Saturday, December 19, 2009

30 Days Of Christmas In Love (The Finale)


Whew! At Last!
This post completes my month long series on the reasons I love my husband,
titled "30 Days Of Christmas In Love".
I have really enjoyed creating these posts! With the beginning of the New Year I will probably focus on some things other than my spouse, now that my readers are well acquainted with ALL of his wonderful attributes!  
Happy Holidays All !!

For anyone who hasn't followed the series, for days 1-26:  see previous posts.




 Day 27

He Loves Sushi.

We both do, actually. He introduced me to it  though when we were still dating. And even though it was
definitely the ugliest food I had ever put in my mouth....I  loved it! We have shared sushi together in many different cities throughout this country and even across the globe in Australia and New Zealand. 
 
Day 28

He Enjoys Fine Arts.

My husband has a learned and diverse knowledge in most things relating to the arts. Although he is not artistically talented himself. He is however a natural born musician. He can play songs on both piano and guitar having had little to no training.We both have very similar likes and dislikes when it comes to music or art. Neither of us is drawn to hard rock, rap, or alternative types of music. Nor are we  fond of
unrecognizable or unrealistic works of art. Spray painting  done in splotches by an animal is not ART to me, no matter what type of canvas it is on! Luckily we both agree on this too!

Day 29

 He puts up with me.
This is perhaps the most important reason, "WHY" I love my husband. I am not the most difficult woman ever there was to live with. But I sure have my fair share, and then some, of skeletons in my past. No criminal records or anything like that, but I am somewhat insecure and touchy in certain areas, due to events from my childhood. I tend to direct most of my anger toward him, frequently. Sometimes he deserves it, but many times he doesn't.  MY biggest misdeed however is that  I have put the needs of our 3 children way ahead of
any attention given to my husband. It has been a progressive unintentional effort since the children were born and I often wish that I could turn back the hands of time so that I might change this awful reality.

I have never been overly fond of New Years resolutions, but I now know what mine will be for 2010! 


Day 30


He is my Prince.
Every girl dreams of a night in shining armor to carry her away from the wicked step-monster or from her life of certain misery.I was surely no exception! Although , as I was a flight attendant for many years prior to meeting my handsome prince, I was not exactly living a life of emptiness or doom. But all the same, I do feel in some ways that I was rescued when I met my husband. I dated plenty of ugly toads along the way...BELIEVE me!!  Now, I cannot imagine what my life would have been like without him in it. And I pray
that I will never find out!

    SCRIPTURE  OF  THE  DAY       
Marriage must be respected by all,
and the marriage bed kept undefiled, 
because God will judge immoral people and adulterers.
Hebrews  13 :  4

 

30 Days Of Christmas In Love (continued)


Readers:  This is a series which ends with Christmas.

For days 1- 22   see previous posts.


I love my husband because.....






Day 23

He is a Captain.
My husband LOVES boats, boating and everything in between. He has always loved being on the water.
He enjoys fishing, but his real love is just being out there, seeing  everything and enjoying the beauty of nature
in the wild. Our first born child even sports a name which correlates to his love of boating. I won't disclose this name for safety sake...but needless to say it is a cool name and very original.
Recently my husband completed his certification for a captains license and has plans to start a business doing what he loves to do. Can't beat that huh?

Day 24

He kills for me.
O.k.  ...Now that I have your attention back.....get your mind out of the gutter! No...my hubby is not a murderer. Let me explain.  We live in a home that is in a very wooded area. Over the years we have had HUMONGOUS spiders in the house. I mean like tarantula size monster spiders. A neighbor says they are called fruit spiders.All I know is that they are fat and hairy and GROSS! AND.... I can't stand 'em!
My hubby just calmly walks right up to them and squishes them like the pests that they are! I don't know how he manages this but I am thankful. Then....one night...we had a snake in our master bathroom. Normally we see lots of  harmless little green garden snakes and some black rat snakes(one fell out of a tree while eating a squirrel...right in the middle of a group of people at my childs 2nd Birthday party)YAY! Right? I am sure you can imagine the chaos that ensued.
Anyways...back to the snake which got into my house. It was an upstairs bathroom. Don't ya just love this!
And...no it wasn't a cute little garden snake OR a rat snake. It was red,yellow and black striped.....like....
a Coral snake, which is very poisonous!!! So I was FREEKING out!!! But luckily our neighbor told us the way to tell.... if red touches black....not poisonous, if red touches yellow....RUN LIKE heck!
Our snake was red on black.We were safe.

Needless to say he removed the snake. And about six months later I finally stopped looking over my shoulder for snakes in every corner of my house.

Day 25

He is the Garbage man.

Yup...that's right! Sort of.
Because we live in a rural area we don't have public trash pick-up.
 So a couple of times a week my hubby takes all of our trash and our neighbors trash to the dump. Not
a real fun chore. Somebody has to do it though. This is why I love my guy!

Day 26

He leaves the toilet seat.... DOWN.

He is very considerate that way. He doesn't do alot of the gross things that some guys seem to always do.
I had two platonic male roommates for 7 years before I got married. So...BELIEVE me...I have seen it all!
Since I was like a sister to them both they felt comfortable to act naturally around me.You know, they weren't trying to impress me with their manners. Of course I don't know that my husband is still trying to impress me after all of these years either, but he still remembers his manners. And I love him for it.

         SCRIPTURE  OF  THE  DAY
  But a married man is concerned about the things of the world--
           how he may please his wife--.
               1 CORINTHIANS  7 : 33  

Friday, December 18, 2009

30 Days Of Christmas In Love (continued)


Readers: This is a series which will end at Christmas.
For Days 1-18  See previous posts.







Due to the fact that we are going out of town for the Holidays I
will need to consolidate several days worth of entries into the next few posts. I hope that you have all enjoyed reading these posts as much as I have enjoyed creating them. I have enjoyed reading your feedback as well!

Day  19

He is Nosey!
This is not misspelled and does not refer to a character or personality flaw. It refers to the fact that he can smell a person smoking a cigarette a half mile away. His nose could challenge the best bird dog or drug sniffing canine.We can be stopped at a stoplight and he will say that he can tell someone is smoking a cigarette in another car...and sure enough...I will peep over at the vehicle in the lane next to ours....
and there you have it....a smoker! (my apologies to any readers who partake in this act)
I can be cooking something in our kitchen and the minute it begins to burn, which with my cooking is frequent, he of course takes notice. I love his nose!


Day  20


He  Devours Books. 


No...he doesn't actually eat them! But he sure LOVES to read them. He has even been known to read the dictionary! I kid you  NOT!! We have a library filled with books in our home...most of which he has read at some time or another. It is a great example for our kids..who are at the ages where they don't want to HAVE to read even though they are both excellent readers ...well ahead of their grade levels in their lexile scores.
I keep hoping my husbands love for reading will eventually rub off on them!

Day 21  

He is a Chamelion of sorts. 

My guy looks good whether he is clean shaven or sporting a  five o'clock shadow. I call this his mountain man look. One minute he is wearing  jeans and a raggy t-shirt with hiking boots or sneakers and driving a tractor through our neighborhood to smooth out the roads which are unpaved and often filled with potholes.
The next time you see him he is wearing a fancy sport coat and hobnobbing with the towns upper-crust.
Handsome either way!


Day 22

He is a clown.

My husband must have been voted "CLASS CLOWN" when he was in school.
He has always had a strong sense of humor. And even though I  am not always amused at what he finds
humorous.....I still love that child-like  quality about him which never fails to keep things interesting and
 more importantly,  keeps him young at heart !  

     SCRIPTURE  OF  THE  DAY 
     Many plans are in a mans heart,
     but the Lords decree will prevail.
              PROVERBS  19: 21 

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

30 Days Of Christmas In Love (continued)


Readers: This is a series ending on Christmas. For Days 1- 17 see previous posts.


The reasons I love my husband are:


Day 18
He is  Andy Griffith, Charles Ingalls &   Mr. Mom all rolled into one! 


My husband is a fairly firm disciplinarian. He manages to always
be sure to mix in just the right amount of  tenderness and  understanding while opening up a can of whoop*ass on whichever child is being unruley.
Don't worry there is no child abuse involved in the opening of the can. Just the tone he uses when angered is usually enough to spur them into behaving. But sometimes plan B comes into play. He will take away their allowance or their favorite video game or some other privilege. And of course they have PLENTY to lose.
He is fair in his punishment. But most importantly he almost always follows through with whatever he says he is going to do if they don't behave. The results of this are sometimes quite amusing . Often now when one of the children has disobeyed and is called to task for it...they will go and get the money from their piggy bank and bring it to him before he can even  ask for it. Ya gotta love it!!!!


                                                                   
  SCRIPTURE  OF  THE  DAY
  Teach a youth about the way he should go;
  even when he is old he will not depart from it.
            PROVERBS 22:  6

                            

Monday, December 14, 2009

30 Days Of Christmas In Love



Readers:  This is a series. For Days 1-16  see previous "30 Days"
posts.















Day  17

He  is  Thrifty.

One of my favorite blogs is titled  "The Cheapskate Mom".
It is written by another blogger mom who is always able to share various nifty, thrifty ideas with her readers. My husband, however, could have written the book on being "THRIFTY".  Otherwise Known As:  CHEAP! He has SOOO  many  tricks up his sleeve,it's almost embarrassing.
But he is not entirely to blame for his obsession with  bargaining and scrimping and saving . His Father
was known for his thrifty ideas like: splitting one roll of toilet paper into two for double the wiping, and coasting his car into a parking space to save on gas. My husband is not nearly this cheap, but he can haggle the pants right off of  a haggler! His thrift tricks are not just relegated to monetary  ventures though. If there is a waiting line somewhere....you'd better believe he'll find a way around it. If there is a back-up in traffic....he's finding his way through like a bird-dog on its  prey! But at least  I KNOW that we won't be waiting in line at the bank when that rainy day comes that he's been saving up all of those scrimped pennies and dimes for!
                                                

   SCRIPTURE  OF  THE  DAY
  The rich and the poor have this in common:
        the Lord made them both.
              PROVERBS  22: 2                            

Saturday, December 12, 2009

30 Days Of Christmas In Love (Continued)


Readers: See Previous posts "30 Days"
for Days 1-15











Day 16

He is a GREAT Uncle.
My husbands nephew is being raised in a single parent home. Unfortunately, there is not a father in this boys life. So in many ways my husband has taken over the male parenting role for his nephew. Before I entered this post this morning my husband was sitting at our kitchen table trying to figure out how to attach 6 patches to his nephews Boy Scouts uniform for him and attempting to put a hem in the bottom of his uniform pants too. You might wonder why my husband was doing this instead of me....he is stubborn that way sometimes! Believe it or not, I think he actually enjoys doing things like this. It may sound funny, but I am sometimes jealous of my own children for having such a great Father! But I am touched by his devotion both to his own children and to his nephew.

Scripture Of The Day
But you Yourself have seen trouble and grief, observing it in order to take the matter into Your hands. The helpless entrusts himself to You;
You are a helper of the fatherless.
PSALM 10 : 14

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

30 Days Of Christmas In Love (Continued)

*First... I must tell my readers that the image used in this post (although a little grainy) is a digital photograph (taken by me) of an old picture of my own mother in Santa's lap at the age of 6. Isn't it awesome! She passed away in 1997 before I married my wonderful Husband.

*Readers: This is the half-way mark for a "30 Days" series
on the reasons that I love my husband.
For Days 1-14 see previous "30 Days" posts.


Day 15

He Still Looks Good at 50.

My husband celebrated his 50th Birthday today. O.K. well...
maybe he didn't exactly celebrate it....because ....well you know....he's a "senior" now. But lemme tell you...
He looooooks maaaaavelous!!
No gray in that, still full, head of hair he has. No Dunlap Syndrome. For those of you who haven't heard of this...it's the condition some men have where their belly has done lapped over their breeches so they can't see their toes. He doesn't even need the bi-focals .....yet. But...of course..
he got 3 pairs of them as gag gifts at his 50th birthday surprise party. But you can bet there won't be any shuffleboarding by my guy anytime soon!

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY
Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit
who is in you, whom you have from God?
1 CORINTHIANS 6 : 19

30 Days Of Christmas In Love (Continued)















Readers: This is the continuation of a 30 Day series on "the reasons I love my husband". I am not gushing about him for the sole purpose of making anyone jealous, but more as a sort of self-imposed penance to balance out all of times when I have felt the need to vent about him in my blog. For those of you who are married...you should know....this is not as easy as it might seem! But I am finding it more fun to write than the complaints.

For Days 1-13 see previous posts "30 Days"

Day 14

He Drives The Carpool.

Now this is actually almost comical. We have 7 children in our carpool....yes I said...7.
Two of them are our own children. But when they are all present there is a Kindergartner, a First grader, a second grader, 3 third graders and a seventh grader. You can imagine the noise!!!
Luckily we take turns driving the route to the school and back...a 20 minute drive each way....with three other families. So it works out to only 1 day per week, sometimes two.
And ever since our third child was born last year, my Super-Dad husband has taken over this role of driving the carpool when it is our turn. If you knew my husband and the fact that he is just a tad-bit impatient and HATES to wait in lines of any kind....you would see how this is both comical & amazing!

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY

I waited patiently for the Lord,
and He turned to me and heard my cry for help.
PSALM 40 : 1

Monday, December 7, 2009

Lemonade Award

This award was passed to me and I wish to thank Being Me whose blog
http://mothersalways.blogspot.com is always like a breath of fresh air.

The rules are as follows:
1. Thank the giver of the award and link their blog.
2. List 5 things about yourself
3. Link 5 new recipients and notify them.

***************************************************************************************
5 Things You Never Wanted To Know About Me
(but I'll tell you anyway)

* I highlight the brunette hairs on my head now to hide the gray ones coming in*

* I HATE folding laundry!*

* I am a fan of Nicholas Sparks novels.*

* My favorite t.v. shows: Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Flash Forward.*

* I love my Honda Pilot (I know...it's a gas guzzling...not-so-"GREEN" SUV...but I love it!*
*************************************************************************************
5 New Recipients

* Tamara- Mad Boastings Of A Cheapskate Mom @ http://proudtobecheap.blogspot.com
(for being such a fun site to browse)

* Ali-Thoughts From The Written Universe @ http://thoughtsfromthewrittenuniverse.blogspot.com
(for always giving an interesting read)

* Prayers Go Up, Blessings Come Down @ http://prayersgoup.blogspot.com
(for thinking of so many with your blessings and prayers)

* Daily Doses Of Mama Drama @ http://mamaswithdrama.blogspot.com
(I just love the title! But it's always fun to read your posts too)

*John Deere Mom @ http://johndeeremom.blogspot.com
(Great photos and stories)

30 Days Of Christmas In Love (Continued)















Readers:
This is a series which began just before Thanksgiving and will end on Christmas. It is a sort of self-imposed penance. To see
Days 1-12 Please read previous posts "30 Days"


Day 13

He is a Thinker.

My husband knows a little bit about A LOT of things.
He is one of those people who is really good at "JEOPARDY". He follows the news and the world markets, religiously. So he is always knowledgeable and well informed on most things
. He likes to quote statistics and probabilities and things of that sort which I guess can seem kind of nerdy to some. In fact most of his friends and even some relatives pick on him for this, but I find it endearing.
I think that they are all just jealous!

Scripture Of The Day
This extraordinary knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.
PSALM 139: 6

Sunday, December 6, 2009

30 Days Of Christmas In Love (Continued)















Readers: for days 1-11
(See previous posts "30 Days")

The reasons I love my husband......

Day 12

He is Old Fashioned.

My man was born in the 1950's but one might almost think he was from a different era.
He has some very old fashioned principles and beliefs. For starters what I am doing right now...
the whole "computer" thing....he doesn't get it, doesn't want to learn about it, & just generally can't stand it. Most days he would like to throw our laptop in a river....I'm not kidding! I am afraid that one day he will do it. He hates everything about them. And while I am not exactly a pro in the modern technology realm, I can at least usually work my way through these things.
My husband, however, would much rather rely on books and newspapers as his source of information. He would rather waltz than boogie or break-dance or whatever dances they do these days. If we are on a formal "date night" he remembers those good old fashioned gentlemanly manners like standing when I excuse myself from the table and holding my chair or holding the door open for me. And if someone else is in need of assistance my guy is the one you may see helping them. This is yet another reason I love him.

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY
if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity;
leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.
ROMANS 12: 8

Circle Of Friends Award














I received an award from Andrea, whose blog "Arise 2 Write" @ http://arise2write.blogspot.com is always a GREAT read. What an honor!

As I understand the rules, I am supposed to list 5 things that I like to do
and then pay it forward (so to speak).



MY 5 Favorite Things To Do

1. Travel to places that I have never been to before.

2. Spoil my children (in a good way) with all the things that I never had.

3. Eat Sushi.

4. Stay in pj's on a rainy day watching good old movies with yummy snacks.


5. Play tourist in my own home town on a date night with my hubby.
************************************************************************************** New Recipients

*Arlee @ http://tossingitout.blogspot.com

*Julie @ http://47andstartingover.blogspot.com

*"Alice In Wonderland" @ http://thewondersofalice.blogspot.com

* Noelle @ http://asgodintended.blogspot.com

*Sannita @ http://livingartwork.blogspot.com

Friday, December 4, 2009

30 Days Of Christmas In Love (Continued-And The Plot Thickens)















Readers: For Days 1-10 (See previous posts "30 Days" series)


Day 11

Martha S. aint got NOTHIN on my guy.

As I am typing, it is 10pm the night before my youngest childs 1st birthday . I know at this point many of you are finding it hard to believe that my guy is real, but he is in the kitchen right now baking a cake for the party tomorrow. This has been his special gift to each of our 3 children
every year on their birthdays. He bakes and decorates their cakes. Now..... are they perfect? No. But they are the best cakes in the world to the kids of course! He always asks them how they want their cakes made...and what type... white or chocolate?Color of icing, etc.? And then he tries to oblige to the best of his ability. Over the years he has become quite the pro at this.
The thing that I find the most endearing about this labor of love of his is the fact that he is not overly fond of desserts himself. But he can sure bake a mean cake! And...as Martha would say...
"That's a Gooood Thing."

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY
Love must be without hypocrisy.
Detest evil; cling to what is good.
ROMANS 12: 9


30 Days Of Christmas In Love (The Gushing Continues)




















Readers: For Days 1-9 ( See previous posts--"30 Days")

Day 10

He Doesn't Act His Age.

My Hubby turns 50 this week. But you'd never know it by his looks or his behavior.
He really doesn't look much over 40. And he is like the energizer bunny! He never stops! Some of this is due to what I am sure today would be diagnosed as ADD-HD.
But I just love the fact that he is always ready to go & see & do just about anything.
When I was a kid my own Dad didn't care much about "playing" with me or doing fun things like going to the park, or the fair etc. I always thought it was due to his age. But my husband has shown me time and time again that the old saying
"You're only as old as you feel" is very true!

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY
Teach a youth about the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22: 6


Thursday, December 3, 2009

Overjoyed To Be "Over The Top"

O.K. This is just a brief respite from "30 Days" of gushing about my Wonderful Husband. I was passed this awesome award by Christie Jolu whose blog "Tales from my head" @ http://christiejolu.blogspot.com
is always a great read!





The rules as I understand them to be are simple:

1. Post the award in your blog.

2. Thank and link the person & their blog who gave the award.

3. List five awesome bloggers to receive the award.

4. Notify the recipients.
*************************************************************************************
NEW RECIPIENTS

1. "White Dove" @ http://ibwhitedove.blogspot.com

2. Andrea--"Arise 2 Write" @ http://arise2write.blogspot.com

3. GAIA---"Journey Of A Single Mum" @ http://journeyofasinglemum.blogspot.com

4. Peggy--"Little Things In Life" @ http://tyme2spare.blogspot.com

5. Dayne--"Coach Your Mind" @ http://coachyourmind.blogspot.com

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

30 Days Of Christmas In Love (Continued)















Readers:
(For Days 1-8 , See Previous Posts---Same title)


Day 9
He turns the page.

By this I mean he never stays angry for long.
We have always had the type of relationship where we, fairly often, have small squabbles over the little things. Hardly ever do we have huge arguments and never over anything serious like
money, child rearing, or religious beliefs. No..... we disagree about things like....how to properly load the dishwasher, or how much laundry is too much at one time in the washer or dryer.
But when I get mad....I tend to want to raise my voice and throw a fit, while he usually remains somewhat calm & collected....NATURALLY! Which, of course, just makes me all the madder!
And I can stay mad for hours after we have a disagreement. He...on the other hand...is already
on to some new topic as if nothing occurred. While this infuriates me in the moment.....I also love it about him, because..... if he threw a fit and stayed mad too...I am sure we'd never get anywhere together.

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY
A fool gives full vent to his anger,
but a wise man holds it in check.
PROVERBS 29: 11

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

30 Days Of Christmas In Love (continued)















For anyone who is reading this post .....you must read the previous post, first--same title---"30 Days Of Christmas In Love".




I love my husband because.....


Day 8
He is MAPMAN.
My husband has a very Very inquiring mind. He also has a photographic memory when it comes to remembering directions. Put those two things together---and---Whatta Ya Got?--*MapMan*
EVERYwhere we go, he has his face glued to a map....learning every little detail about the surrounding area for a hundred miles or so. Now....the upside of this is that we are hardly ever "lost". But it also has a few drawbacks. Many people, upon arriving at their intended travel destination, like to kick back....relax a bit....lay by the pool...or maybe get a massage.
NOT my MAPMAN! He's already rented a car, got a map(of course), spoken to half of the locals to find out the best sights to see, and seen half of them before most people have unpacked their belongings. And what I love so much about this quality of his(even though I don't get to lay by the pool sometimes) is that there is never a dull moment!


Scripture Of The Day
Happy is a man who finds wisdom
and who acquires understanding,
PROVERBS 3: 13