50 Little Things I've Learned Since I Married My Husband

I've been slacking a lot in my writing lately. At the beginning of this year I wrote every single day, pages upon pages of things. It was one of my new year's resolutions. Now I can't say that I've wrote much in the last couple of months. I've been having so much fun focusing on photography and my new camera that I've forgotten everything else. So I decided to start a Blog Series: 50 Little Things I've Learned Since I Married My Husband.

As I was driving home from lunch with my husband today, I started to think about all of the little things that he has taught me in the last couple of years. Most of them are insignifcant, but some of them have really come in handy. So, I don't know if I'll post one of these a day, or two or three, or combine them. But I know I want to come up with 50...and just thinking about it now I've already come up with half of that. I hope those of you who read my little tid-bits here will enjoy them and even possibly learn a little something yourself.

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50 Little Things I've Learned Since I Married My Husband - Number One

"Old things have so much more character than new."

(This is one of my grandmother's mason jars, it has seen years of fruits and veggies, winters and summers filled with wonderful goodies.)

It all started with cars; pictures of cars, comments about cars, shows about cars, drive-ins, drag-races. My husband would talk my ear off constantly about the kinds, the different years and the different details that each year held to it's own. Reluctantly, I slowly began understanding bits and pieces of what he was telling me. My eyes became open to the different shapes and sizes, colors, rust and those wonderful huge, round headlights that some of them wore. I began to understand why a car would go so much faster than another although they looked and seemed exactly the same. (This usually has something to do with the size of a motor, how well it was built and the type of fuel it runs on...weight, and shape can have a lot to do with it too.) I came to appreciate older vehicles and the wonderful character they held versus the new, slick vehicles that they are coming out with today.

Then it spread into other things. First I bought a little red chair that previously belonged to his grandpa. We both loved it; it's faded, peeling paint and the fact that we have to occasionally glue one of the legs back in because if you bump it, it just falls right off. There is so much history written into the seat of that chair, so many children had played on it, had time outs. It has been used as a plant holder, a nightstand and so many other things. Nothing new could tell stories like that chair, nothing new could look so used and loved. I was so glad I snagged it before it was sold.

Now we have all sorts of 'old' things. Bottles, books, hats, pictures, papers. My husband has an old letter written by the mayor and the sherriff of Troy verifying that his grandfather was an 'outstanding' citizen back when he first got out of the war so that he could safely hitch-hike across America. And he did too. From Ohio to California and back. Can you imagine? We have books that have notes written in them from the 1920's, little love letters and signitures. It's just so interesting.

Our biggest collection is that of salt and pepper shakers. When we were married, our cake-topper was a pair of clear salt and pepper shakers. We got the idea from the movie 'Fireproof' and both agreed that it was perfect for us. Now we have at least 15 sets, most antique but a few new. We vowed every year to go on our anniversary and pick a new pair out, so our collection will just grow and grow. I just love finding unique pairs. My favorite is an anchor with a red (salt) and green (pepper) lantern hanging from it, a rope twisting up it's length. There's so much character in each piece and I honestly adore them all.

Nothing is quite the same as antiques, nothing screams 'history' and 'character' like their little nicks and cracks, well used edges, rust and torn pages. When I go shopping these days, I look at all of the new things that the world is coming out with. I see all the straight lines and slick textures, the simple designs and I can't help but pass them by. I'd rather have something more detailed, something that's turned a bit yellow with age and that can tell stories of years past. I wasn't always like that but my husband taught me well: Old things have so much more character than new.