Love is Work

I adore what Oscar Wilde says,

Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and a richness to life that nothing else can bring.

Today I've been feeling that people throw themselves in and out of love entirely too carelessly; and not only love, but marriage. It seems like the trend is to marry on a whim and, hey, if it doesn't work or I get tired of you, we'll just divorce. That makes me so sad... To be completely separated from someone you loved once must be like being burried alive. Love is a beautiful, fragile thing and that has to be tended to on a daily basis. 

I know that I'm a young bride and all and I don't really know the first thing about marriage, but I know that I live with the best example known to man. My parents are the happiest people I know and even though they've been together twenty-odd years, they still have that spark. I'm blessed to have the parents I do, but my mom has taught me that it isn't easy having a happy marriage.

She tells me marriage is just like any other job. There are days when you love it and there are days when you want to give up. But you can't quit because you know that's what is holding you together at the end of the day. Love is a choice. You won't keep the dreamy "I am so in love with you, darling" feeling every day. Some days you won't like him, but on those days you have to take a deep breath and decide to always be in love with him. You have to know that that man is your stronghold, even on his bad days. You always have to work on your marriage. You don't just say "I do" and then expect life to be cupcakes and rainbows. Be open, honest. Take time to actually talk. And to keep the spark, flirt! But the most useful thing, and the one that always echos in my mind-

Never go to bed angry. Stay up and fight. 

I believe that's the most important thing. Always make sure every arguement is dissolved before it has the chance to escalate into something more. Dr. Phil (yeah, I know) says that to keep his woman happy he makes sure he does one little thing every day to make her life easier, even if it's just making the bed.

Well Bloggers, that's my thought for today. I don't know how much sense I've made but I hope some. Take time to love the one you're with!

Do you have any marriage advice for me? What works for you and your hubby?

 

Happy Balumtine'th Day!

Happy LOVE day everyone! By the time you see this post it will actually be February 15th so I hope you all had a lovely day yesterday! I did. Mondays are work days, not fundays, so Tom and I celebrated Valentines on Saturday. We bought tons of pizza and drove up to Guin to the Blue Moon drive-in movie. We saw True Grit (not our favorite) and Little Fockers (hilarious!). We had a wonderful time! My wonderful man also went the extra mile yesterday and surprised me with a Panda pillow pet! His name is Sushi :)

The girls and I had lots of Valentine fun yesterday too. We made goodies for mom and dad! It took a while to get them all focused- and Lucy hated having paint on her feet- but I think they turned out pretty adorable.

Now for my Valentine surprise for you! It's my favorite YouTube video ever! I hope you think this is as hilarious as I do! Que Dave Barnes--

Chasing Someday

In case you haven't had the privilage, I would like the honor of introducing you to Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors! I'm a new fan but the first time I heard them play, I fell in love. They released their new album, Chasing Someday, yesterday and it is AMAZING! I highly recommend downloading it (legally, of course) this instant! You will not regret it!

{you might recognize them from Dave Barnes's Christmas Tour}

Drew and his adorable wife Ellie not only write beautiful songs with powerful lyrics and harmonies so perfect they'll make your heart fly, but they are also a testament to true love. Knowing that they write their songs to each other makes them even more wonderful! If you ever get the chance to see them live, DO IT! It'll be worth your while. 

Anyway, go download Chasing Someday now and be happy :)

picture from here.

The Nanny Diaries: What's the number for 9-1-1?!?

So I've been meaning to blog for a long while because it is super theraputic but I just can't think of anything to tell you! Which is crazy because I've had so much going on! I thought of a subject one morning and was planning to build on it buuuutttt then Lucy got fussy and the idea got lost in my head amid all the other stuff floating around in there. So instead of whatever great topic that might have been, I'm going to tell you about our run-in with the cops. Well...a cop. And it was more like a visit. Anyway, here we go!

Miss Rylee Potter. She is quite the character and a lot of fun!

Monday was particularly calm for a Monday; until disaster struck! DUNDUNDUUUNNNN! Rylee came home from school with a pouty look on her face. When I asked her what was wrong she slowly and sadly handed me her school folder and opened it to display her first ever red light :( After she showed me she proceeded to ask if I would tell her parents for her because she was going to GG's house and wasn't sure when she would return. To her dismay GG told her no and she had to stay to face her consequences. After that plan failed she asked to use the phone to call her friend. She told me that her mommy let's her use the phone all the time (kind of true, turns out she usually just calls them and GG) so I said yes. She dials once, twice, three times and then hurridly hangs up and tells me her friend isn't home.

She plops down on the couch to watch cartoons and after a few minutes says, "Bethany...what happens when you call the police?"

I told her that they come to your house immediately and if there isn't a real emergency, you would get in trouble. Now, I know that most of you know exactly what I'm going to say next, but at this point I hadn't put it all together yet. Because 5 year olds ask SO many questions, I didn't think anything of it.

*knock knock knock*
Who could that be knocking at this time? I thought. I opened the door to a lady cop (who, in my opinion, are scarier than man cops). This is how it went down:
Cop: We recieved a call and hang up from this number.
Me: Oh uhhh....wait, I know...Rylee? What was your friend's telephone number?
Ry: 9-1-1-10. Why?
Me: Come here and see.

Rylee came to the door and went white! The nice police lady told her why not to call the police and to never do it again. I thanked her for checking on us and closed the door. Rylee was staring listlessly at the tv. I asked if the police woman scared her.

"No!" she said defensively, "Well... maybe a little."

It's been fun :)