True Love Stories Never Have Endings

Hi!! I promise I am still around! How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was wonderful. It was the first year in a while that we hosted and had his parents and my family over and it was great. There was one simple rule: you had to bring something. We played UNO and had lots of laughs and watched our nephews play together. Then after we did our annual Black Friday shopping. Can I brag a little? Well, not only do we have all of our little nieces and nephews Christmas shopping done (there are 9!!) but we got some awesome toys half off!! We LOVE Black Friday shopping. After the busyness, we had 2 wonderfully laid back days where we spent a lot of time together. It was amazing. Because of the busyness of Thanksgiving, I was inspired to share some tips of how to keep your connection during the Christmas season from disappearing. Here are 5 simple ways to stay connected: 1) Have a Christmas movie night- I am stealing this idea from my sister and expanding on it. Starting December 1st, she p...

I've mentioned to you  that I am an avid reader.  I was so skeptical of getting a kindle, but I have to say it has been one of my favorite purchases ever. I LOVE my kindle. One of the perks of a kindle is free books. I have been stocking up on free books lately and since I recently finished a children's book series, I dove into one of the free books last week. One of my challenges to myself for this blog was to find good marriage books and I increased that challenge to good romances. So this is what I started with: The book opens introducing us to a man who is unhappy with his life. During a trip to his hometown, the main character runs into an old love. We learn that this was "the one". Flashback to the 1970's when times were different and Shawn literally falls for the girl next door: Dawn Adele. At first what seems to be a brother/sister relationship blossoms into young love. Because of their age difference, (Shawn was 4 years older) her parents tried t...

I completely forgot I was supposed to review romance novels and movies  from time to time. It completely slipped my mind. With reviewing marriage books already, I forgot about it. Unfortunately, I haven't read a romance novel in a while or seen a chick flick. I promise to get back to this idea, I will make it a point to review a book or movie once or twice a month. It will be fun. But...I felt the need to share my thoughts with you on the subject. Again... I read this wonderful  blog post  about lies romance movies tell us, and she was so right! I had to comment right along with her. I love a good romance...they have a feel good feeling and you always root for the heroine and hero to end up together. There are always obstacles standing in their way, and most of the time they fight the odds and end up together. I have to admit, it feels good when we read how they fall together and end with a happy kiss.  Here's the danger of romance novels and what they don't ...

There are so many ways I show K that I love him. Cooking his favorite meal, spending time with him, doing something he wants to do...watching the entire Star Wars collection because of the new movie being released in December. There are many ways... This book by Lisa Jacobson gave me more great ideas to show K that I love him. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a very quick read as she lists each way on separate pages with a brief reason. Here are some of the ways that stood out to me and some I need to work on: Welcome him home (12) - When our husbands come home, we want them to feel welcomed and loved. This is their safe haven from a day full of hard work and stress. I wish I could say this is something I have practiced since the beginning, but hey, I am still learning. And I am working on it. So when K comes home, I greet him with a smile and a kiss.  Pray for him (16)- I love how she says that he needs a praying wife and to ask for protection. Who better t...

K and I love the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg TN area. It is where we got married, honeymooned (2008), and returned in 2009, 2013, and now 2015. Every trip we have made a different adventure. This time was definitely no exception. We did a few things that I thought we would never do...considering we are very indoorsy people (I think I just made up a new word.) But, before I get into our fun adventure, I have to say this: I strongly urge couples to take a vacation together...ALONE. I know many of you have kids and I understand the want to be close to them. But I think it's so vital to a marriage to even just take a couple of days to get away together. Something to get away from your everyday life and routine in order to reconnect as a couple. No responsibilities or big decisions except where you will get some tasty food. It is amazing what a little trip away together will do for not only yourself, but for your marriage. It's not that troubles disappear or responsibilities aren'...

I think my brain is taking a vacation. It's possible that it's because in 4 days, K and I will finally be taking a much needed vacation. He told me last night if we could, he would have the car packed and ready to go and we would already be on our way...but of course there are things to finish this week like work. We try to take a vacation once a year. Last year with so much going on, it didn't happen. So we were determined to go somewhere this year. Many things cropped up, but we are leaving for our favorite place, Gatlinburg TN, on Saturday!!  This will be our third time going and each time we have made a different trip. This time we will be riding ATV's, going to a cave, and even may try zip lining! I will definitely have a post about it with pictures! Until then, I still need something to blog about so I thought I would post some interesting differences about K and me. We have a lot in common and enjoy spending time together and doing fun things together. We...

I grew up on their music. I was in grade school and Glycerine was a song I listened to daily and in high school No Doubt was a band I loved to crank really loud during the 90's. So when I found out the lead singers of my favorite bands, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, were married, I knew they would be rock solid (see what I did there?). 20 years later, (has it really been 20 years since we experienced the Spice Girls, Saved by the Bell, Rugrats, and Clueless?  AS IF!!) I have a wide variety of music interests and that includes country music. I love to listen to country and know plenty of the old and current artists. I have been very disappointed with entertainment news lately. First it was Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert who called it quits after 4 years of marriage. Especially after they had said divorce was never an option. Then this morning I turn on the television to find out that Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale are getting a divorce after 20+ years, along with Reba McInt...