Tuesday 28 May 2013

Giving Up What I Thought Marriage Would Be

Growing up, like many young girls, I thought a lot about my future husband. I pictured what he might look like, and what he might act like. I thought of what I hoped his likes and dislikes would be, and what activities we would enjoy together. As I grew older I thought more about what our relationship might be like. I looked at a few examples around me of marriages, and began to pull all the best things from each one in an attempt to pull together my perfect vision for marriage.

When Chris and I started dating I felt like I had a pretty good handle on what I was looking for in a future husband and in a marriage. Now that I was a Christian I also had the Bible to look to for what marriage should be like. So once I knew we had the Lord's blessing it was easy for me to say yes to a life with him based on the attributes he had (and a few that I was thankful he didn't have!)

Wednesday 22 May 2013

A Post About The Post I'm Not Posting

I wrote a post a week or two ago that I have been waiting to post until Chris read it first. I don't always have him read my posts, but if they are about him (which this one was) then I like to run them by him before I throw it up here for the world to see. Just because I have decided to live a transparent life doesn't mean he should have to as well, right?

So, just in case you were wondering about any of my last posts- Chris has given me the green light on all of them. Actually, to go a step further, he has encouraged me to post each and every one of them. He often tells me I don't need to check with him first, and there have been times that I have felt confident that he will feel honored in my writing, and have posted first, and got then him to read it afterwards.

Thursday 16 May 2013

Addicted to Nostalgia

That's me. I confess. I am addicted to Nostalgia. I love the feeling I get when I have a flood of happy memories, and there is no place on earth that holds more of those memories than my lake.

Since I was a toddler, I have been going out to the same lake. It is called Lac la Nonne and is located less than an hour away from my hometown (where I still live), near a small town called Barrhead. Both my parents grew up in Barrhead, and they too have childhood memories of spending time at Elk's Beach on Lac la Nonne. When they were kids it wasn't much more than a field next to a beach where people could pitch a tent or pull up their trailer for the weekend.

Tuesday 7 May 2013

Criticism. Man Does It Suck Sometimes.

Chris and I recently went to a marriage conference (which was awesome), and from that we took these simple little personality tests. Among other things, the results of these tests give you five words that describes what motivates you. The idea is that if you know what matters most- what you feel a strong emotional connection to, then you know when you will do your best (when these things are encouraged in you) and when you will feel the worst (when these things are discouraged or criticized.)

These words are meant to help you relate to your spouse in a deeper, more understanding way. For instance, one of my words is Organization. Each word has a few tagline words. For Organization they are "Order. Systems. Structure" Yep. That pretty mush describes me to a tee. My life is a neat compilation of lists. (Side note- another one of my words is Neat.) I can talk for hours about meal planning with anyone who will listen, I keep a cleaning list on the side of my fridge so I don't forget anything in the weekly/monthly chores, and our budget is also kept with a series of boxes waiting to be checked off. I love my lists. They keep me organized and on track with all the tasks having to do with keeping a home. Because I love this part of my personality so much, when I receive criticism on it, it really gets to me. If Chris makes a comment about how I don't need to be cleaning out the fridge right now (let's say it's ten minutes before we have to leave the house) he may be very right, but because organization is so near and dear to my heart, I don't usually respond well.