21 Years and Counting

For our 21st wedding anniversary, we thought we'd go out for a nice dinner. But, the Japanese Steak House will have to wait for life with our kids to settle down. We did have a nice lunch together on our anniversary, and bought a slice of white wedding cake to bring home and share with the kids for dessert... after the normal running to practices and lessons.

My husband earned major points this summer when he brought along the book on tape, Men are From Mars and Women are from Venus, on our vacation. Not only was it a huge gesture on his part, but the book was very relevant to several of our communication issues, and I felt better just sitting and listening with him.

His attempt to make things better was HUGE, and the book was surprisingly relevant. The biggest tip I picked up from the book was so simple. Yet, this basic element was something I rarely thought about and did only sporadically. It was to continually let him know I appreciate what he does and am glad he is here. This basic element of his feeling of satisfaction in our relationship, the cement of our friendship, would simply disappear in the chaos of work, kids, chores and running. It was a habit I had gotten out of.

I highly recommend the book, on tape, together.

Anniversary Memory Box

Here's an anniversary gift idea I used recently solved the problem of
our "no gift" rule for our anniversary. I surprised my husband with a
simple box from the craft store filled with 20 sentimental items we
have collected over our 20 years of marriage... a pebble from a vacation, a photo
from the fridge, a picture of each kid, and other memories.

It was very fun to look through together, a great conversation
starter and the kids loved being in on the secret of filling the box.
Total cost: $7 for the box.

K

Date Night for Couples

We have a tradition we love. Near Valentine's Day each year, either
the husbands or the wives plan a surprise night out for the others.
The first year, we sent the husbands on a treasure hunt to find us.
People at the various stops had clues to hand the husbands until they
found us at a restaurant waiting to have dinner with them. One stop
was a local bar where they could shoot a game of pool, one stop was a
florist shop, etc.

The following year they outdid the wives with a crazy treasure hunt
leading us various places including a local bar that had feather boas
for each of us behind the counter, another location that had
chocolate boxes with our pictures on them, and Victoria's Secret,
where a gift waited for us. We ended with a very nice dinner and a
ton of laughs.

One year we did a not-so-newlywed game where the husbands had to
answer questions we created just for them. Questions like "what is
your youngest child's shoe size?" and "where has your wife always
wanted to go on vacation?" were laughter traps, as were some of the
racier questions. Each husband was given a roll of quarters. For each
"correct" answer (according to the wife), he got to keep the quarter.
For each wrong answer, the quarter was thrown into the pot. My
husband was throwing the quarters in before the question was read by
the end.

Each year has been different and very fun. Great memories for all six
of us.

Wife 1

Marital Bliss

The four of us, two couples, neighbors, have 80 combined years of marriage. This blog is a fun reason for us to laugh together, share a glass of wine, and get a little time away from talking about our children. We hope to post here four different perspectives of the game. Join us if you will!

Marriage is interesting. Purposefully living with the same person, through good times and bad, romance and discovery, babies and home chaos, frustration and anger. Dishes and laundry. Oh the bliss of it all. 

You know the saying. The three reasons for a successful marriage are patience, patience and patience. In my marriage, my husband is the patient one. Not that he is patient. We are both firecrackers. But, when I explode, he is smart enough to walk away. I never stay angry for long. Later, it is fun to make up.

On our agenda for this week: 30 errands/meetings/runs for the kids, 18 work days, 14 loads of laundry and dishes, two airplane flights and two hours to play and write a blog entry. Let's go.

Wife 1