Inspired…or…young marrieds helping young marrieds…or Men are Really Easy to Operate… kidding. sorta.

This is how it went…

I went to one of my fave blogs, Smile and Wave

She had a post with questions about what her readers do in their marriage that keeps it interesting.  How do they show love and appreciation, what do they do that makes their marriage different, etc etc.

She had some really good feedback from readers.

And all of her asking was inspired by a blog called Today’s Letters (in reading I found out they did the same Warrior Dash as I did.  I love our small world).  The girl writes to the guy every day.  Pretty simple.  They also have a list of things they do that have really made a difference in their relationship.

I like the list a lot.

And it inspires me to be a better wife…better than I think I already am.

I think I’m a good wife.

Some things DC and I do that make us closer…that keep us going…that keep us growing together instead of apart.  And I’ll stick with the simpler things; nothing too deep or difficult here:

-We don’t watch much TV at all.  Like, maybe 2 hours a week?  And 9 times out of 10 we watch it together- a show we both like.  Lack of TV leaves time for eleventy billion other things we can do together.

-We don’t really do internet at home.  We finally have it after a year of not having it, but we use it mostly to get recipes, check the weather, etc.  I have found, though, that if one of us is in there, the other will follow quickly and sit and talk, so it’s not completely wasted time.

-We wrestle every. single. day.  It’s good venting, it’s good laughing, it’s good domination by the wife.

-We eat at the table.  And we cook together a lot of the time…and let me tell you we did NOT cook well together when we first got married.  Mostly my fault.  But we have gotten better at it, and we love it, and we love to enjoy what we’ve made together.  When we eat at the table, we usually end up sitting there for at least an hour talking about our days, our dreams, what sucks in life right then. 

-We also eat breakfast together.  at the table.  every morning.

-We do active things together- it’s no secret DC is a cyclist.  When I married him I definitely did not think that was something I would need to pick up, but when I see the smile he has the whole time we’re riding together, it’s so worth it.  He encourages me to try new things, to go faster, to be better at something I never had interest in before.  We also run together (DC is the reason I ever met any of my running goals.  If he hadn’t have picked up running a bit after I did, I never would have made it), we like to kayak at the lake house (as of last weekend), we like to take walks to the store.  Being active together leaves room for encouragement.  It also leaves a lot of room for emotional breakdowns that need to happen in relationships in order for them to grow.  And we’ve both had them mid-workout.

-We definitely do girl time / guy time.  DC goes on bike weekends with his friends all year.  There is no limit.  Ladies, let me tell you- unless he is being ridiculously stupid about this (going out and getting hammered, wanting to be gone every weekend, going out with the wrong crowd of guys), one of the worst things you can do is limit his time with his guy friends.  It’s a smothering feeling to know you only have one or two weekends to hang out.  DC lets me do whatever I want…I do happy hours, dinners, book club, runs with friends, insanely muddy races in Dallas.  He is super supportive of my girlfriend relationships.  It’s so important to get away and take a deep breath.

-When we argue, we stop and remember we’re on the same. team.

Just some little things we do that seem to be turning into fantastic habits.  But we are constantly working on things.  Always.  Always.  Always.

I love the list on Today’s Letters.

Marriage takes so much practice.  SO much practice.  Think about anything you want to be good at…you don’t just sit around and expect it to come naturally.  Unless you’re my husband, but he’s a rare breed.  Marriage takes practice for everyone including him I’m here to tell ya.

Kidding.  Except not.

And if you’re not married, or no where close, you have a head start.  Good night, I wish someone would have told me things about marriage that I have learned since I got married.  Take advantage of your singleness.  Start losing your selfishness.  Learn what it means to put someone before you.  Learn how to compromise and let go of little things.  Learn how to respect people.  Figure out what you picked up from your family that may not benefit a new relationship. 

Well this post went in a totally different direction than I had planned.

My intention was to start writing a note to DC each week.

So

Dear Husband,

I adore you.  I hope you know that any time you get a massage by an insane Asian woman and then an extremely large sweaty man because you kicked the Asian out, and you feel like you’re going to burst, I got your back.  And then I’ll rub your back until my fingers go numb.  Thanks for deciding to laugh about it.  That was huge.

Wife.

Baked Banana Oatmeal accompanied by the worst pictures ever taken even if I say that every post

[Let me just get this off my chest: our apartment staff invaded our place to give us all of these “upgrades” since we signed a new lease with them.  Said upgrades include track lighting in the kitchen that absolutely makes me want to rip it out of the ceiling and light a candle.  I might as well cook in the dark and post all black pictures and you can all just guess what it is.]

I got the best email from a sweet friend from high school, Mrs. Day, whom I will forever know as Pickle.  I have to confess that sometimes I look at her pictures on the book of faces, and I wish she would consider having 2 roommates…as in DC and me.  That wouldn’t be weird, right?  She and her husband work for a camp in Texas, and they live in a cabin on the camp grounds.  She goes for trail runs with her dog (who wears shoes)and they have the sweetest life.  They keep it simple and I love that.

Mrs. Day sent me this recipe, and y’all…it’s so delicious I can’t stand it.

You’ll thank her for this, I promise.

Preheat your oven to 375

In one bowl, mix all of your dry ingreeds:

2 cups oats (I use the real deal oats- instant gets a little mushier)

Cinnamon to taste

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

dash of nutmeg

dash of ground cloves

1 tsp Splenda.  I left the Splenda out because we just don’t like it, then I got nervous thinking about the guy on Good Eats and what he would say about how my baked oatmeal will fail based on science and the lack of Splenda.

In a separate bowl, mix your wet ingreeds:

1 mashed banana

with 1 beaten egg

1.5 cups skim milk

1 tsp vanilla

Then add the wet to the dry and stir until well mixed

The recipe calls for [optional] 3/4 cups frozen blueberries, but as usual, I cannot follow instructions and I forgot to buy them.

But we did have a bag of mixed berries, so I used that.  And I used more than 3/4 cup…berry good.  Gong.

Another option is to add 2 Tbs chopped pecans.

We didn’t have any

So I added slivered almonds.

I don’t think there are many rules here- you can add things you like

Again, I cannot follow instructions or recipes.  You will want to line your 8 inch round or square pan with parchment paper.  I forgot to buy some, so I sprayed mine with cooking spray and wiped it around with a paper towel making sure to get all of the crevices.  This ended up working fine.

Layer the bottom with banana slices, then pour your mixture in adding more banana slices to the top.

Bake at 375 for 26 minutes.  Then set your oven to broil and sprinkle the top with brown sugar- broil for 3-4 minutes.

My brown sugar burned in some spots because I forgot about it while I was trying to bake 94 other things last night.

Dig some out and enjoy.

This is the best already made quick breakfast that you can just heat up

And I think it would be an amazing pre-run/pre-race meal

So I’m going to make some for my marathon relay team this weekend

Lauren, thanks SO much for sending this my way! 

You have changed my oatmeal-loving life.

And please let us move in.  Kthanks :)

I cannot take good pictures when it counts / DC's track race that he rocked the face off of.

On Friday nights, DC races his track bike at the Velodrome aka the human skillet.

The Velodrome is a 333 meter track with 33 degree angled turns and 8 degree angled straights.

I'm sure I got at least one part of that wrong.

DC killed it on Friday. The man is fast.

That's him in the front...

Then he hits his gas pedal

and at this point, I'm yelling at him telling him he's so far ahead that he can, like, stop for a snack or something.

If he heard everything I yelled at him at bike races, he wouldn't allow me to come anymore. Pretty sure.

Helmet hair. Love.

When the sun went down, I couldn't get my camera settings right, and I ended up with about 321 pictures just like this

and this.

Someone help me.

DC ended up 2nd overall in his category! He won us some money that paid for a really classy dinner [Insert thick layer of sarcasm here] later that night before we headed up to the lake house.

So if anyone wants to come out and support...or keep me company, this is where we'll be most Friday nights

The BEST moms, because grandmas count too

To my sweet mother in law

and Nanny

and Lu

and Goggle

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Who I Want To Be When I Grow Up

She is just plain sweet

and generous.

She is proud of where she came from.

She has the kindest heart

and she is classy

and girl’s got style.

She is confident

and she cares about everyone

and she has the best freckles.

She would give and do anything for her family

She knows what’s important in life…what’s worth worrying about and what’s not

and she is make-you-laugh-til-you-cry hilarious

with the best sense of humor

and a carefree attitude.

She knows Jesus and it radiates from her.

She has a gift for helping the needy and the hurting

She never meets a stranger.  She is friends with everyone and is better than no one.

I love that part.

She is absolutely the most beautiful woman that I know or will have ever known.

She has great hair

and she’s a fantastic teacher

and amazing example

So you can imagine how proud I am to say that she is my mom.

The best mom.

Thank you for loving me for who I am

Happy Mother’s Day, Lu