Growing Love

As human beings we are flawed. There is not a one of us that are perfect, no... not one. Sometimes we think that we are perfect, and we place ourselves on pedestals higher than others whom we view as less perfect. But the truth is that we are not, and will not ever be, perfect. So why do we expect our husbands to be?

I have been knocked off of my high horse several times lately. I think (no, I know) that God is trying to teach me a lesson about why I may be so unhappy at times as a married woman. It is not because my husband has changed is such crazy ways that the man that I would have sworn was my soul-mate for life five years ago is now someone so completely different that I just can't possibly be happy with him. No, it's not him, it me and my horrible attitude and view of my him.

When I nag him to pick up his shoes and socks after a long day of work, I should actually be grateful that he came straight home after working all day to support me and our family. When I get angry because he questions what I'm doing on my phone or computer, I should actually realize he's not questioning my intentions but is actually interested in my likes/dislikes. When I snap at him after I've had a long day and he won't quit talking, I should actually be grateful that he's inquiring about my day, showing concern and love for the woman he married.

Why are we so quick to judge, to temper and to pick out flaws? Well..the answer is simple, we are human. My main resolution for 2013 was to be more present in my life and to learn to appreciate what I have in a deeper, more meaningful way. I want that appreciation to start with my husband. I am so lucky to have him and I don't thank God for him enough. My main goal this week is to simply begin to view my husband as the man that he is and was when we first met. I want that giddy love, that 'I can't wait to see him' and 'I want to know everything' feeling to return. And I know it can. It just takes effort on my part to realize that he hasn't changed so much, I've just become less attentive to him.

Whatever you nurture, that is the thing that will inevitably grow.

ABC's

I saw this over at Mouse in the Kitchen and thought it looked fun so I decided to join in! Go ahead and steal it for yourself if you'd like, it's always fun to get to know one another a little more!

{A} Age: 25 going on 60!

{B} Bed size: King, as of last year - and I was just thinking last night how it doesn't matter whether you have a twin sized bed or a king sized bed, you'll still have your one year old's knees and elbows in your back all night long!

{C} Chore you hate: Folding and putting away laundry, I despise it! 

{D} Dogs: Two dachshunds, two years apart - Mason and Cohen.

{E} Essential start to your day: Just two minutes to myself, whether that be laying in bed or hiding in the bathroom!

{F} Favorite color: Orange, followed by pink, blue and green. I hate picking one anymore!

{G} Gold or Silver: Silver. Gold is great too, but I prefer silver.

{H} Height: 5' 3"

{I} Instruments you play: None really. I can tap out a tune or two on a keyboard and guitar, but nothing substantial on anything.

{J} Job Title: Full-time mom, part-time photographer/creator and part-time Lowe's associate.

{K} Kids: One precious Henry who is turning 1 1/2 in a few days. =( 

{L} Live: Ohio.

{M} Married: December 23, 2008. Five years this year! 

{N} Nicknames: Jenn, which is what I go by so I'm not sure it qualifies as a nickname.

{O} Overnight hospital stays: Only one and I felt like I was there for an eternity waiting and then welcoming our little one.

{P} Pet peeve: Complete ignorance.

{Q} Quote:  "Love never fails you..."

{R} Righty or Lefty: Righty.

{S} Siblings: Too many to count? I have 4 brothers ages 24, 21, 16 and 13. One sister age 13. And one sister-in-law, who is 32ish? I love them all, even if some of them drive me batty sometimes.

{T} Time you wake up: 7:00 a.m on the weekends, 8:00 a.m during the week.

{U} University attended: Sinclair, no degree....maybe one day?

{V} Vegetables you dislike: Raw onions, cooked they are wonderful. That's about it.

{W} What makes you run late: The dogs, the kid, the husband...

{X} X-Rays you've had: None. 

{Y} Yummy food: Skyline. Yum!

{Z} Zoo animal favorite: Giraffes! 

Circumcisions, minimizing, and reasons as to why I'm so odd.

My life is strange. I know this, I've accepted this and I've even began to welcome this with open arms. So when I called my dad yesterday for the first time in about six months and he told me he'd just had surgery, I was pretty alarmed. Then when he told me the surgery was actually a circumcision, I didn't know whether to laugh or just hang up the phone immediately. So I did neither. I sat in stunned silence while he went on about how it was something he always wanted done and how he was still bleeding and wasn't sure if that was a good thing and needed someone to go get his antibiotics...jibber, jibber, jabber. All I could think was that I couldn't believe my father just told me this and that I'd rather have not known. But my dad - well, he's honest to a fault most of the time. (No Santa in our house growing up!) So I've come to accept that he doesn't have a filter, or the ability to be embarrassed. Between him and my husband, my ability to become embarrassed has quickly diminished over the years as well. I mean, it can still happen - but it takes a LOT and it's not very often.

If you ever meet my husband, you will immediately understand.

Going in a different direction here, I've decided to begin spring cleaning with a minimalist's frame of mind. I saw this article that challenged you to minimize your personal possessions down to 100 things. This didn't include items shared by the family, books or household items such as dishes and such, but I thought it was wonderful. I'm pretty sure there is no way I could minimize my own personal items to 100 things, I probably own 100 pieces of clothing myself (and then some). But as I'm going through the house, I want to get rid of a A LOT and that's going to be hard for me because I tend to attach memories to things. Sooo...I'm going to go into this thinking, 'is this 1 of the 100 things I would keep' and if it isn't, at least ponder as to whether or not it proves any kind of real use to us as a family. We'd like to expand our family and I just want to de-clutter as much from our lives as possible. Our house isn't very large and we lack some serious storage (We have a whopping total of 4 closets in the entire house, and one of them is barely big enough for a vacuum cleaner) so I need to do this. Wish me luck.

I began to think, what are some 'for sure' items on my list and this is what I have so far (in random order). What 'for sure' items would be on your list of 100?

1.) My willow tree collection.
2.) My cell phone.
3.) My grandfather's hat.
4.) My computer.
5.) My wallet.
6.) Green purse.
7.) Brown purse.
8.) My camera and lenses.
9.) My wedding rings.
10.) My crochet hooks.
11.) My mason jars.
12.) My grey peacoat.
13.) My sewing machine.
14.) My art supplies.
15.) My necklace/earrings with Henry's birthstone.

You can see how this would add up quickly. It said you could count collections as one 'item' but after I thought about it, I guess I don't really collect much. Do you collect anything?

Beautiful Things

Do not tell me that music cannot speak to you, inspire you or move you. I often find myself feeling closest to God while I'm driving down the road with my radio turned up and this morning was no exception. I suppose I needed to hear this song, to be reminded that I am being made new and that in that process, I am also being made beautiful.

Disney

Jeremy and I have been discussing when the 'ideal' age would be to take Henry to Disney World. I say 6, but I also have to take in consideration the possiblity of us having another child (hopefully) in the next year. So, perhaps the youngest would be 5 or 6?

What is your opinion? If you were only going to take your children to Disney once, maybe twice, in their liftetimes, when would you take them?

So What!

It's been a little while since I linked up for a SWW, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things and SWW is a good way to do that (how many times have I said that?). So this week I'm saying So What! if:
- I have done little to nothing since Christmas. I've gotten by with the bare minimum lately and I'm totally okay with that.
- I'm already overwhelmed with the amount of things on my 'to do' list for 2013. I kept my resolutions to a minimum, but my to-do list is at least a mile long. I have an entire year though, right?
- I can't think of a single place that I REALLY want to go on vacation in the next month or so. I know it should be warm (and with sand).
- I've ate like a pig since Christmas. We've had leftovers on top of leftovers and I made way, wayyy too much food. It's been delicious though, it's stuff that we don't eat really for the rest of the year.
- I hate tv more and more everyday. It's so boring and most of it is just trash anyway. There's still a couple of shows that I love, but even they don't hold my complete interest.
- I have spoiled myself with borrowing books from the library on my phone and they changed the app and the way things work and it's made me soooo angry. You now have to read the books in your browser, which is nearly impossible. I guess I'll have to either buy a Kindle or start going back to the library again.
- I'm super optimistic about this month. For a particular reason. That I am not sharing right now.  ;)

2013 Resolutions

I hate making resolutions, mostly because I am horrible at making commitments and horrible at carrying things through. At least I know it and can admit it, right? So I'm keeping my resolutions simple this year, mostly because I don't want to join the line of people in 2014 who didn't keep any of theirs.

In 2013, my main resolution is be more appreciative. I want to appreciate the precious time I have with Henry more, the work that my husband does for me more, and the love that my grandmother offers me more (just to name a few). Essentially I want to ring in 2014 with a new appreciation for life in general and when I'm frustrated with my mess of a house, I want to appreciate the fact that I have a mess of a house instead of being so frustrated. I also want to learn to appreciate myself more. Most of the time I view myself as undeserving of any sort of appreciation and I know that's not right. Momma deserves to be appreciated too, ya know?

My second resolution is kinda of a two-for-one deal. I want to unplug and be present more often. We all know what I'm talking about - we sit in the same room with our husbands and kids but we're not actually there, one of us is on the computer, another on their phone and another watching tv. I want to have more game nights, cook dinner with my husband more often and just enjoy being  a family together. There is nothing on the computer or tv that is more important than time with those I love - and life is so short, I just want to learn to make the most of it.

Those are my resolutions for 2013. Pretty simple, right? Still, I know they will be challenging at times. We have a couple of 'big' goals as a family for twenty-thirteen as well; we want to have another baby, we want to side the house and we want to potty-train Henry. As of today, the first of January, we've already started working on all three! Go us, right?

What are your goals and resolutions for 2013? Are you keeping it simple this year too?