Category Archives: Marriage

New job Jazz

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Last week I told y’all I am leaving my current job to start with a new company.  Now, I’ll give you some background.  It’s all very God-lead, in my opinion, and I’m just standing back amazed as it all unfolds.

I’ve been intermittently keeping an eye on a local hospital for job openings for some fill-in work on weekends for quite some time now and have barely gotten a bite; talk about your ego bruising.  Once again, a PRN (fill in position) came open, my friend let me know and so I said to the Hubs, “this is the last time I put in and then I’m done.”.  A week later he encouraged me to send the follow-up email to the director, to which I grudgingly did so, lo and flippin’ behold, she emailed me back and followed up with a phone call to set up an interview the following Monday.  The interesting part on the phone call was that she was giving me a pretty detailed time-line of interview, decision, orientation, 2 weeks notice, yada, yada, yada.  I hung up with an appointment and totally confused as to why on earth I’d need to give notice for a PRN position.

Obviously I went home that night and scoured the website for other openings that maybe I missed.  Sure enough, a full-time position at a new facility of the hospital’s was posted.  What?  Full-time?  Not even on my radar.  This was going to be interesting.  Now I was just curious as to where this could go and IF I would follow through.  If it was meant to be….it would.

I had my interview, which felt comfortable and easy and AN HOUR LONG!!!  Waited a whole week and finally, FINALLY got the call.  They picked ME!!!  The Hubs and I had some decisions to make, and I had a feeling that this might be God’s timing and I would be best suited to follow Samuel’s lead and follow along.  I also had a deja vu moment from when I bought the house…read HERE   and that worked out beyond my wildest dreams, so yes, I was absolutely curious.

And so, in the end, I leave a job that has been very good to me for the last 10 years and step out into a company that can offer me more opportunity for future growth.  The craziest thing is that both the Hubs and I are completely and totally at peace with this decision.  It will require some schedule shifting and kid-compliance, probably multiple times over the next several months as the center opens and hits its stride, but everyone is on board.

So, change is a comin’ and even though I don’t love change, I’m ready to embrace what the future holds.

As a bonus, I get some catch up time with friends across the state in the interim, so #WINNING!!

 

In honor of Padre

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Father’s Day.  I’m going to say my Hubby had a good one, because it’s my blog, not his.  But……perhaps he’ll chime in on the combox (as he does from time to time) and confirm or deny.  However, here’s the breakdown of the day:

  • No work today.  With new schedule of alternating Sundays today was day OFF.  Win #1
  • Due to no work, he woke up early to ride his road bike.  Sunday morning+no traffic=20 sweet miles Win#2
  • Our girl was home from Life Teen Camp at Hidden Lake after being gone all week Win#3  (actually #1)
  • Family Mass together.  Sort of.  Our girl was BEAT from getting in so late and our boy is still struggling with church, so 1/2 the kids and sweet Mama and donuts after Mass bringing us to Win#4
  • After getting in the garden and bleaching out the A/C and cleaning the filter because, you know, man stuff, he opened presents.  Behold my new addition to my Pinterest board:  Candy bar bouquet and sweet sentiments from the kids because….love language=words!  Win#5basket
  • Lunch at my step dads with most of the siblings and kiddos in tow….we beat the rain, ate hot dogs, the boys and dad jumped off the roof and made it home for a little nap.  Win #6
  • To top it off….World Cup.  Win#7

Focusing on the amazing man and Father my husband is, how much he loves our kids, how hard he works for our family and the continuous efforts he makes on a daily basis to be the best man he can be.  He is a blessing to me and our kids; we adore him!!   For that I say Happy Father’s Day, today and everyday!  XOXO

Icing on the cake

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Last weekend we celebrated our 20th Anniversary with a vow renewal and gathering afterward…you can see more about that here, but the thing I loved the most was being surrounded by our family and friends.  Now.  There are some of you reading this that might be sad because you missed it (and it WAS great), BUT this is NOT a slight or rant on you missing it.  It was our fortune to be married in June.  Who knew that 20 years later June would be the month of finishing school, graduations and the general crazy busy that ends school and begins summer?  Who?  Not my 24-year-old bride self, that’s for sure.  Anyhoo…….as much as we would have LOVED to have each and every one of our family and friends present, it’s just not a reality.  Life and all that.    That said……

The people who were supposed to be there were.  It was a neat gathering.  ALL of our kids (and with our 16 yo’s recent crisis of faith–that says a lot).  Many of Hubby’s AA friends came, and that is a diverse group of pretty cool people.  Truly.  We had friends come from church, and for the few friends we have there….that was a nice feeling.  Hubby’s parents were there.  Probably one of the very few times my father in law made it to church.   A continued grace in healing of a strained relationship.  My grandparents were there, right up front with us and my grandmother kept her claustrophobia at bay so that they could be on the front lines where they have always been.  Fraternity brothers, to which I can never say enough good about this group of guys.  Friends from our old city who drove 4 hours for a date weekend; this was an extra special because of the time we were able to spend with them the night before catching up.

My fear of getting up in front of the ENTIRE.  9 A.M. MASS. to renew our vows was real.  When Hubs started getting emotional prior to Mass, he almost brought me over the edge (so I had to threaten him with bodily harm and eggplant…he doesn’t like eggplant).  During the ceremony, I remembered our priest’s advice and just kept my eyes on Hubs, and the priest.  It worked.  Thankfully I followed those instructions because toward the end I snuck a peek at the parishioners and holy cow!  The looks of love and sweet smiles on their faces.  NOW I know why our church opts for this manner of vow renewal.  Talk about a witness.  I would never have made it had I looked out.  Also, the fact that our only response was “I do” rather than repeat the entire wedding vows was a HUGE help.  Death by publicly speaking heart-felt vows and all.

The graces were real.  The love was real.  The friends are real.  The icing on the cake.

Now hopefully life will get real and get our friends here throughout the summer for some visitin’!!!

Marriage=Hard

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wedding

Anyone remember their Pre-Cana weekend?  Classes?  Some, all or none?  My memory is pretty crapola these days…I blame multitasking, 4 kids and age.  Maybe I should do more Sudoku or 20, 40, 8 or whatever that game is.  Gingko?  Whatever…getting off track here.

I vaguely remember our Pre-Cana meetings with our Priest as more of a checking off of the boxes and looking back I’m certain he probably wanted to forehead smack both of us.  We were barely active in the Church and going through the motions, however, clearly the seed was planted because….here we are…20 years later and growing everyday in our Faith, Marriage and family.  It’s been a mind-blowing 20 years.  To say the least.

The thing is, I don’t remember much about Pre-Cana.  I remember a lot of vague, surface discussions.  Discussions on the budget and maintaining a joint checking account were the main things I remember, and that’s it.  NFP?  Not so much.  Marriage being hard?  Not really.  So, whether it is my p.poor memory or my 23 year-old naive self, Pre-Cana didn’t really prepare me or scare me.

I take you to be my  lawfully wedded spouse,  my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.

I would have loved if we could have taken an in-depth look at those vows:

  • Lawfully wedded, constant friend.  Your spouse comes first.  Always and forever.  Your best friend.  Girlfriends are second and friends come and go as you move through seasons of life.  Pick wisely and you will never be lonely.
  • Faithful partner.  There is a reason men and women shouldn’t be alone together if they aren’t married.  It’s called a fallen world.  Free will.  Attractions will happen and we are all human; it takes a lot of effort to go from foot loose and fancy free to hitched forever.  It can be overwhelming.  Be honest and be sure you are both up for the task and be ready to decide if you can be forgiving if one or both of you fall.  It’s a tough and enticing world out there and marriage isn’t a deterrent to some.  There’s a reason 50%+ of marriages fail.  And infidelity doesn’t always come in the form of a person.
  • Sickness and health.  You will both get sick.  You will both need caretaking.  Be loving.  Be awesome.  Be kind.  Be thankful you are in this together, because being sick is something no one enjoys.  Being a caregiver is no picnic either.  You’ll both have a turn, be ready.
  • Savor and relish the good times and know that bad times will come.  Be a team.  Fight for each other.  Fight for your marriage.  Life is a constant change, ebb and flow and the better you work together, the stronger your marriage will be.  Dig in.
  • Love unconditionally.  This takes practice.  Every day.  All day.  For life.  Staying in love is work.   Put in the sweat equity.  You’ll reap a harvest far beyond your expectations.
  • Support each other.  Careers change.  Dreams evolve.  Work it together.  Marriage is team work.  Be flexible and be each other’s greatest cheerleader.  You’ll take risks in your careers and when you do it together the reward is so much sweeter.
  • Respect each other.   Criticize in love and in private.  The tongue is a savage beast and those words….well, don’t believe the rhyme…it’s all backwards:  words wound.  Be respectful always in word and in deed.
  • Laugh together.  Often.  Experience life joyfully.  It is far too short to be taken so seriously.  A huge area of weakness for this bride who, far too often gets caught up in all the “must do’s” and details of life.  Laughter is free therapy.
  • Cry together.  Forgiveness is hard.  Loss is hard.  Change is hard.  Life is hard.  There will be tears and if nothing else, hold each other through the storm.
  • Cherish each other.  This is your best friend.  Your life partner.  Your help mate.  Your help meet.  Your other half.  Your better half.  Your worse  half.  Your half.

So maybe Pre-Cana DID cover these…maybe I wasn’t listening….maybe it takes 20 years.

More to come….on marriage and vow renewals….stay tuned! 😉

20 years…let’s do it again!

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the young newleywedsI’m still processing a beautiful morning but for my friends and family who couldn’t make it to our 20 year Anniversary Vow Renewal…a few pics.

I have more pics.  I have more words.  Perhaps later this week.  I’ve got lots of words.  After 20 years I’ve got LOTS to say on marriage.  I’m thinking a little marriage series.  Like I said.  Processing.  For now.  You’ve got this.

9 a.m. Mass and BOOM right in the middle….a little vow renewal.  In front of God and everyone.  Again.  Neither of us cried.  Neither of us got the usual hysterical nervous giggles.  Neither of us passed out.  All good.  All.  Good.

Enjoy!

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