True Love Stories Never Have Endings

I am going to take a small break from the devotional to talk to you about expectations. Have you ever had high expectations of something? Did you plan something down to the last detail and expect it to turn out exactly like you planned? Does it ever meet those expectations? I am learning a lot about expectations with having a child. My sister and I recently adventured to our favorite city to shop at our favorite mall. It was the first time I took Remy on an hour and a half car ride and I figured it would be a good experiment. She has two children; a boy who is 6 and a little girl who is 2. I love those kids. Anyway, we got there and went to our favorite Christian bookstore and headed to the mall.  Well, we didn't get started actually shopping until an hour and a half after we got there! Both of our girls had to be changed, fed, and then changed again. Fun times!! It didn't go exactly like we planned, but honestly, it was a fun time. It taught me a lot about expectation...

K and I aren't very adventurous. We are creatures of habit; change doesn't sit very well with us. These last few weeks have been full of change. K has had to work long hours and we haven't seen much of each other lately, plus we are preparing for my grandma to stay with us while she recovers from surgery. So I wanted to spend Memorial weekend with K since he didn't have to work, and I tried to think of a fun date. Something different, but that we would both enjoy. When we get away, we always go to Baton Rouge to shop at the Mall of Louisiana. I started looking on Pinterest for ideas for dates and came across an idea for a bookstore scavenger hunt. Of course, I was beyond interested. I love books; reading is one of my favorite hobbies. Libraries and bookstores are my safe haven. I came up with 20 ideas and a point system in order to convince K this would be fun. We can be quite competitive. The ideas included: a book you loved in high school, a book made into a movie y...

This afternoon was my perfect kind of evening. I felt accomplished; my house was clean so I planned to spend the evening doing what I loved: reading. I fixed a mug of hot tea and finished a delightful book. I don't know if you have noticed the new badge on my blog...it's on the top right side. It states that I am a proud member of the Happy Wives Club. Not only have I joined the site, but this is the book I just finished. I couldn't wait to share it with you. I am rating it into one of my all time favorite non-fiction books. It was that good. Her mission was similar to mine and I think that is why I loved this book so much: Fawn Weaver wanted to prove happy marriages do exist. After becoming disgusted with how the media, television, and Hollywood portrays marriage, Fawn Weaver sets out on a journey to find happy marriages around the world and what makes them happy and successful. It took 12 countries and 6 continents before she was satisfied with her research. She sac...

I teach 2 year old children at a church in a little program known as "Children's day out". Everyday I usually come home with a couple interesting stories to tell K. This week I got the idea for this post from them. Everyday we try to stick to a routine for them...kids thrive on routine. Before lunch we always take them outside and around the church for a walk to work off some of their energy. When we enter back into the classroom, they are supposed to sit on our little rug while we put out their lunches. Well, one day we wanted to do things differently. We wanted to practice a new song we were teaching them. So when we entered the class we told them to line up against the wall. They went straight to the rug and sat down. (Well, most of them. We have a few that run around...they are 2) It made us laugh at how one minor detail didn't compute to them. And it made me realize we are creatures of habit, but it works. K and I have habits, rituals, and traditions that make ...

Every day life can become so...ordinary and routine.  We get caught in our hustle and bustle of work life, laundry, bills, kids, responsibilities that I seem to lose myself in it.  While I am on break from the school right now, I have fallen into wife duties.  I have taken over making sure the house is clean, laundry is done, supper is cooked, and groceries are in the pantry.  I have hobbies that keep me busy when I am not doing that (I plan to get lost in a book very shortly) as well as nephews and family who I love to spend time with...K and I have also fallen into routine and ordinary as of late. This morning I came across a pin on Pinterest that said  52 Text Message Bombs to send him...   of course God knew just what I needed to see and I thought...when was the last time I did something unexpected for K?  Something that wasn't normal and also showed that I loved him? I do my "wife duties" (as I lovingly refer to them) not because he expects me to ...

  I knew I would spend time on a few posts about dating because like I have said before, it is so crucial to a marriage. The misconception is now that you are married and you are together, the dating stops.  It should never stop!  Dating helps keep that fire lit and it also helps you have fun together and remember why you love each other.  This post will focus on fun ideas to do together while being reasonably cheap.  Give them a try!  I am going to challenge K and I to also try them.  Before I get into the ideas, I promised I would have the story of K and I's first kiss. (it's really fun to travel down memory lane...on a night when there isn't anything on T.V...pull out your wedding album or old pictures of the two of you and laugh at how much you have changed!). K had asked me to his prom and his military ball (he was in the JROTC at his high school).  The prom was first and on April 1, 2000 I wore a very pretty li...

Do you remember your first date with your significant other? Let's jump into a time machine and go back to Feb. 3, 2000. Well, before we get there we have to make a few stops. K and I were in our senior year of high school. He went to public school...I was in private. We met at our local grocery store and he bagged the groceries; I was the cashier. My first day on my first job...I was super nervous and didn't know anyone. This cute guy walks up to my register, starts bagging my groceries and introduces himself. I remember thinking...he's really cute. Of course, at the time I had a boyfriend. Who lived 6 hours away at college. I later found out from a fellow employee that K thought I had a beautiful smile. But...being the faithful girlfriend that I was (unlike the boyfriend I later learned) I became good friends with K. The kind of friend that would laugh and joke together and vent a little about the way the boyfriend treated me. All the while...K and I kept it platonic. Unt...