week, after doing some quick budget math (am I the only one that keeps a spreadsheet for each month that details how much goes to which bills for each paycheck, how much into savings, how much for spending, etc? Okay... call me precise and just shy of obsessive, but it works.) that we had about an extra $1k in savings that I couldn't really account for. Every bill is payed and already pulled up to date. There are no pending checks, and no pending withdrawals. We had planned to use the extra money to pay off our credit card, but when Austin needed vet visits, I knew it would be going towards that instead. But here's the cool part: we somehow didn't spend much (hardly any) of our allotted spending money over vacation... That's about $150 that we didn't use. And $269 just came in the mail as a reimbursement from our first round of vet bills (have I mentioned that I absolutely LOVE having pet insurance? Cause I do.) which I had totally forgotten about.

That's a total of: $419.00 that I had no way of accounting for beforehand. It was like surprise money... bonus cash.

So when I went to pick up Austin this morning from the vet's office, where he was boarding and had been re-checked by the vet, guess how much I had to pay?!


*drumroll please*


That would be a total of $406.68!



Isn't that amazing?! Not only are the vet bills covered out of pocket without even remotely affecting our regular monthly budget and bills, but we can also afford to pay off our credit card, now, with the extra money I "found" in savings.

Because we have been faithful to him in our finances and tithing, God has blessed us more than we could even IMAGINE through our finances.




As 2009 comes to a close, this evening, I look back and can see how God has blessed us way beyond what we could ever have planned, asked or imagined.




With this kind of provision from a truly wonderful, loving God that cares enough about me to even notice and cover the "little" things in life, I can't help but feel a peaceful confidence over whatever will be thrown our way in 2010.

May God continue to bless and care for you and yours, and may you be able to someday look back and see his hand in everything.





Happy New Year!

Decisions, Decisions

So I've recently been presented with a few decisions that need to be made, and it's forcing me to really evaluate where I am, right now.

For those of you who have read fairly regularly, you know the McStudly and I are really involved in our church. We love it! I really wish, most of the time, that I could get paid to do that instead of working at the full-time job I have (though I do actually enjoy that, as well). Ah well... one can dream, right?!

Anywho, I was recently approached about becoming more (or perhaps just a tad differently and a bit more frequently) involved in one of the areas that I thoroughly enjoy. And in actuality, it was literally a dream come true... as in - I had a dream about it a week or so ago. Crazy, right?! Yeah. I thought so, too. And when this person told me the other night that they had something they wanted to talk to me about, my thoughts went to this dream. Of course, being of the female persuasion and all, my thoughts then quickly went to "am I in trouble?" or "what did I do?!", but I was assured I was not in trouble at all... though I was still a bit anxious about it (who wouldn't be?!).

I said I'd talk to McStudly about it, since it involved more of a time commitment and I"m already pretty spread in several different directions (which actually caused them to almost not ask me at all, because they knew I was so busy. Nice, eh?).

So, basically, I've been thinking about it a lot. Like a LOT lot. I'm not one to believe in these kinds of coincidences as purely random, but more like purposeful. Does that make sense?! Between the dream, and thinking this was what it would be about... and then actually being right. I dunno - call me crazy!


But here's where I struggle. Remember I said I'm already pretty spread in several different directions? Yeah. As in here's what I do on any given week: Sunday morning: church (sometimes both services). Sunday evening: Underground (Young Adults). Monday: free (woohoo!). Tuesday: worship practice. Wednesday: church early for prep and then helping with Fusion (Youth service). Thursday: Pregnancy clinic training. Friday: free (hopefully date-night). Saturday: who knows... cleaning, laundry (yeah right, ha!), sleeping in!!!

I'm not insanely busy, I suppose, but keep in mind that Tuesday - Thursday activities are not including McStudly. He isn't involved int he worship team, or youth, or the pregnancy clinic. So we see each other before and after, but it's kind've like ships passing in the night. Also, there are monthly meetings involved (sometimes multiple) with all of these ministries, so they usually take up another night or two, here and there, so it's ends up being one packed month after another.


I say all of this to get to my point, I suppose. Making this change means that I need to make a sacrifice somewhere else. That's why this isn't a "Well, of course!" kind of a thing, right now.

Sidenote: On top of that, the McStud and I have been having a very... trying week (we all have them - you know where you just keep butting heads and/or missing each other and it's juts rough all around?! Yeah. That kind.), so that hasn't really helped, much.


I really want to do this, but I don't know how I feel about stepping down in the other areas I'm involved in. It's not easy. It's going to take a lot of thought and prayer, as well as discussion with the hubster before a decision is reached.

FYI: in case you're wondering, it's not like I'll be moving to Africa, or anything, so you may think I'm making a bigger deal out of this than I need to (not that you know what it is, or anything), but to me, it's personally a hard decision.


I just feel torn, I guess is the best way to put it. I'm involved in all of these ministries because of various reasons, but mainly because I have a heart to be there. So it's not like I could just drop it like a bad habit and move on to something else, ya know?! It's hard to see something that seems so right just out of your reach, and you have to let go of something else to get to it... sometimes more than one "something else", like in my case - I feel like letting go of just one thing won't really change anything or make extra time or add less stress, but that it would take letting go of two things just for the 1.


Am I babbling? Or hopefully I'm at least making a little teenie bit of sense in here, somewhere?!


Maybe blogging about it is helping me to feel like I'm working things out. Pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, in this case) can really help me sort out my thoughts, sometimes.


All I know is with all that went before this - the dream, kind've seeing it coming (does it sound bad to say that?! It feels like it sounds really snobby and braggadocios - Ooh... HUGE points for using that word in a blog on a Friday!!), and then actually hearing it. I don't know - call me crazy, but I feel like this is where God wants me. And on top of all that, I've already been trying to stretch myself in this area. I mean... McStudly and I have had many a conversation about it and my trying to better myself and step out of my comfort zone (that could be a whole other blog in itself!), and then this happens. So is it weird of me to think that all of this is playing a part in the bigger picture, somehow? I just can't shake the feeling.


And maybe that's why I feel so compelled to lean in this direction, while knowing that it'll take some sacrifice to get there.


Could that be the point? I trust God. I really do. But am I the only one that still questions things... even the things I really feel that he's leading me towards? What is WRONG with me?!?!


Why do we do this? We hold so tight onto the things that we know. The things that are familiar. the things we're comfortable with... even though we know that God has bigger and better plans for us to move on to.


It's like I know what I need to do, but I worry too much about actually doing it. Or I feel like I'll be letting someone down or putting someone else in a bad spot by stepping down and/or out of the other ministries.


*lightbulb moment*

Hang on a second... is that maybe a form of pride?! Do I somehow, without realizing it, hold myself so highly that I think the other people... the other ministries can't do without me? Ouch. Talk about a public realization of fault, man. I'm discovering, openly, on my blog that I'm dealing with pride in an area I had no idea was there. This blog post is getting heavier and heavier the more I type.

Sidenote: Am I the only one that is doing this? Is there any chance that maybe you guys are dealing with similar forms of pride? I mean... God can do the impossible. We sing it. We say it. We may shout it from time to time. But then there's that dang old box, again, and we think that he can't carry on a ministry without use. Ouch ouch OUCH! Please be honest... I feel like I may be the only one, right now, and that's not making me feel so good. :-(


Wow. I need to deal with that. Like yesterday! And I think that, maybe, I just made my decision. ??


Of course I'll be talking to McStudly about it more (we actually get to SEE each other tonight. Squeea!) and praying about it a little more, but can I ask you a HUGEmongous favor?? Can you all pray for me, too? For both the decision, and now, apparently, my subconscious issues with pride, too?



Gesh... why is humility so difficult that you don't even realize you are missing it, most of the time?! I'm missing the mark and somehow I feel like I'm still shooting straight. Ugh!!



Well, I've carried on long enough, and given you enough of a Serious Pill for this Friday. Hope it wasn't too big to swallow, and that you'll be honest enough with yourself (...and possibly the rest of us?!) to do it. I'm going to go get to work on "fixing" myself. Thank God for his unconditional grace, cause Lord knows I need it!!


Hope you all have a great weekend, and I'd LOVE to hear how you guys feel about what I said. And just so you know, I'm not typically one of those planner kind of bloggers. I really was just figuring this whole thing out as I typed... I'm working on being as genuine as possible (it's part of my pregnancy clinic training), and I feel this might be the best way to keep myself real (it's awfully safe here, behind this computer).



Anywho, take care and I'll catch you on the flipside!






Toodles! :-)

My Husband Rocks!

Well, I can't find the little picture thingy, and I've been WAY in the slackage department when it comes to my Friday MHR posts (umm... more like blogging in general, eh?!) but I definitely wanted to post something today for him.

My McStudly is pretty awesome.  And although we've been married for almost 2 years, now (holy cow, already??) and we've learned a lot, we still have SOOO so much more to learn!  About each other, marriage in general, our friendship, our love languages (which seem to be ever changing), our passions, and our skills and giftings.  

We've been trying to be better about vulnerability with each other, lately, but like I said - we're still learning.  Still reminding ourselves that we're a team and we've got each others backs and we don't have to worry about how the other is going to respond or react.  

Marriage is like a tag-team wrestling event.  I'm not typically a fan, but this is a good metaphor (and I don't remember where I read that - so if I accidentally stole it from a blog, somewhere, PLEASE forgive me and feel free to site yourself in the comments)... it's like you have to have each others back in everything.  You may not agree with your spouse's actions, but you work that out later, not in the moment.  Know what I mean?  

Like when you storm home from work all tiffed about something or other and you just want to vent about that moron at work?  You don't want advice or help, most of the time, you just want them to agree with you and back you!  Later on you'll be pretty open to advice of some sort in the situation, but not while it's fresh, right??  Am I the ONLY one that's like that?

Because you're a team!  And if McStudly doesn't have my back, who will?  Who can I count on?

Anywho - that's a lot of what we've been learning, lately, along with being vulnerable with each other and not feeling embarrassed about things.  I mean - you are together for life.  If you're too embarrassed in front of them, you have a LOONNG ways to go!

So basically, though it's not always the easiest to admit, my McStudly is really awesome and I love him beyond measure.  I couldn't have asked for a better match.  

I love you, baby, and I look forward to learning more about you!

A MishMosh of Sorts

So I'm totally a slacker, but it's because I've ACtually been busy at work. Crazy, right?! Yeah. Totally nuts. Who'd-a-thunk?!

But I've also been more focused on bettering my relationship with McStudly and enjoying our time together before he deploys. I don't know if I've told you all, yet, but he's set to deploy in October and it'll be our first. :-(

I know we'll be fine, but it's put a few things into perspective and we want to take a more proactive approach to our relationship while we can. It's been great! We're cooking more (together, even!) and spending more time just the two of us (and the pup, of course). We've grown more and more comfortable with each other, even beyond where we were already. Sometimes it's so amazing to think you're at such a good place, but then go way past it to see how it could be better even still.


Well... we think it's cool, anyways. So we're being more open, even about the thoughts in our heads that we wouldn't normally speak out loud and it's been eye-opening. And SO so encouraging!! We're more supportive of each other than ever before and are loving every minute of it, for sure!


On a totally random note, I have this recipe for you that's SO unbelievably simple that it sounds boring. BUT it's SOOO yummy! You're going to be wondering why you haven't thought of it before (I was - and now it's like a new fave). Promise me you'll give it a try (unless you have allergies, that is. Otherwise - no excuses!) and then let me know what you think, okay?!


Cucumber Salad

Cucumber (sliced, then cut to preferred bite-size)
Feta Cheese (crumbled)
Italian Salad Dressing

Just mix it together and chow down. It's SO stinking good. You'll LOVE it, I promise!!


I can't remember, for the LIFE of me, where I got this from. I think I was perusing one of the home-decor blogs that I love and it was a little tid-bit there somewhere, but I can't remember for sure. Have any of you tried this before? It's AH-mazing. Seriously. I LUURVE it!!



In other news, I don't have much... I haven't been running a whole lot, lately, because the humidity has been killer, around here, and then there's the rain. These crazy spaztic rainstorms that come out of NO where and then they are over just as suddenly. Like... W-T-Fudge?! So, rather get caught up in a few of those, I've been pansy-ing out. But Austin has TOTALLY been acting out. He wants some exercise something fierce and he's making sure we know about it! ha ha... Luckily the dog park isn't too far away and there's a little baby pool for him to cool off. It's nuts out there!!!




I promise I've been trying to stay up-to-date on my blog reading, even though I haven't been posting much. So, what's uppy with you guys??

My Husband Rocks!

So I'm sure you are well aware of how much McStudly rocks by now, eh? Well... just in case you need another reason, please allow me to oblige:

Through everything that's been going on lately, he's stayed positive. He's doing what's best for the family, not just what he wants, and he's taking everything lightly and remaining positive. Even with the insanity that has been our house, over the past few months, he's been the one reminding me that we still have a roof, a floor, and 4 walls - more than some can say. He's been inspirational and very encouraging and is making me want to be a better person.

I don't know what I'd do without him.

You're my favorite, sweetheart. I love you forever.

Rock on.

What Was I Thinking?!

With everything that McStudly and I have been dealing with lately... between the house snafu, the hospital visits, job hunting, etc etc... we've been learning a lot.

The best part about it is that with his recently being diagnosed with Crohns' Disease, we've grown SO much with God and together, even. It's been amazing. Last night we had the BEST pillow talk. It was just perfect. We are lifting each other up and encouraging each other - being open with each other in our walk with God and what we're learning through all of this.

To be honest, I've been thinking about a song. (what else is new, right?!) I'm one of those people who totally loses herself in music. I believe there is a song (or will be soon) for every mood, every situation, everything! And It's kind've neat how this worked out...


Tuesday nights we have practice for the worship sets we'll be doing the following Wednesday and Sunday at church. So the night before McStudly went back into the hospital, I was there... practice practice practice... blah blah blah... it was over. Well, our Worship Pastor had mentioned he wanted me to learn a few new songs for us to be able to sing in the near future. So I followed him back to his office and he played/burned me a CD of 3 songs. All different artists, writers, performers, etc. They were awesome. The songs were 1 - "All I Want" by Kristy Starling (no clue if that's the actual title, but I'm guessing), 2 - "You Are God Alone" by another chick (a song we've all heard, and there's about 50 million versions of... but we plan to make our own), and 3 - "Desert Song (I Will Bring Praise" by Hillsong United.

Uh. Maze. Ing.


Seriously. Desert Song is SO stinking powerful. It starts off a little different then your typical worship song, but I could NOT get enough of it this week. Call me crazy, but I don't think it's a coincidence that I was given this CD to "practice" the night before McStudly went back into the hospital. I listened to it all week driving back and forth, and all over creation. This song was just SO encouraging and almost became an anthem (which sounds SO unbelievably cheesy, I know).

Let me put the lyrics in here for you, and I'll add emphasis on what really caught me every time I listened to it:


"This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides

This is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flame

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

This is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on its way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow"


It's just been SO amazing listening and singing that song. I've been declaring and singing it just driving down the road and cannot be more at peace about everything.

I don't preach a lot on here (or maybe I do more than I realize?), but this is just something I really felt like I should share. "All of my life, in EVERY season, YOU ARE STILL GOD, I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship."


I need to praise him through everything, because no matter what my circumstances are, He is STILL God and that alone is reason enough to praise him and give him the Glory that he deserves.

I don't have a clue what his plan will be that it should involve all of this, but I know that he is the one that is All-Knowing, and I am not. He is the one that created us. So I will praise him even still.


PS: Google the song - you won't regret it. and I hear there's an awesome video out ther esomewhere about how the song came about - I'll definitely be checking that out when I get the chance!!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Well... that's what I've been thinking about. What about you guys? Anything at all... what has been on your mind lately? It can be about switching cereals or finding a new job, or just trying to make it though day-to-day life, but I'd love to hear it.

So spill! :-D

MHR Friday

have I ever mentioned that McStudly rocks? Yeah. I'm pretty sure I have, but in case you were wondering why...

It's because he know show to have fun and make me laugh. The longer we've known each other and the longer we've been married, the more he's opened up and been vulnerable around me. And he's gotten so goofy at times (shh! it's a secret) and I LOVE it!

Baby - thanks for making me smile and see more of you every day. I love you!!

143.

My Hosband Rocks

But he does. McStudly and I are on the same page, but not... at the same time. Does that make ANY sense? That's why God brought us together. He knows how to challenge me and make me want to be a better person without pushing the limit (though I'm sure he could do that too, at times) and getting me to just whine and cry about him stepping on my toes.

*sigh*


He's the best.
He's my favorite.
He's my Husband.


You know that wedding song "When God Made You" by Natalie Grant and Newsong? Well it's true. He must've had me in mind because it's amazing how we ying and yang.





I love you, baby!

MHR Friday RETURNS!

I've been SUCH a blog slacker, as of late... heck, I've been a slacker PERIOD as of late. But what's a girl to do with as much going on in her life as I've had lately?

That's where McStudly comes in...

You see, McStudly is preparing to separate from the military, so he's been home on terminal leave for a while, now. Why does that make him awesome? Because he's been taking care of like EVERYthing around the house for me!!

Seriously, though - he's been doing dishes, taking out trash, cleaning up dog dookie (my neighbor is very grateful). He even cooked dinner last night! How amazing is he? I love him to pieces. And he's been SO great with everything.

It makes things SO much less stressful for me when I can come home to an empty sink and having the house as neat as it can be, right now. Have you seen the pictures? My house STILL looks a royal mess. And there's not quite an end in sight, at the moment. But he's doing what he can to help keep it as put together as possible while I'm working and he's at home.

*sigh*. He's so dreamy. I love you, baby!! And thank you soo soo much!!

XOXO

Back on the Table

So, as most of you know, McStudly is due to "separate" from the Air Force in June of this year, his terminal leave beginning in just ONE week.


However, with no job lined up and only two possibilities that aren't looking too promising at this point... another option pops up.


McStudly now has the option to extend and deploy. It's a 6 month deployment, and so he'd be extending for 8 months, but... he's not 100% sure of what he wants to do, yet.


I like to think of myself as a pretty supportive wife. So when he mentioned this to me I thought about it and came to this conclusion: if it's what he wants to do, then he should go. You see, he's wanted to deploy as long as I've known him. He doesn't have an insane desire for action or a crazy streak (though, that's debatable), but he's just always wanted to do it. And in my opinion, if ever there was a "perfect" time (if such a thing exists, that is), it's now. We're young and basically healthy (minus that little spell over a week ago, anyways), we have no children and we're not expecting to anytime soon. We're covered by the military (i.e. he gets a gun, whereas he'd get nothing as a deployed contractor), and we still live close to family and friends. I guess I just want him to be able to do it if he really wants to.


Will it be hard? HEEEECCKKKK yes!! Will I miss him? What kind of a stupid question so that - of COURSE I would miss him... like CRAAAAAZY!! But I just feel like this is as good a time as any for him to be able to pursue this.

More details, and eventually the decision to come, I'm sure.

... but am I nuts? What would you say if you and your hubs were in the same boat - optional deployment and a desire to do so.

My Husband Rocks

I know... I KNOW!! I've been SUCH a slacker with the MHR posts, lately, but it's not because I don't think My Husband does in fact Rock... it's more like because I get busy, and forgetful... blah blah blah.

Enough excuses.

My Husband TOTALLY Rocks!! This week, Katy Lin created an Acronym for "My Husband Rocks", so I'm going do to something kind've similar. Check it:

M - military... for now :-)

c - crazy fun

S - sexy (Oww owwww!!)

T - thoughtful

U - uncanny knack for reading me

D - dreamy as all get out

L - lovable

Y - younger than me *blushing*

So there you have it - a little bit about my McStudly. Don't tell him I told you, though... he'd HATE it if word got out that he was lovable and understanding. His "street cred" as a man would be shot. And we wouldn't want that, now would we? :-P

Leave a comment and paste a link - if your Husband Rocks, too, we'd LOVE to hear about him!

Toodles!

McStudly Rockity-Rocks

My Husband Rocks. Plain and Simple. I can't really give you details this week, but mainly he rocks because we're learning.

We've only been married for about 15 months, now, and so there's a lot for us to still learn - about each other, about marriage in general, about co-habitating. There's a lot to figure out! So when faced with some of the shenanigans over the past few weeks, he's still trying to learn as we go. Some guys get to a point, or so I've heard, where they think they've got it all figured out. But he's not doing that. He's still learning, and he'll admit it.

We both admit that it's a HUGE learning process, that probably never stops being just that... but at least we're not getting all hopeless about it, right?

He's amazing, and I love him so much. It's amazing to be able to agree with such a cliche, but I truly do love him more and more all the time. It just keeps growing - it's out of control!! ha ha

MHR Friday

McStudly is amazing. He knows me better than anyone else, and even better than I do, at times (which is kind've scary to think about, but kind've a relief, at the same time).

So without going into detail, there was a situation over the past few weeks that reflected poorly on myself and McStudly, though neither one of us had done anything to be part of it. I know it doesn't really make sense, but it doesn't matter. All you need to know is that McStudly handled it amazingly. He does what he can to make me feel better about it. He's stepping up - as a man, and as a husband - to deal with it.

It's not always easy for us to realize the position a husband holds, as wives. We just see the cups he leaves laying around or the dirty socks all over the bedroom. We hear him asking what's for dinner as he sits there playing his video games, or we hear him asking over and over and over again for sex, like it's going out of style... but we don't see the rest of it.

At least I know I don't. We don't see or understand their need to protect us. Their need to keep us safe. Their need to provide for us. We don't understand their justifications for why they do things the way they do, or appreciate the comfort that just their presence can bring, until they're not there one night and we can hardly sleep because of every little noise we hear.

And yeah, sure, they may not see or understand all of the ins and outs about us, either, but that isn't the point. The point is that we take them for granted. We all do. Then a situation occurs where it's put to the test, and it all starts to make sense.

My Husband Rocks because he knows that even though I may not understand all o this about him, I still need it. I still need him to be my rock and my protector. I still need him to provide for me and keep me safe.

We live in a crazy world full of crazy people. And for those of us that are married, we're lucky enough to never have to face it alone... and that's why My Husband Rocks. Because I'll never have to face any of this alone, anymore. I'll always have him to protect me and even just be there for me.

I love you, baby.

MHR fricka-fricka-Fridays!!

...because he took me to lunch today (literally - picked me up and everything!) and let me vent my frustrations from my morning at work. AND when I got back to work, and my frustrations reappeared, he listened attentively on the phone as I dished them out, again.

*sigh

He's so dreamy!

My love

I have the most amazing husband in the world.


Today, I got up just after he came to bed (he works nights, this week). I gathered my clothes and got dresses in the bathroom, so as not to bother him. Took the dog out... took the recycle out... then left for work. It was BUTT cold! What's this 25 degree nonsense. No sir!!


But, alas, I had to stop for gas, because I didn't want to stop in last night's BUTT cold... I guess I figured it'd be better if at least the sun was shining. So I pull up to the closest gas station (that light's been on for a while, folks - have I mentioned how much I hate the cold?) and grabbed my wallet. Put my keys in my coat pocket, took a deep breath and then held it as I opened to door and let that dadgum wind whimp-slap me in the face.

I stepped up to the "pay at the pump" thingy and opened my wallet to find a piece of ripped off and folded white paper sticking in with my card. I know I didn't put it there... so of course my curiosity got the best of me. I opened it. It said:

"You make me Smile. I love you. - McStudly"



*sigh* Isn't he dreamy?! MAN I can't wait to get home and wake up him this evening. I wanted to call him right away, but I didn't want to wake him. Oh man... he's just wonderful. And now I'm giggling all over the place like a school-girl that just got that "circle Yes or No" note passed to her in class.


I guess that feeling never goes away... even after you're married.





I think I'm okay with that.

MHR Friday

This week, I'd like to talk about how my husband rocks - because he makes my birthday TOTALLY fabulous.

Even though McStudly thinks it's absolutely ridiculous that I have this Princess-like necessity to have an "All About Me" day once a year, he still does what he can to make it happen.

Thank you, Baby! I had one of the best birthdays EVER this year! I LOVE YOU!

McStudly Rocks!

My Husband Rocks because he meets me for lunch on his days off, even though it takes another 20+ minutes for me to get there and he's already STARVING and super exhausted because he's been up since 4 am *deep breath*... wow... talk about a long sentence!

And McStudly Rocks becuase he knows how much I care about my best friend, and he tries to help me when I'm worried about her and just want her to be happy!! He acts as though she's his best friend, too... and I love that about him.

I love you, Baby Boo!!

He SO Totally Rocks.

This week the spotlight goes to reason #124897...

He always always ALWAYS opens my car door for me. ALWAYS!!! And almost always opens every other door for me when we're together.

We've been married for a year and he STILL does it.

*sigh

Talk about dreamy.

Band-Aids and Lumpy Orientals

They aren't cool. Lumpy Orientals, that is - they're just not cool (Band-aids totally are cool, btw... especially if they have pictures of Strawberry Shortcake or Scooby Doo on them).

You can't put a band-aid on your issues. It's the kind of "sore" that you have to rip open to let the infection out. If you don't, it may look like it's healed, but it's really just festerring inside and slowly making you very very sick.

McStudly and I had a conversation last night. It was VERY much needed and very beneficial. Did it make everything "all better"? Well... in a way, yes. But it took some "rippin open" first. And then we came to this (not directly quoted):

Mcstudly: "I don't think either of us realized that marriage would be this much work all the time."

Me: "I don't think it's supposed to be this much work every day. It seems to me that it's like cleaning. If you do a little maintenance every day... if you clean the dirty dishes every day, it doesn't pile up. But if you leave it for even a day or two, you're kicking yourself because now - what would've taken only a minimal amount of work - takes a LOT of work. I think that relationships are supposed to be worked at a little bit everyday. And I think if you put that off, or get lazy for even a day or two, it takes a lot of time and energy - more than normal - to get it back to where it was. Back to where it can just be kept up."

We agreed.

When your room was a mess, and your mother/father/guardian would tell (more like order in my house) to clean it up, it usually got a WHOLE lot messier before it started to look even remotely cleaner than it was when you started. And even though Momma Bear was the one that coined the "it gets messier before it gets cleaner" concept (she did in my book, anyways. Don't ruin it for me!), she'd STILL come in about 10 minutes after I've started and say something like "I said CLEAN the mess, Sarah, not fung shui the mess. Now get it done!"

So instead of shifting stuff around like those picture puzzles you play online - you know... the ones where can only move one block at a time - you have to take some of the puzzle pieces out and take a few steps back before you can take any steps forward.

You can't just stick a band-aid on the hard stuff. You've gotta clean out the bad stuff, first, and then put in a bit of medicine (can you tell I'm somewhat slightly addicted to metaphors? My bad... my bad folks), first... i.e. the band-aid = patience, the bad stuff = issues/arguments/trouble/disagreements/sin/yelling/anger/discontent, medicine = prayer and LOTS of it. Does that help, any?

So you gotta work through things. Not just sweep it under the rug and try to forget about it. Or you'll end up like I was a few blogs ago... with a lot of frustration, and a really lumpy rug.

... and nobody likes a lumpy oriental.