A Fun Wife

 

 

There we were sitting by the water, eating dinner, and talking. No interruptions. No having to cut up food into tiny pieces. No having to run to the restroom multiple times with each child. No having to get up a million times to pick up a sippy cup or toy that has been thrown down.  It was just me and my husband sitting down to an enjoyable dinner out.

We had traveled from Michigan to Florida for a family reunion and while on vacation we left our three young daughters with their grandparents and headed out on a date. At home we used babysitters typically to watch our girls while we worked, but rarely did we take the time out of our busy lives to date each other. We sat there sharing our appetizer, looking at each other, and enjoying the sunset as the refreshing breeze came in off the water.  I was glad that I had taken the time to put on a sundress, do my makeup, and leave my hair down the way my husband likes.

As we sat there across from each other something wonderful began to happen. We began to talk to each other. And not the typical “how was your day” or “guess what the kids did today” kind of conversation. We began to really share and dream with each other. We started discussing what we wanted to see in the future, where we would live if we could muster up the courage to move away from home, what business ideas we would like to start. We were really listening to each other and being open with our ideas and thoughts. We laughed with each other and enjoyed each other’s company. It was a wonderful night and rejuvenated us for heading back at the end of the night to all the other roles that we fill each day.

We have heard the advice to have a date night every week. As much as we want to make that happen, the reality is that my husband and I have allowed life and busyness to get in the way. But on those days when we do sneak away for a chance to be just husband and wife again, I am always reminded of the importance. On our last date we enjoyed a night of dinner and laughing. When we left the restaurant my husband commented on how great it was that I had become his “fun wife” for the night instead of being “mommy”. It was the best compliment I had received in a while and it was a great reminder of what my husband needs from me… a fun and supportive wife, not a mommy.

Focus T-25 Update

Well I am starting the 8th week of Focus T-25 today! I still am enjoying the workouts. It is so much easier to fit in a 25 minute workout each day then the hour that Insanity or P90x required. So far I have lost 2 pounds (which puts me in my ideal weight range), 1.5 inches from my belly and 1/2 inch from my butt! While the numbers aren't huge I can tell a huge difference in the way my body feels and I can feel things getting tighter and stronger as I go! I would definitely recommend the program.

Healthy & Cheap Snack Options for Car Trip to Disney

 

Our family of 5 is headed to Disney World at the beginning of August!! We love our Disney trips - this will be our 5th trip since November 2010. One of the things I look forward to about a vacation is the food! We work hard to plan and budget before we leave home so when the car pulls out of the driveway we can relax and enjoy. When at home we pick the cheaper options when eating out, don't go to many restaurants, and shop the sale ads at grocery stores. When we go on vacation I like to splurge on my food! This is why I love the Disney dining plan. We pay ahead of time for our meal plan (well on our other 4 trips we had FREE dining) and then we can choose whatever our hearts desire at each meal instead of looking at prices.

However, we have a 22 hour car ride before we reach Disney; and that is if we drive straight through, which we're not. So this year I am working to find healthier options for us to snack on while we are in the car. Our youngest is 2.5 which can mean for some pretty messy eating in the car. So far some of my ideas are:

• Pretzel rods
• String cheese (probably only the first day because of cooler issues)
• Trail mix
• Apple Slices

Last year I heard a great tip for apple slices which made the school year lunch packing so much easier for my oldest daughter.

1. Take an apple slicer (can use a knife but it's faster with the slicer) and push almost through the apple but pull the slicer back out of the apple instead of pushing through the bottom.
2. Keeping the slices together on the core wrap the apple in plastic wrap.
3. When snack or lunch time comes your child can easily pull the slices away from the core and the slices won't be brown and gross

I am thinking of doing this as a way to bring some fruit into the parks with us that the girls can eat easy while waiting in line. I am also considering trying to make some homemade protein bars, but I haven't found a recipe yet.

My daughters also like s'mores in a bag - which isn't completely healthy, but it is fun to eat. We put teddy grahams, mini marshmallows, and chocolate chips in a snack bag and shake them up!

If you have any suggestions for more snack options in the car I would love to hear them!

Big Picture Living

The mosquitoes around my area are HORRIBLE right now! You can't walk from the door of your house to your car without being swarmed. I was in the grocery store the other day and the workers were talking about how they had to spray themselves with bug spray because so many were getting into the store. Every time you open your car door, no matter how fast you go, some come in with you.

Well the other day I was driving and noticed a mosquito flying around my windshield. I thought it would be easy enough to hit the bug thus eliminating one more chance of being bitten. Boy, was I wrong. I tried so many times. I kept trying to hit it and my hand just couldn't land flat on the sloped windshield when I needed it to. After several tries I noticed that I was starting to cross over to the opposite side of the road (luckily I was on a back road with no other vehicles). I realized that I had to stop focusing on killing the mosquito because it was getting in the way of my driving.

As I continued driving I began to think about how that relates to my life at times. I was so focused on that little problem on my windshield that I didn't see anything else that was on the other side of that piece of glass. I could have went off the road or caused an accident because I was focused on one little thing and I was missing the rest of what I should have been seeing and focused on. There have been many times in life where I get so focused on something and I think about it so hard. I try to figure out how to fix it, how to change it, how to make it better... I focus on it so much that I cannot see past it. While I am doing this I am missing the rest of life. I am missing all of the good things happening. I am missing all of the blessings God has provided me. I am not enjoying my husband and children like I should be. I might even miss the solution to the problem because I am so focused on thinking about the problem.

This can happen very easily with hurt. At times I can become so focused on hurt events from the past that I miss out on life. I want the people who hurt me to make it better. I want to feel better. I want life to be perfect. I focus so much on the hurt that I miss that life is going on all around me. I miss the moments I could be laughing and playing with my kids. At one point several years ago my husband and I were working through some problems and we let all of life pretty much go. We were so focused on our problems that our daughters didn't get the attention they deserved, we didn't eat or sleep properly, and we were not responsible with keeping the house in order like it should be or our budget in line. We felt like life stopped, but in reality life was moving along and we were missing it because we were not living the Big Picture life.

God calls us to live better then this. We all have problems in life. Some are big and some little. Some are little but feel big. But through God we can keep living the Big Picture life. We don't have to focus on our problems in an unhealthy way. Yes, at times we do need to spend time focusing on fixing/correcting a problem. But when we become unbalanced and the problem is all we see then we have crossed the line of where God wants us to be. Don't focus on your mosquito so hard that you miss the world that is all around it.

Psalm 43:5 says, "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within in? Put your hope I God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God." Even when life is going rough, we need to remember to hope in the Lord. 1 Peter 5:6-7 tells us to, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."