Those Precious Little Things

I’ve been occasionally posting on Facebook with comments that begin, “You know you’re married when…moment #___”, and then sharing some funny yet totally typical and relate-able moment I’ve experienced with my hubby.  So now I share with you…

The Soldier and his Dove

 

“You know you’re married when…moment #164:”  I catch my hubby snacking on bean dip after eating the dinner I cooked and brought out to him, while dinner round 2 simmered on the stove right in front of him!  The Bottomless Pit said nothing but quietly folded up the bag of chips and while trying to smile charmingly.

Have you had sweet moments like that?  Where your spouse does something that is just so totally them, you can’t even be upset because you’re cherishing your closeness to them in that moment?  I’ve been reflecting this week on some of those special moments, and so grateful for them.  We aren’t always in a state of mind to appreciate these things.  Often, we can be under so much stress that we just get upset at the change in plans or interruption of life, rather than appreciating that special person we GET TO stand beside in those challenges.  For example…

About a week ago, we were the victims of attempted credit card fraud.  Our bank tends to be over-zealous about these things and has been freezing our cards any time we make an online purchase over $50, (so annoying!), but this time their cry of “wolf” had legs.  My darling man called me and asked kindly – not accusingly – “Babe, did you go shopping at American Eagle yesterday?  And spend about $300 dollars?”  I was puzzled, “Noooo,” I replied slowly, what had I done yesterday?  It certainly wasn’t clothes shopping – that’s a pretty rare thing for me these days.  Plus, I would never spend that kind of money without talking to him first, we simply don’t do that.  So the fact that he was calmly asking me if my habits had suddenly changed was quite gracious on his part.  He went on to explain that the store had alerted him that someone had tried to make the online purchase using our info and something had flagged their system.  When I assured him again that I had not gone on a bender, he told me he’d “take care of it”.

Aren’t those 4 of the most beautiful words in a marriage?  “I’ll take care of it”, reads like, “Don’t worry about it my love, I care enough about you that I will completely take this off your hands, and your mind.”  As I hung up the phone, I thought about how blessed I am for several reasons.  #1.  My dear one did not call angry or assuming anything #2. Even though he brings in the majority of our finances, he never begrudges me something I truly want  #3. In general, he does not stress about money whether it’s going out or coming in. He is able to budget and take care of bills without it becoming a stressful monster that eats into our precious time together.  Which brings me back to that moment.  He called me back an hour later to explain that someone had indeed tried to go on a bender with our credit card – the Apple store was also on the list, yikes! – but none of the charges had cleared and we were ok, new cards in the mail, etc.  See?  Really, nothing to worry about.

I was listening to this great country song on the radio – my hubby likes to sing the 2 lines that he knows when he’s puttering around

Future looks Bright

the house.  It goes, “It started with a good night kiss, my lips your lips…” and that’s all he knows, hee hee!  However, here is the thought it provoked.  In my early 20’s, it seemed all my friends and I could talk about after a date was, “Where is this going?  What’s next?  Where will it end?”  We were ever hoping that the next good night kiss would be the last man we kissed.  We knew how the story started…but which story would become our fairy tale?  And in that moment of reflection I realized that I’ve found my fairy tale…I’m living it daily.  I shared my thoughts with my man, and how grateful I was to know how our dating story ended.  And then that dear man reminded me, “Baby, this is just the beginning.”  ❤

Finding Florida

Hello faithful friends!  I see that it has been way too long since I updated, I’m sorry!  My Crohn’s was not treating me kindly the last few weeks, and a dear friend took me for a much needed retreat into sunshine and quiet.  I’ve missed your feedback in my life, so I’ll briefly share some of what is going on.  Specifically, how grateful I am that we landed where we did – and only God knew how perfect it would be.

This month I had planned for my husband to be gone at training – however, a minor injury kept him here for the time being.  Bonus – I don’t have to miss him yet!  However, I had planned an ultra busy Girl-A-Thon to keep my mind off his absence, so now he’s here in the midst of it!  First, our dear friend Michelle came down to stay for the month and help me manage the house and animals.  It’s been cool to show her our organic market, juicing, and starting garden.  I think she’s still in a bit of shock at our health-focused life-style, but that’s ok.

Next, my MOH4LIFE, (maid of honor, Lorri), came down to wisk me away to a nearby resort so that I could lay in the sun and get some R&R.  We’ve found in the past that whenever my disease gets bad, a few days of complete rest, stress free, with lots of sunshine make a huge difference.  So we hit the pool, took naps, and braved the “lazy river” for a week.  The most excitement we had was seeing a real live Alligator!  Trust me, as a new Floridian, that was a mile-stone for me.  We  got so close! And then a passing golfer offered to get even closer and took a great picture.  I feel much better – but still have a ways to go…

Finally, we’ll finish the month with my new sister-in-law, Rachele, spending her Spring Break with us.  She’s a senior at the Air Force Academy now, so I warned her our lives are not conducive to an MTV-style vacay.  She assured me she’s looking for the rest and peace we hope she’ll find here in our little oasis.  Sigh, I feel so incredibly fortunate that we landed here.  Since we were married in November, we’ve had at least 1 Chicago visitor a month – sometimes their work brings them, sometimes it’s just for fun, but we’re always glad to see friendly faces and share life while we can!

I think back to this time one year ago….Ed was leaving Europe for good to come to the states, and we’d found out he was going to be stationed here.  When he originally put in his request, we were only a few months into dating, but he asked me to list the top 3 cities where’d I’d like to visit my boyfriend.  We put Chicago, then places in Florida and Texas, (I have other family there.)  When he got the email with his final destination, he was disappointed, and I had mixed emotions.  I’ve always loved Florida  and savored the excuse to visit…but we really had to talk about continuing to make the long-distance work.  That was a hard conversation, I felt laid bare as I humbly asked for his thoughts on the future, bracing myself for the possibility that the reality of dating a girl so far away would lose it’s appeal next to the tanned and toned bodies readily available in his new home.  He never wavered – and I was relieved.  As it turned out, I only flew south once before moving down here – most of our visits were him coming here, (I had to work weekends so it was harder for me to get away), ironic right?

Yet, now that we are here, we’ve met so many people who have made us feel welcome.  The first hair-cut I ever got, my stylist has Crohn’s that she’s healing naturally.  My massage therapist practices homeopathy and grows all her own organic food. Our church teaches taking care of the soul, and the body in natural God-given ways.  How could we ever have known that these individuals were waiting for us?  It’s true what they say, home is where the heart is, and ours is certainly happy right here.