Winner!!! Baby it's hot in here!

Ladies, I apologize for running a few hours late on announcing the winner of the hot contest. DH has been in and out of the ER for the last 2 weeks, and it looks like we are headed to back surgery. Anyhoo.. back to the contest! Our winner is ...... Miss. Kim! Kim's keep it cool tip was " POPSICLES & a nice fan right in front of me!!"

Kim, you have won a basket of keeping you cool items, including a hardback copy of "Return to Sullivans Island", some Lime and Coconut body wash and lotion, a cute hair acessory, a koozie, and a few other surprise goodies, as well as a recipe for a cool summer shrimp salad.

Thanks to everyone who participated. I will try to compile all of your tips and do a post in the next few days. As for the Love Dare... we are still doing it, however, I've taken on a whole new list of to do's with helping out DH.

30 Days to being a better Wife- Day 4

Day 4: Love is thoughtful

How precious also are Your thoughts to me. . . .How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.

—Psalm 139:17–18

TODAY’S DARE

Contact your spouse sometime during the business of the day. Have no agenda other than asking how he or she is doing and if there is anything you could do for them.

SO this is probably the easiest one of all for me, as DH and I chat randomly throughout the day... a quick phone call here, an I love you text... that sort of thing. I think what I'm going to do is wait until I eat lunch and then text him that I love him and I prayed for him before I started to eat. What better prayer can I pray than for God to watch over the man I love throughout the day? One thing I really considered is asking God to take some of his pain away today. DH has 3 herniated disk in his back and 1 in his neck. We have an appointment with a neurosurgeon next week, but until then, he endures the pain during the day, as he can't take anything stronger than Tylenol or while working. I'm saving my "pennies" to put towards one of those Sleep Number beds for him as a surprise, but until then we will have to deal with a board under his side of the mattress.

Well my dear ladies, I'm gonna run. I have Statistics Reports to work on, payroll to do, and Cake Class tonight! Have a Terrific Tuesday!

**Thank you to everyone who participated in the Giveaway! I will announce the winner next Monday with a follow up post of everyone's Keep Cool ideas.***

30 Days to being a better Wife- Day 3

Day 3: Love is not selfish
TODAY’S DARE
Whatever you put your time, energy, and money into will become more important to you. It’s hard to care for something you are not investing in. Along with restraining from negative comments, buy your spouse something that says, “I love you!"

More to follow... slammed on the workfront this am.

30 Days to being a better Wife- Day 2

Day 2: Love is kind- "Love makes you kind. And kindness makes you likeable.
Day 2 Dare: In addition to saying nothing negative to your spouse again today, do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness.

More to follow, but wanted to get this back out there. For some reason, my post did not save yesterday! So I'm re-writting yesterday and today. I can already feel my neck starting to get hot.

30 Days to Being a Better Wife... Day 1

So, I told you on date night we were going to watch a movie. And we did... "Fireproof" This was without a doubt one of the most wonderful, inspiring, funny, sweet, romantic movies I think I have seen in a really long time. If you and your sweetie have not seen it, please take the time to watch it together. It follows a plan called the Love Dare, which is based off of taking 40 days to become a better spouse. It was so fitting for me to watch this on the eve of me starting my own challenge. I will use some of the dares from the Love Dare, as I certainly feel like I need all the help I can get.
Day 1: Love is patient

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

—Ephesians 4:2 NIV

TODAY’S DARE

The first part of this dare is fairly simple. Although love is communicated in a number of ways, our words often reflect the condition of our heart. For the next day, resolve to demonstrate patience and to say nothing negative to your spouse at all. If the temptation arises, choose not to say anything. It’s better to hold your tongue than to say something you’ll regret.

I succeeded so far today. A friend of mine is having a party tonight. I know that dh does not want to go, however, I have really pushed the issue. Well, this morning over coffee, he finally just came out and said, he really did not want to attend. There had been a much younger crowd(early 20's) that had also been invited, it had grown to over 150 people, and he just really did not feel like it was something he would enjoy. I could feel the vein in my temple start to pulse and my blood pressure start to rise. I could also see DH shift his weight and knew he was waiting for me to blow. I sat for a few seconds and considered my options... I could blow up right now, pout, get angry, and ruin an otherwise lovely morning with DH going off to fish with his buddies and me cleaning house and bleaching anything that would stand still.... or I could just nicely say that was fine, I would go for a bit, then come home and we would have a nice dinner together if he would pick up something while he was out. Tic tock tick tock.... I chose the high road. I smiled sweetly, said my piece and DH agreed to pick up something yummy for dinner.

I must admit, I'm not happy with his decision, however, in thinking it over, I took what could have turned into a childish argument and difused it. I can't promise that I will act the same the next time something happens, but I will try. I will end this post by saying a small prayer quoted from the book "One Minute Prayers for Wives" by Hope Lyda"

"A man's wisdom gives him patience, it is his glory to overlook an offense"
Proverbs 19:11
Calm my heart and my mind when they are raging towards accusation and frustration. Allow me a bridge of compassion so that I can step above and over the hurdle before me. On the other side I will find the beauty of forgiveness and mercy. I will experience the freedom of overlooking flaws and the human ways of another.

Have a wonderful rest of the day! I'm off to go get dressed for the party.

30 Days to being a better Wife

Ladies... last night, I blew it and I don't just mean a little. Bad moods, created tension, led to an argument over watching a movie (Fireproof no less), lead to tears, and a turned back all night. I admit, DH was in not the greatest of moods when he came home from work, and I probably should have just let it go, but the rolling of the eyes when I pulled out the movie and the irritated "Is this a chic flick", really set me off. I lost it!

I finally just called and said I'm sorry with reminders of date night. It all got me thinking though... maybe I'm not being the best wife that I could be. A recent comment about my attire for sleeping recently, is what started the thoughts actually. I admit, after 10 years, my pj pants, a tshirt, (a sweatshirt) if I'm cold, sock, and a bra. Yes, a bra... tmi, I'm sure, but I had to let you know the full spectrum. I forgot to add, a messy bun. Gone are the days of cute pjs from Vic's Secret with taking the time to put on scented lotion, etc, before bed. Gone too are the days of taking a moment to freshen up my makeup and hair before he gets home. Heck by the end of the day, when DH gets home, I've changed outta my work clothes, taken off my jewelry (except my wedding rings)and my makeup. I've usually changed to shorts and a t'shirt. Not the sweetest sight to come home to.

So, I am committing myself, to trying to be better. Being a better wife, not only is nicer for DH, I think it will make me feel better about myself as well. If there is anyone who would like to join this challenge with me, I would be grateful and honored. Please leave your comments on how you are striving to be the best wife you can below.

For the love of Date Night

I admit, I'm a sucker for romance. Romance novels, romantic movies, romantic songs, heck, I even check out the romantic cards when I go to the Kroger! Now, DH, does pretty good most of the time when he plans, and last weekend he totally blew me away by taking me dancing. Sooooo, here I sit, on Tuesday afternoon, and by goodness, I'm fresh out of ideas.

For probably the last 2 hours I have racked my brain. Dinner and a movie, wine tasting at our favorite local vineyard, sushi, etc. etc..... I'm practically in tears now. Is it a sign that the romance may be gone, because I can't come up with an idea for date night? Am I bored, What the heck is going on??

I humbly will say, that after a while of thinking about it, stressing about it, and worried to death that he would be disappointed, I called him. Yes, I had to break the news that I could not come up with any new creative ideas for this Friday night. What he said, made me fall for my big brown eyed sweetie all over again. The sweet little words of "That's okay honey, we will figure something out.". He was just happy that I still after all this time, wanted to impress him, wanted to look nice for him, and just wanted to spend time with him. It was a little bit after we got off of the phone, that it hit me, to just sit out on the deck, order chinese, get a grocery store (YIKES) bottle of wine, and be together. In the words of Mastercard.... priceless.

Baby it's hot in here!

I'm about to confess.... yes, I have been so neglectful of my little blog for the last month or so. With my grandfather passing away in May, my daughter leaving for a whole month and a half to go to camp, and the garden... (the zucchini runneth over), I have been a little overwhelmed.

So, now that I've gotten my whining over why I haven't blogged for a month or so, I'm super excited to announce my very first giveaway! For anyone that lives in the south you know what the humidity is doing to your hair, make-up, clothes, house, flowers.. etc. etc. I'm putting together a whole little basket of stuff to keep you cool as a cucumber! There will be a pretty hair accessory to get the hair off your neck and outta your face, some great smelling lotion and body wash , a cooling eye mask that you freeze,of course a summer read for a day spent lounging on the beach,a clean linen candle guaranteed to give the house a clean cool smell, and some sweet little surprises! The winner will be announced on July 20 (my mommas birthday)at 9pm, est. The deadline for entering is July 13 at Midnight.

Miss. Jenifer, how do I enter, you ask? Well, very simple honey! Give me you best keeping cool ideas in the comments section, get 1 entry! Become a follower, get 2 entries, and let others know on your blog... you guessed it, 3 entries! Have fun, stay cool, and pray that my zuchini's don't overtake the house soon.