Tampons and Take Out

I love my dear husband. Sometimes we drive each other crazy, but isn't that just marriage? At the end of the day, nothing relaxes me more than snuggling up next to him and watching a movie or talking about our day. We love each other.

I also hate being on my period. Emotional Alisha comes out and literally everything seems to be 10x harder. My cramps make it hard to focus on work or school. Connor's life becomes quite hellish.

Tonight, I got home from work, washed some dishes and started feeling sick. Like I might be getting the flu or my insides might be cutting me open. I don't really know. Either way, I felt terrible. Connor was late at work, so I put on my pajamas and crawled into bed. Around 6:45 I realized how hungry I was but how much I didn't want to cook. Jokingly I texted Connor

IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE, YOU MIGHT AS WELL  BRING ME TAMPONS AND DINNER.

I didn't think he'd actually do it.

But at 9:30 he comes home, box of tampons and Chinese take-out.

Ladies, he knew exactly what tampons I preferred, which specific brand and even the which variety pack. Isn't he the best?

Next, he knew I was on a diet so instead of getting me the rice and egg rolls, he got me orange chicken because he knew I could eat meat (not the best choice but I still appreciated his effort). I cried when I realized how thoughtful he had been.

We do not have a perfect marriage by any means. Both of us struggle with human problems and imperfections. Sometimes I worry too much and drive him crazy. He's late a lot. But we still love each other.

Service, I believe, is what glues families together. And you can't really serve another person without knowing their needs. Get to know your spouse, understand what flavor at Swigg they like. This week's challenge is to go serve your spouse in a way that you don't normally do. Laundry and dishes and cleaning, doesn't count. You'll think of something.

#2017DateYourSpouse

Break Down/Tour of Our Apartment

Once upon a time I HATED college. Not really, I love school. But on this particular night I'd had it with picky professors and stupid papers that didn't amount to any of my worth at the end of the day.

I got home from work and ripped apart my house. Growing up, I rearranged my room probably every other month. I can't handle things being the same way for too long. My sister told me she was surprised that I had lasted this long in our house. But once I got going, I realized I couldn't do it and started crying. In the middle of my torn apart house. (See pictures below)

Normally the TV is on my bookshelf and the couch is the facing the other way

All our stuff was everywhere and the desk sat in the middle of the room

Check out our poor table

After calming myself down, I went to D.I. where I wandered around for a good 20 minutes wanting to buy something, but finding nothing to help my retail therapy. I ended up getting a corn dog from Article Circle and BAWLING in the Lee's parking lot as "O Holy Night" came through my radio. I went home, made homemade fried chicken, got in the bathtub,and watched The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Connor got home from work at 1 am so I never talked to him about the disaster.

The next day I saw this blue sticky note on our mirror:

I love what you've done with the place ;) -Love you <3 

I didn't have time to clean it up so I rushed to work. I came home to this: 

My husband had put everything back AND made it look good. He'd rearranged just enough to make it look nice, without making it feel cramped. 

I know I brag about my husband a lot, but isn't he just the greatest thing? 

And now you have an understanding of how much I am looking forward to this break. Thank you school for driving me to this amount of insanity. 

We are ready for Christmas! 

Now you get a cute little tour of our tiny 800 sq. ft. house. 

Love, Alisha 

   

Spilled Black Beans

\\Guys, this might be a stretch of a parable but please, use your imagination//

This morning we woke up to a broken fridge and soured milk. Half of the food was ruined. We scramble to clean up before work and in my rush, I knocked over a can of black beans. The lid had been opened and I literally "spilled the beans." Small black pods were all over the fridge, all over the floor.

Piece by piece I attempted to pick up the beans. If you have never picked up beans, I don't recommend it. They squish easily making a bigger mess. Beans aren't super liquid so a paper towel didn't mop them up either.

Some choice words came out of my mouth as I spent the next five minutes picking up each individual bean.

As I sat picking at the small, squishy particles, my thoughts went to the language we used towards our spouses.

In a heated moment, sometimes words can be said that aren't meant. Or cruel, unnecessary things may fly out of our mouths. We never mean to treat our spouses with such distaste, just like I didn't mean to knock over the black beans. But just like those beans, our words, once out, are hard to take back. It's difficult to say a lump apology for a week of bad things said, just like I couldn't pick all the beans up in a large chunk.

One by one, we need to think of the wrongs committed against our spouse and ask for their forgiveness. Being specific in our apologies makes them more genuine and real.

So next time you are tempted to say not-so-nice things, remember the beans.

Shoes

I absolutely love my husband so much. He sent me the following picture from work today with the caption: "I think it's time for new shoes."

The image of his socks poking through his shoes brought tears to my eyes.

This picture, of his sock sticking out of his shoe, summed up how amazing my husband is and why I fell in love with him in the first place. My husband is a hard worker, he knows how to sacrifice. He doesn't care about the things of the world and doesn't let hard times stop him from doing his work.

 He and I have been having a rough patch in our marriage. We're kind of moving past the honeymoon phase and into just, well... life. We are learning more about how to serve and love each other and we know these trials will bring us closer. That picture, of his poor sneakers reduced to sandals reminded me of my admiration and love for him. To work your shoes to that amount of damage must not have been easy. I don't think women EVER work their shoes to shreds (kudos to you if you have). It gave me a new appreciation, respect, and love for Connor.

My husband and I are united in Christ. We may not always be on top of prayers or reading scriptures or even going to the temple. But we talk every night, we take the sacrament, and we are learning to sacrifice for each other. His shoes, torn and tattered, I'm sure can be compared to what Christ's looked like after years and years of serving the people around him.

Connor is my hero. And don't worry, I plan on buying him new shoes tomorrow.

The Red Rug

A few nights ago, I got home from work to hear the vacuum whiring away. My dear sweet husband had gotten off work early and started cleaning. He had vacuumed, dusted, swept the floor, and even mopped. Laundry had been folded and put away and the bed made to military exactness. The cleanliness of the house and the realization that it was one less thing on my plate swept over me.

I gave him a huge hug and a kiss and began making dinner. As I went in the kitchen I noticed the red rug under our sink had also been swept. That red rug collected everything, food crumbs, grass, straw, things mysteriously appeared. For weeks I had been trying to clean it with sweeping, vacuuming, lint roller, and it would not be clean. But Connor, my husband extraordinaire, had cleaned it. I don't know how he had done it.



Gratitude came over me as I stood on my clean rug. Sure there were a few stains that would always be reminders of our first apartment, but there were no crumbs, no pieces of field grass. He knew how much I wanted that rug clean and he had done it.

Sometimes in a marriage, love notes can only go so far. I learned that day that actions truly do speak louder than words. I love this quote by President Spencer W. Kimball:

"Some think of happiness as a glamorous life of ease, luxury, and constant thrills; but true marriage is based on a happiness which is more than that, one which comes from giving, serving, sharing, sacrificing, and selflessness."

 How do you make sure you serve your spouse each day?