Quote of the day

Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate. 

~Barnett R. Brickner

Meal Time Makeover- Day 3.. Perfect?

It's day 3 and things are going well!  Just a quick update, Chad's breakfast was these homemade granola bars.  I made a batch yesterday so he will be able to take those all week if he chooses to.  Simple and so much better for him than the store bought, although I'm sure I can find an even healthier recipe, this is what we're doing for now.
He made his lunch.  We had a nice chat over the phone while he ate.
For supper we struggled, do we order pizza, make taco's (yes, we also have a taco Tuesday night)... or eat frozen chicken patties again.  We went with the frozen chicken patties, I think their simplicity and flavor are both addicting. 
During supper my sweetheart and I both were teasing the princess with "LOOK! A baby mongoose" and dipping our sandwiches her ranch when she wasn't looking. 
  She's catches on pretty quick.  She, without a word, got up and grabbed the ranch bottle.  She strutted her stuff over to the table and before I could say a word or get my hand up to stop her was pouring half the bottle of ranch onto my plate (you ever have those bottles that just POUR out when you only want a dab, this is one of those).  OH MY! We haven't laughed that hard in a long time!  I mean I laughed so hard  I cried!!  What else was I to do? I had half my plate loaded with ranch, so we decided to put what we could back into the bottle. 
Then my sweetheart got up and announced he would be having a salad.  LOL!  Of course using the dressing that was left on my plate.
The princess felt bad and cried, then was embarrassed that we were laughing, but she worked through it quickly.  The little prince thought it was quite funny too, lets hope he doesn't mimic this one!  I don't think it would be funny two nights in a row!

Highlights of my day:

• The one on one time I had with each family member, even if I didn't get any time to myself. 
• The awesome playdate this morning.
• Grocery shopping.
• Turning in old video games for store credit at Gamers.
• Good phone conversations with my daddy.
• Lunch with my mom.
• A family walk.
• A hilarious family dinner.
• And now blogging.  I think I might actually like blogging!

 Today was a success, a true success!

More from Proverbs 31:

"Her husband trusts her without reserve,
   and never has reason to regret it."

My notes:

Our phone conversation at lunch my husband expressed a worry he had.  It was a ridiculous worry, to me anyway.  But rather than tear him down about it, I was there for him, comforting him and letting him know he could trust in me.  I do not want to give him reason to regret that trust, so although I wont share with you what we were discussing, just know we have problems, just like you do.  We all do.  It's okay, no person or relationship is perfect.

Definition of perfect:

being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish; "a perfect circle"; "a perfect reproduction"; "perfect happiness"; "perfect manners"; "a perfect specimen"; "a perfect day"

We are all blemished, I can't even draw a PERFECT circle, perfect reproduction, don't even get me started.  Perfect happiness, manners and specimen, a perfect day.. hmmmm sounds too good to be true, because it is!  We aren't meant to be perfect.

Goal: Meal Time Makeover- Day 2.

I call this Day 2 of my meal time Makeover challenge. Only because that means I have 1 day behind me and I'm further along on my journey. So far, not so good! :(
All day yesterday we were building a bathroom in the basement. We had to move furniture (again!) to be able to put up the new walls. I was great help with that, and carrying lumber down the stairs. But then I took a break to come blog and check facebook. The break was totally unnecessary and only set us back because there was one set of hands working, not two.

So when I had supper ready (chicken patty sandwiches, broccoli, apples, grapes and potato salad- weekends we eat up leftovers) and my husband wasn't finished with what he was doing, ready to come sit at the table I set with our best dishes, I was ticked.  I mean come on, I was slaving away reheating food and had to put his chicken back in the microwave TWICE! Rather than being grateful that he was doing something I literally couldn't do, and he was improving our home, I over reacted and accused him of not caring that I had supper ready.

 I'd say that was a FAILED attempt at handling meal times better.

So this morning I hopped out of bed, made him waffles, with a smile on my face and packed his lunch for today. I stacked his work gear on the counter for him and even dug out his jacket from the closet, since it was COLD today.

He whole time, I was hungry, had to pee and wanted to be back in my warm bed. The smell of his blueberry waffles was incredible, and I was missing out. Poor me, huh? Well not really. Because after he left for work I felt great that I had started our day nicely. I felt so great in fact that I told  'Miss Princess' I would drive her to school so she didn't have to ride the bus!

The start of a great day also had me getting my coffee pot out of the basement and brewing a pot to enjoy throughout the day.  Wonderful!
~~~~~
We initiated themed meal nights awhile back when we were b.r.o.k.e.  We needed to save money, and Mac N' Cheese is cheap (short term anyway, long term this prepackaged powdered cheese could be terrible for our health & rack up millions in medical bills.. okay, I wont let it go THAT far). Either way, along came Mac N' Cheese Monday! The kids absolutely love this. So tonight's dinner will be easy to prepare, and I will have no excuse for a poor attitude.

Proverbs 31:12 (Amplified Bible):

"She comforts, encourages, and does him only good as long as there is life within her."

My journey to becoming a slightly better wife.

I found my old diary today. This is a dairy from 1999, I was in middle school. My parents had separated for a year, my oldest brother joined the army, my second oldest brother was in his senior year of high school. He was in love and was getting married. He was my best friend, and he was moving on. Which left me, alone.
I was totally hormonal, boy crazy and just wanting to be loved. I wrote about several boys in my diary. It's no wonder I didn't have serious meaningful relationships with any of them. I was just too obsessed with being perfectly loved. Loved in the way that I thought love should be, which is far different than how love is in reality. I had no interest in loving someone back, only having my own needs met.

Finding this diary was kind of fun, but also opened up a lot more emotions than I wanted it to. I wrote about bulimia, anorexia, fasting, and all other ways that I tried to gain control of myself. None of which were healthy and have only caused problems, nothing good has come from them.

The feelings I had then have resurfaced over the years.

I have to admit something, If you haven't already guessed... I have issues. I think we all have issues, but I just have these major issues I can't get past. I'm not 100% happy in my marriage. Okay... That is SO embarrassing, and humiliating, and I do NOT in any way mean to degrade my husband by saying this. But, I am sometimes bored to tears. Seriously, I will just start crying thinking of how boring my life is. I want fun, I want spontaneity, I want to be head over heals in love. I want to be taken out on dates, I want to be romanced. I just want MORE! Isn't that what we all want? I just don't deserve it. I am an average wife, but I want to be a GREAT wife. Or at least a slightly better wife.

I'm ready to tackle my search for a blissful marriage. I am thankful to have a relationship with Jesus. I will lean on Jesus to fill my tank. I will find the answers to my questions in the Bible. I will be praying more than ever before and asking for His guidance, reading His word and above all, TRUSTING in Him.

Thought of the day: I know that I tell my husband I love him, but do I show him?
My goal: Show my husband I love him by having his meals hot and ready for him to enjoy. Do not expect him to help clear the table, insist that he doesn't, wash up the dishes without so much as a sigh. No matter how tired I am. Just get through it, for 1 week.

Disclaimer: The problems in my marriage are not because of my husband. My problems in my marriage are all my own. I know I'm not giving 'my all'. My husband is an amazing person.