Date Night

Marriage is sooo important and we must take it seriously. Whether we have children or not we must take time for each other. Carl and I dont have have any children(unless you count our 2 fur kids!) so its easier for us to take the time we need to work on our marriage, but we all need to water and nurture our marriages to make them grow and flourish. A great way to do this is to take time for a Date Night. So I have made a list of 25 ideas for dates. Some dont cost a cent, spending money doesnt make a date great, the quality and time spend together is what is really important.

1. Walk to a bakery and buy each other a treat then stop in a park or even a park bench to enjoy them together.
2. Date in a box- pick a random box and spend time decorating it together and and put ideas and items in the box you can use for future dates.
3. Greeting card date- make a list of all birthdays, holidays and special occasions you may need cards for this year, go to the dollarstore together and pick out random cards, dont think about it just have fun picking out funny cards, go home and assign each cards to an occasion, they dont have to match, you will giggle about them later, have fun!
4.Living room camp-out! get out some camping gear like camping chairs and sleeping bags, make some treats, turn off the light and use flashlights!
5. Repeat your first ate as close as you can
6.Go to the dollarstore and each pick out an activity to do, dont let the other person see it till you leave the store and go do that activity, some examples include a kids kite or canvasses and paints!
7. Photo Safari- take a digital camera and either drive or walk around town taking pictures of places that have special meaning to you.
8.Check out a book from the library on paper airplanes and make them and have a flying contest
9. Make a time capsule to give to your future or present children in the future
10. Get take out, dress up and decorate your dinning room and pretend you are in in an expensive restuarant
11.Slumber party- rent a movie get snacks and get in your pjs and cuddle on the floor with blankets and pillows
12. Test drive a car together
13. Go out for desert and coffee
14.Play board games and have prizes
15.Sit outside somewhere and read a book together, taking turns reading out load to each other
16.Take a dance, yoga or painting class together
17.Have a "youtube" date
18.Hit the local video arcade
19. Research your family tree together, or talk to you elders about their lives, record your family history
20. Create your own couples website-include your love story, info about yourself, pictures,etc
21.Go picking fruit or veggies together- whatever is in season
22. Stargazing-drive to an open field, bring a blanket, a snack and a bottle of wine or sparkling cider and cuddle up and watch the stars together
23. Write out 50 questions and ask them while on a dinner date, get to know each other
24. Dream House Hunting- go for a Sunday drive and check out open houses, ones you think you could never afford.
25. Pick a letter date- have your spouse pick a letter and plan all activities, food, dress and conversation around topics that start with that letter!

I hope this list sparks some ideas for a fun date night for you and your spouse. Its important to invest time into your marriage, its the most important relationship you  will ever have, take a little time to enjoy, get to know and spoil the one you choose to spend your life with. Let us know what works for you or if you have any other ideas please share them, cant wait to hear your ideas!!!

Blessings,
Heather

Marriage!

Happy New Year everyone! Sorry I havent been posting like I should have been, the last couple months of the year were crazy busy. But its a new year and I am back! This year I have decided to focus on my marriage. Carl and I dont have kids and that leaves us alot of time to focus on each other and our marriage. Its my goal this year to make it even better! So alot of my focus on this blog this year will be on marriage, I wont forget the other things......I promise but alot will be about what we can do to make our marriages stronger. I would love to hear from you on what you do special for your spouse, what you do to put your marriage first and what tips you can share with us to make our marriages the best they can possibly be. I cant wait to hear from you, I hope each of you has a blessed 2012!

I Believe...

I believe…

that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you.

I believe…

that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

I believe…

that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I believe…

that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

I believe…

that sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.

I believe…

that just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.

I believe…

that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.

I believe…

that it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe…

that no matter how bad your heart is broken that the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I believe…

that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I believe…

that just because two people argue, it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other.  And just because they don’t argue, it doesn’t mean they do.

I believe…

that you shouldn’t be eager to find out a secret.  It could change your life forever.

I believe…

that it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I believe…

that you should always leave loved ones with loving well wishes. It may be the last time you see them.

I believe…

that you can keep going long after you can’t.

I believe…

that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I believe…

that we don’t have to change friends, if we understand that friends change.

I believe…

that no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I believe…

that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I believe…

that you either control your attitude or it controls you.

I believe…

that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, that passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I believe…

that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I believe…

that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I believe…

that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I believe…

that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I believe…

that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down, will be the ones who help you get back

from poem "I learned" author unknown

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE???

Challenge Overload!

There are so many great blogs out there and it seems like this time of year everyone is doing a challenge. I have started most of them and I am finding them all uplifting and encouraging. From making our home a haven to feeding our soul to marriage ones. I am feeling a little challenge overload but that is because I am feeling open, renewed and connected. I get so inspired by these challenges. I started the Respect Dare over a month ago and I have to say its been most rewarding and life changing, it has made me see my husband in a whole new way. I highly reccomend it for any wife! Its amazing what can happen when we take a little time to do something for someone else, when we take time for ourselves and when we take time with the Lord in his Word. I will share some links to some of the challenges going on right now, check them out, maybe join one and see what a difference it can make in our home, your marriage and your life!

1. Time Warp Wife is doing a 31 days of marriage challenge!
http://time-warp-wife.blogspot.com/2011/09/31-days-of-love-marriage-challenge.html

2 Sonya has 31 days of Praying for Your Husband on her website, check it out!
http://www.becomingastrongwomanofgod.com/p/31-day-pray-for-your-spouse-challenge.html

3. Courtney is doing the Make Your Home a Haven Challenge for the Fall
http://womenlivingwell.org/2011/09/making-your-home-a-haven-fall-challenge-is-back/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WomenLivingWell+%28Women+Living+Well+%29

4.Bonie is offering the 31 days to Feed Your Soul!
http://www.faithbarista.com/2011/10/31-days-to-feed-your-soul-day-1-hunger/

5.Need some time with in Bible Study, check out
http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/

I hope you take the time to check these out and if you have any other links us to check out please share them with us!!

Blessings,
Heather

Your Time is Limited

Your time is limited..don’t waste it living someone else’s life. -Steve Jobs


This statement has inspired me today. Its a quote from Steve Jobs commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005. He passed away yesterday  and was a perfect example of this, he knew with his diagnosis of cancer that his time was limited and he did not waste time living someone else's life...he lived his own. We shouldnt wait for a diagnosis, we should live this everyday. In his speech Steve talks about the fact that we all have death in common, and we dont know when it will happen, so we must live like each day as if it was our last. Follow your dreams, follow your intuition, follow that gut feeling. Dont live your life aspiring to be like others, be yourself! Dont wish your life was like someone else's or that you had the same things as them, the same talents. God made each of us to be unique. We must take the time to figure out what makes us tick, what makes us special, what our dreams are and live our life accordingly. Dont waste your time following someone else's dream, dream your own and follow them! Remember your time is limited....make the most of your life!
 

Blessings,

Heather

Thankful Tuesdays!

I know I already blogged once today but 2 is better than 1 right?? I recently started reading Ann Voskamp's book "ONE THOUSAND GIFTS" If you havent heard of it or want some more info on it, check out http://onethousandgifts.com/. In her book Ann dares you to live fully right where you are and discusses what it means to be deeply human, deeply spiritual, deeply and authentically fulfilled. It is a beautifully practical guide to living a life of joy and invites you to wake up to God's everyday blessings. We all want to be happy, we all want our lives filled with great moments and experiences but most of us are looking too hard. Its right in front of us, every moment has the potential to be beautiful and memorable. We just need to open our eyes. To see the beauty in the simpliest of things, to appreciate what we have, who we have and where we are in life. This life is a precious gift and when we take the time to see the beauty in everything around us we stop looking for more and learn to love where we are and the beauty that surrounds us. A great way to do this is to keep a "Thankful  Journal"....make lists of the wonderful things we have, the people around us and the great moments we have together. Take time to stop and really think about what makes us smile. Get out a piece and paper and jot down things you love, things you appreciate and things you take for granted. It really does make a difference, once you do this you will begin to see things differently, and you will really learn to appreciate the great gifts we already have around us. God is wonderful and he has given us all we need already, it is all there for us and we dont need more. Every Tuesday I will share my list with you, I hope you will join me and share your list with me, lets see how long it takes us to get to "One Thousand Gifts"

1.the ability to write, and share my ideas
2.good morning kisses from my husband
3. the smell of fall and the sound of the breeze in the leaves
4. peaceful quiet time to reflect and refresh
5.cuddles with Bailey
6 my health
7. encouraging words from a friend
8. the sound of laughter

I hope this encourages you and I hope you will share what you are thankful for this week. I am thankful that you spent some time reading my blog. Have a blessed day!

Blessings
Heather

The Courage to be You

It takes courage to be YOU. Too seldom are we ourselves and we become who others want us to be to fit in. We pass ourselves off as mirror images of those around us instead of being true to who we really are.

Inconsistency between the inside and the person we present to the world creates tremendous conflicts in our lives. The Oxford dictionary defines being authentic as being true to your own character. Have you ever found yourself laughing because everyone else did or agreed with an opinion that you didn’t share? Did you ever do something inconsistent with your true self just to please, get attention or get what you wanted? Of course we all have.We have all done and said things to fit in but that gives people the wrong impression of who we really are, and then along the way some of us actually lose who we are and become just another face in the crowd.

When you were born there was nothing you had to do to be loved. Back then you were unpretentious and spontaneous. You smiled when you felt like it and cried when you were upset. You had the courage to be you. Then the agenda changed. You were taught how to behave, what to say and what to want.

Conditioned by our environment we become products of our culture. Social influences tell us we are not slim enough, not rich enough, not with it enough and probably out of it altogether. We never quite cut it. Compelled to portray a better us, we hide our true self. When we are not real we cannot connect to our inner core or to others. What we do, including our interactions with others, becomes meaningless, because our true self doesn’t show up. This is important and here is why:

Your authentic self is your talents, values, traits and greatness combined. It is the best of you! It is like a sleeping giant buried under all the shoulds and shouldn’ts. All you need is the courage to be you. Think about this: when we meet people who are refreshingly authentic, we are drawn to them. They say and do the things we never would. They have the courage to be real and we instantly like them. They give us the straight goods and we always know where we stand. They don’t care what others think or do. They do their own thing in alignment with their authentic self. The have the courage to be themselves. We want to be in their presence because the interaction has meaning.

Here are some tips on becoming authentic:

• Be courageous and bold
• Say what you mean and mean what you say
• Trust your instinct
• Focus on the best in you
• Speak up for yourself
• Stand up for what you believe in
• Always speak the truth
• Don’t be a pleaser, you are able to say no
• Don’t worry about what others think
• Become who you want to be

If you are afraid of doing all of the above, feel the fear and do it anyway! To be authentic, just focus on your talents, strength, values and integrity. Building upon your best gives you authentic power. This power feeds your soul.

Nothing changes in your life until you use the best of you. Nothing changes in your relationships until you become better for each other. When you focus on the best of you, you can also see the good in others. Only when you use your best can you play your best cards in life. Living an authentic life means never having to regret anything. This is powerful! Then when we have taken the courage to be ourselves, we can stand up for what we believe in, we can stand for those who have less and take care of those who cant take care of themselves. When we do whats right for ourslves it opens a whole new world for ourselves and others around us. Find your passion, stand up for what you believe in and be true to yourself. Have the courage to be YOU.