A Celebration of Marriage: Nicole

Thanks Nini for letting me be part of this series celebrating Love and Marriage!!


My name is Nicole and I blog over at "Life in The Boy's Locker Room", "The Johnson Experiment" and "Working it".

Where do I start? 
Oh how I love this man of mine...

I am pleasantly surprised at how much I love Big Daddy. Now before you take that line all twisted let me just say that once you have kids with someone its amazing how much you find that you love that person more, but in a different way. Still thinking a little twisted? Well let me give you some examples...

1. I love Big Daddy for secretly leaving money in my purse pockets for me to find. He always denies it but I KNOW it's him. Makes me feel a lot less guilty for already going out and spending money on myself the week before. I mean come on! It's boot season, and I 'needed' a pair.

2. I love how he would never EVER tell me that I am getting chubby: "Hey babe, you wanna work out with me? I have the best ab exercise that I know you'll love." 

3. How about how he totally accepts that I may not be a clean freak like him, and how he never says how messy I am: "I love that ALL your things are all together on your night stand. I mean even your shoes that you wore this past weekend are right there."

4. He's always telling me how beautiful I look. Even sick with the flu with my waist length hair in a big frazzled knot.

You see? How couldn't I love him? Heehee...
I have been married now going on 7 years. 7 years! 
That's like 15 years these days. 2004! That seems like forever ago! 
Our love story started out as a definite surprise. I moved to Lousiana after college to be with a guy stationed there. 
Obviously it didn't work out ;). 
Anyhoo...I was managing a hip hop clothing store around the time I decided that I would move back to Hawaii. Just about 8 months prior, I had sent my older boys back to live with my family so I could get everything squared away to move. It was a slow day at work and in he walks in nothing but a wife beater and some jeans. "Hey how ya doing?" -- that was me. 
This was him -- Looks at me kinda sideways and just says "Man I'm good" and proceeded to walk to the back of the store. Dude really?! I was just being nice! I was super feisty back then and I wasn't having it! And hell, he was too damn good looking to have an attitude like that.  
So I go over to where he was looking at jeans and proceeded to "sales talk" him into a pair. This is the part of the story that he says I was throwing myself at him. LOL. This is true, totally can't deny it. Blah blah blah, he ends up getting a pair on sale and just walks out. 
I thought damn I shoulda got this dude's number. So I sent one of my sales associates who was in the store hanging out to try and find him. (It was a small mall.) 
Well no sooner does he walk out that Big Daddy walks back in. He grabs a business card and writes his name and phone number on the back of it and hands it to me. 
Tells me I was pretty cool and we should hang out. Hell ya! We hung out the next day and spent everyday with each other since then. 
Obviously, I never made it back to Hawaii and a year later we were married. 
Our engagement story...I'll save that for another time...trust me...it's hilarious!

Big Daddy and I have what I believe as the greatest marriage. 
Of course I may be a bit biased. 
Big Daddy is what I would call a man's man. A cave man. He grunts, scratches, adjusts, farts, knows everything about sports and cars and believes a woman's place is in the kitchen: barefoot, pregnant, and cooking him dinner. Me? I'm that raised as an independent woman type. You know, I can do just fine by myself. But together, we are just plain awesome. 
He really does complete me. It's like I never knew what I had been missing until I met him. 
SUPER corny, I know, but hey...it is what it is. 
It's been a long journey so far. I mean in the 7 years we've been married, we've had friends get married and get divorced just that quick. 
Marriage is definitely work. As much effort as you put into your day job is as much and sometimes more effort you need to put into your marriage. 
Throw in children, and it quadruples your effort. We are 2 completely different people, raised in 2 different households, who believe in one thing. 
Simply put: LOVE. 
We bicker. Oh lord, Allah, whoever is up there, do we bicker! Like Adrienne and Paul bicker! 
But we believe so much in our love that we are strong together. Strong minded and strong willed leads to some non sense bickering but I'll take that. 
Acceptance is a big deal too. Yes you dreamt of some fairy tale wedding like on tv, but accept that THIS, what's in front of you, is real. Accept that you can't change a person into your "ideal" husband/wife. 
I love the grunting and yes I love the farting. It makes him a man. A man I love. 


If you read this all the way through I want you to take away one thing...2 words. 2 words that get left out a lot these days. 
HAVE FUN. Laugh at stupid stuff. 
Give each other dumb pet names. 
Don't be afraid to just break out into song and dance naked or in your bath towel every now and then. (Yes, I do this quite often since I know you are dying to know. Hahahahaha.)
We have a lot of fun, me and Big Daddy. A whole lot. 
No one else matters besides me and him in this world (besides our boys). And that's how I think we've made it this far.

**Nicole is practically like my twin in the blog world, we have so many of the same likes and dislikes and think so alike. I hope you take the time to visit one of her blogs and show some love**

A Celebration of Marriage: Faith

Nini, I know you are having a fabulous time vacationing, thanks for letting me be your guest!  

Hi fabulous friends of Nini! My name is Faith and I blog over at Life. Love& Marriage.  
I blog about pretty much anything but one of my most favorite things to blog about is my husband and our marriage.  
We have been married for 2 years, one month and 2 days.  I would give you the minutes but I don’t want you to think I am insane.

It has been an amazing two years being married to my best friend.  
We have learned a lot about each other.  Sometimes I am surprised when I learn something new about him.  
I didn’t think there was anything new to learn but there is and those new things keep our marriage fun, new and exciting.

While being married for two years:

*I have learned that I am not as patient as I thought I was and Sean is extremely patient.

*Being called Faithy-poo is not gross but very endearing.

*I have learned that I am not as messy as I thought I was and now hubs doesn’t mind if the dishes pile up {boo to that!}

*I have learned that it is better to not talk when you’re angry, you’ll regret everything you said the next day.

*I have learned that I really believe in everything being equal.  If we buy a pizza pie we each should have 4 slices.  My thighs do not like this equality.

*I have learned that coupon clipping is a fun thing to do on a Friday night.

*I have learned that although it is hard to not go to bed angry when you’re mad at your spouse, you have to suck it up.  Either say I’m sorry {even if you are not wrong}, give a kiss {even when you would rather punch their throat}, say I love you {even though you would rather say, I can’t stand you right now}.  Do something.  Tomorrow is not promised. 

*I have learned that watching your weight is not as fun as pigging out on ice cream with your hubby. 

* I have learned that hubby likes shopping for clothes just as much as I do.

* I have learned that we always have each other’s backs, no matter what.

I am really blessed to say that we have not gone through struggles while married.  I know that this may change at any time as nothing is guaranteed but I can say that we truly have been blessed in this department.  We have seen nothing but joy since we have been married. 

We have been able to travel twice a year since we have been married.  We purchased our first starter home.  It is so cute and small.  We have been able to enjoy each other without any stress and I thank God because I know that it is only through him that I am able to say that.  Life has been good. God has been terribly good to us and we pray that the blessings never stop flowing. 

Nini asked: What you're most looking forward to or plans for the future?

I will say that I am most looking forward to is having kiddos.  We were suppose to start trying after two years of marriage and well, let’s just say that I wasn’t ready.  I don’t think you could ever be ready but I just knew that I had to have more time with hubby on my own.  I guess you can call me selfish in this regard but it is true.  I love having hubby to myself and vice versa so the baby making was put on hold.  But I am looking forward to the day that we are both ready and when we have little Sean’s running around.  That makes my heart happy and I can’t wait for that.

Nini asks: What has been your hardest trial and greatest triumph?

The greatest triumph so far has been Sean getting his master degree and getting promoted to an Operations Manager.  He worked so hard for that after a few setbacks and I am just so proud of him.  Although it really has been his greatest triumph it became mine as well.

My advice to newlyweds is that marriage is not playing house.  It is a joining of two lives into one.  Make big decisions together.  Be honest.  Communicate daily.  Hug/kiss/cuddle and say I love you daily.  Have date nights.  Laugh together.  Travel.  Hang out with people besides just your spouse.  Listen when your spouse speaks.  It’s OK to have arguments.  But play fair and do not name call. Always remember why you married your spouse.  Choose to love your spouse daily, choose to be happily married, choose to be sexually attracted to your spouse, choose to fight for your relationship.  There is nothing more important than taking your vows seriously and living it daily.  If you can do that everything else just comes together.

**I've had the pleasure of meeting these two in person and their every bit as happy and in-love as they sound. Stop by Faith's blog and support her and follow along as she grows more and more in love with Sean**

A Celebration of Marriage: OkDani

First off, thanks so much for inviting me to invade your blog today Mrs. H!!

I'm Danielle and have been married to my bestest friend and longtime
love John for 1 year and 2 months...but who's counting!?  We've been
together since we were young chuckleheads back in 2001.  Most of what
I learned about maintaining a healthy relationship was learned prior
to marriage.  We worked on our fighting...er...communication styles
and giving each other what the other person needs even if it's
different from what we prefer.  Example: I come home from work
immediately ready to blabber on and on about what happened at work,
what so n so said, and crazy convos I hear on the subway etc. and John
needs several minutes of silence when he gets home to get his head out
of work mode.

Since we've been together so long we really feel like we "grew up"
with each other so we relearned each other as we grew, and as we
learned who we were growing into as well.  Happily it feels like we
grew together as well.

Looking back at our year of marriage, and our 10 years of being with
each other, I can happily say we've had way more joys than struggles.
We had some growing pains as we became more independent though.  I
think that comes with the territory of figuring out who you are, and
what you want in your early 20s.
Also, losing John's father last year was a struggle for us.  He passed
on John's birthday and is still a somewhat tender wound.
The number one joy is definitely finding out we're pregnant with our
first child.  We're over the moon happy and excited to become parents
and share our love with a little mini-us.  Other joys are our trips
abroad and our small moments spending time together at home just being
silly and making each other laugh.  It's funny, I was saying goodbye
to John earlier this week because I was heading out to Seattle for
work for 5 days.  When we're saying our goodbyes he held me and said
"Who will I sit on the couch with? Who will I laugh with?"  It was so
silly but it's really so much of our life, just sitting together on
the couch talking and cracking up.

What we're most looking forward to is definitely the birth of our
first child.  Our whole family is looking forward to it.  Embry will
be the first baby in 16 years on my side of the family so everyone is
preparing to spoil this child rotten.  I'm looking forward to being a
good mom and seeing John be an awesome dad.  I'm also looking forward
to see how we continue to grow and balance our lives together.

My advice to newlyweds is: communicate, communicate, communicate!
Remember that your partner isn't a mind reader.  Sometimes we've got
to spell things out for these guys sesame street style so they'll get
it!  Seriously communication is so key, and even when it's difficult
to do, or you're wracked with emotions, sitting down and talking
things through, getting things out and being open and honest will
always make things better.  Learning each other's communication style
is also really important.

** Dani keeps a fun blog over at OkDani. She was the first blogger I've had the pleasure of meeting in person and can honestly call a friend. She and John are blessed to be having a baby boy so head on over and check out this soon-to-be-mama's blog.**

A Celebration of Marriage: Mrs. Pancakes

I was totally honored when Nini asked me to be part of her series while she is away on vacation.  I mean I am in some really good company--you'll see! I LOVE Nini's blog because of how she shares her life and heart with us so genuinely and that inspires me and so this is totally exciting for me.  Thank you Nini for having me today.  And I hope you and the hubby are enjoying your trip in Italy.

Now onto why I am visiting today.  To speak on marriage and what I have learned in the last eight months.  Wow...time really does fly…I still feel like we got married yesterday because the butterfly feelings and giddy-ness of the entire wedding day remains.  However, what I have learned about marriage actually started prior to our official wedding date of 4/23/11.  

Seven months into our engagement and four months before our wedding day, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer after a regular annual physical appointment.  

My initial fear was of course, "I am going to die", until I found out more information about the illness. 

My second fear was Mr. Pancakes was going to have an unhealthy wife for the rest of our lives and that’s not fair to him.  He deserves to be happy.  

My third fear was “I am going to have an ugly scar on my neck on my wedding day”. Yes vanity still exists even in the midst of a life altering decision.

I had all fears however it was during this time I realized that God had blessed me with the God-fearing man I had always prayed for.  When I informed Mr. Pancakes about the diagnosis, he did not panic.  He gave me a hug, kiss and said to me emphatically "you are going to be okay! Everything is going to be okay."  And even though I didn’t believe, I truly believed him. 

I learned you have to trust your husband regardless of your fears.

 I believe that this experience before our marriage revealed to me the strength of Mr. Pancakes’ faith.  I knew this before however he was showing me in more ways that I could have even imagined.   The first few days I was rationalizing the diagnosis and trying NOT to cry.  I remember Mr. Pancakes telling me one night, “If you need to cry just do it.”  And during those moments of uncontrollable crying, Mr. Pancakes would hold me close and tight.  He prayed with me.  He prayed over me. He loved me.

I learned in that moment, he was and will always be my rock.  

During this storm, when I was weak, Mr. Pancakes was strong for me.  When I wanted to hate God, he reminded me of God's purpose and His promises in our lives.  When I didn’t have faith, he had plenty for us!  I truly believe Mr. Pancakes became God's strength here on Earth for me during this storm.  And even before we said our "I do's", he was loving me the way God loves us: unconditionally and without measure!  

I learned that unconditional love exists in marriages.

We came through the storm stronger as individuals and as a couple.  We managed to plan a lovely wedding for us and our families; had the most amazing honeymoon and completed my thyroid surgery successfully and continue to heal daily. 

Since we shared our vows and were pronounced man and wife, we continue to learn and grow as a couple.  I've learned that I love and value the institution of marriage.  I love being Mr. Pancake's wife.  I love being part of Team Pancakes.  I love dreaming with him.  I love our lives together.  I love us! And the best thing I have learned since being married is that I am the most blessed and loved wife around! But then again I am biased because my husband is Mr. Pancakes!

**Wasn't this a great guest post? You can hear more from Mrs. Pancakes and share in her wonderful journey through marriage by visiting her at her blog. She talks about her love for her husband, her very strong faith and a wide range of topics, with occasional giveaways**

A Celebration of Marriage: Mrs. H

That's right...I wanted to end this year buy giving a nod to marriage and being in love.
Marriage just like anything has its ups and downs.
Each person may have their good days and their bad.
But what you know without a doubt at the end of the day, is that you have someone walking through life, through it all right by your side.

Through blogging I have met a wonderful network of women who are happily married and not afraid to celebrate their love and shout from the mountain tops.
Cause really, isn't that how love makes you feel?
Like you could tell the world?
Like you should tell the world?

I wanted to do a little series where I celebrate marriage, my own and those of a few fellow bloggers in the days to come.
I invite you to share the lessons you have most learned over your first year of marriage.
Perhaps there is something you can learn from what others have done or even just relate to.

If you'd like to be featured in the series, just send me an email with your post, talking about your marriage and telling specifically what you have learned in you "x" years/months of marriage, what you're most looking forward to and what advice would you give to newlyweds.
Its that easy.
My email is lifeasmrsh@gmail.com or you can click the envelope button on the top right.

_________________________________________________

What I've learned during my first years:
1. That with my husband's love I am invinsible.
There is nothing I can't conquer, no feat too big or small that I can't accomplish. He supports me and gives me strength, he inspires me when I am completely unmotivated and he may not always know the right thing to say but he'll always try to do the things necessary to make things right.

2. We may not always agree, but its your attitude during the disagreement that counts.
 We don't use foul language at each other, it just doesn't fly in our house. As hard as it may be we always try to listen and we always end by apologizing to each other. Even the person who was right! During our days of dating we both read the book "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff". When an argument seems to be going awry and its hard to back down someone yells "Small Stuff" trust me it works. You try arguing with someone who yells out like if they're all of a sudden having Tourettes. The big stuff we usually agree on......for now. At this stage in our marriage we haven't experienced any big things we don't see eye to eye on.......yet! (We're only one year in). Also we don't go to bed angry or having not resolved something.....ever.

3. We will never agree on the thermostat. (Compromise)
Small stuff, I wear his sweats and favorite hoodies and sweatshirts around the house instead of fighting over the thermostat. Because truly as my dear wise husband once said "you can always put on clothes to keep warm but you can't take off your skin, if you're always hot". LOL!

4. There are some places my nose just doesn't belong. The saying goes there's a time and place for everything...true but sometimes my opinion knows no boundaries. I've definitely learned when to share my opinion and not to. I used to stick my nose in my husband's business when it came to the handling of his employees, when really I should be listening and offering advice, not leading with "what you really need to do is....". Lesson learned. He interacts with them on a day to day basis and mine interaction with them is limited. I don't tell him how to do his job after all I don't let anyone tell me how to do mine.

5. Laugh, laugh and when you're done, laugh some more. Laughing is a staple in our marriage. We goof around enough for a whole circus of clowns. I'm serious. In marraige sometimes you need to have a thick skin, not just for the things life throws at you but sometimes for those comments that may come out when mouth works faster than brain. Give the benefit of the doubt, relax and just laugh it off. When they say laughter is the best medicine they weren't joking. Of course there are times to be serious but pick your battles and don't sweat the small stuff.....and most of the time, its always small stuff.

I hope any newlyweds reading this can learn a thing or two of maybe just relate. Marriage is such a wonderful thing. Its knowing someone always has your back, at least that's what it should feel like. That you're never in the ring alone, someone is with you, who cares and that loves you! At least that's how marriage feels to me.

Hope you enjoy this series over the next few days, leave your comments and feedback. Let's end this year on a note of LOVE!!!!

Merry Xmas 2011

Wishing all of my dear readers, a happy jolly Christmas, filled with love and God's peace.

Do You Know What Tomorrow Is?

Tomorrow is the day on which we celebrate our Jesus' birth.

It is the coming together of families to rejoice in his name.

It is day of joy and reverence and praise.

While we will eat our bellies full, and laugh and dance and open gifts.

Let us not forget the true reason for this season.....Jesus. 

Just a few pics from my pinterest Christmas board.


**P.S. In my absence, I've lined up some wonderful guests posts starting
the day after Christmas.....I hope you come back and show my guest bloggers your support!

Lazy Day

Today I woke up early cause I wanted to go to the DMV.
I'm so used to the lines being long, and something as simple as updating your address, or in my case correcting a mistake they made (I was listed as male instead of female), taking all day that I fully prepared myself to wait for hours.
In fact I figured I would write this morning's post while waiting.
No such luck, wouldn't you know I woke up, drive the 12miles to the DMV I prefer, got there at 8:30am on the dot an was out by 8:50!!!
In what universe does that happen?!
Evidently mine!

So I decide to head to the mall to see if I can pick up a few accessories before our trip and exchange an A&F cute sweater I had purchased on line.
Here it is 9:20am and I stroll into the store music blaring, scents bombarding you from everywhere not to mention its so damn dimly lit in there, out jumps this overly zealous teen.
"Would you like to try one of our new One or Fierce?" an spritzed me.
Before I could even respond I had a nose full of something.
I was thinking "Really?!? At 9 something in the morning, liked it not bad enough that I'll be deaf after leaving this store."
I never ordinarily walk into this store and if I do happen to see something online I like I order it. Usually sweaters.
I return the sweater and get the heck out of that disco.

So after a very brief stroll through the mall looking for nothing in particular I arrive here.
At one of my fave bagel places.
Sitting watching cars go by, enjoying my lox and bagel.
It almost feels like a lazy Sunday.
Although its far from cause I've accomplished quite a bit already.

Yup, just sitting here twiddling my thumbs.
What to do next, and it's only 10:15.

P.S. thanks to everyone that participated in Reverb. It was quite thought provoking. Looking forward to a full reverb in 2012!

Mini Reverb #12 Writing

Blogging has become a very big part of my life.

It has taken the front seat to Facebook and twitter.

In fact for a period this year I totally deactivated my facebook.

I had lost all interest in it. 

I'm not kidding I was so jaded and bored of

all the status updates my mind would literally wander to.....

Anywho...back to the jist of this post.

I know we live in a society where everyone now officially wants

to spread to the world what their doing.....ALL THE TIME.

For me blogging is that such thing.

Its cathartic, it helps me chronicle my life

and share and interact with like minded individuals.

Through my writing, I sometimes hope to inspire, I sometimes hope to educate,

but mostly its just for me to share.

Share my feelings, my life, my views.

If we were to go based on statistics alone my 

most viewed piece since the inception of my blog has been this.

Garnering over 10,000 views!

But if someone were to ask me what I wrote this year that I was most proud of

it actually wouldn't be the piece that won the popular vote.

The piece I am most proud of this year would be this very 

series.....Mini Reverb!

Through your participation and my own I have gotten so

many responses and actually provoked thought in my readers.

I've gotten those taking part to really stop

and take a look at this past year.

For me all of you taking part in this reflection of 2011

has been my greatest writing piece of 2011.

What writing piece are you most proud of this year?

How is it different from other pieces?

Why does it stand out as your best piece?

Mini Reverb #11 Resolutions

I made so many resolutions last year. 

Judging by what I've crossed off the list at this stage I'd say I didn't 

fair too well on holding up some of my resolutions.

I haven't really began formulating next year's list yet.

I want it to be specific and detail oriented

but I really haven't fine tuned it much.

I do know it's of course going to include a baby

and getting into a good nursing program,

but in terms of health goals, and weight, and church

I still haven't made any definite goals.

I know as I've grown I definitely make more realistic goals.

I think the problem I have with resolutions is that 

throughout the year, new goals emerge.

I mean life isn't static, it's always changing.

Goals that I had at the beginning of the year change or

disappear or new ones emerge.

I'm not quite sure I'll be making any sort of definitive

 resolutions New Year's Eve.

Hey I'm already breaking other traditions,

cause I won't be wearing bright yellow underwear, while

eating grapes and an orange from one hand,

with a packed suitcase in the other hand while

I jump from perching on top of a chair.

If you know what I mean. 

What are your resolutions for 2012?

How did you do in accomplishing your resolutions from 2011?

Mini Reverb #10 New Year

For New Years Eve 2011 I was at home.

Hubs and I threw a small party to celebrate

and invited some of our closest friends.

There is an oldwives tale where I am from

that says that anyone that you are with one NYE

will be in your life for that year.

I really can't tell you if that's true or not

since the friends that I had over have been friends of mine

for some 15+ years.

I doubt that whether I see them on NYE makes a difference 

as to whether we'll be in each others lives,

we're best buds and probably will be for many years to come.

They've been New Years that I've rung in with other friends

and they're no where around today.

This year we'll be in Italy ringing in the New Year

with a different group of friends and I'm looking forward to that.

Where will you be ringing in the New Year? 

Who will you be with?

Mini Reverb #9 Hard Work

This year was full of HARD WORK.

I pushed myself and surprisingly my "self" as in my spirit pushed back.

I pushed myself to the brink of insanity with school, and helping my husband grow his business.

For the latter part of the year I had no social life.

I was buried in my books from sun up to sun down.

I was terrified but determined stepping into this field of medicine coming from a business background.

But I would not let my fear or anxiety get the best of me.

I'm happy to look back on this semester and say that all my hard work payed off.

Pulling out my hair, days questioning myself, angry, frustrated, pushing against deadlines, it all paid off.

I had a perfect 4.0 GPA this semester from my course load of 5 classes.

Together, we [hubs and I] grew the business not just by one office as we expected,
 but the surprising opportunity came to add a second.

We are now 4 offices and growing strong.

I put forth the maximum effort towards reaching my goals.

Now I can proudly say I am one step closer and it is all within reach.

What did you work extra hard at this year? 

Is there anything you wished you had worked harder to achieve?

What is the accomplishment you are most proud of this year?

Mini Reverb #8 Music

Music fills my life.

I can't seem to get through most tasks unless I am playing music.

Even though I haven't managed to keep up with much

else in social media I have managed to keep up with music.

Some of my favorite songs for 2011,

Beyonce's Countdown.

The song speaks so much to me, I love the fast beat

and I can literally say that the words fit my phase of life for 2011.

Other songs that really topped it for me this year were, 

Rolling in the Deep, and Somone Like You by Adele.

Swim Good by Frank Ocean, 

Got to Love You by Sean Paul and

Can't Get Enough J.Cole and

Only Wanna Give It To You by Elle Varner

What was your favorite song of 2011?

Who was your favorite artist if you had to pick just one?

Mini Reverb #7 Movies

The year isn't over yet and there are definitely a few 

movies I hope to see before we leave the country,

but 2011 certainly brought with it some great movies.

Of course one of my personal favorites

"Breaking Dawn"

I waited a whole darn year to see this movie,

and now I have to wait one more to see part 2.

Some other great movies I really enjoyed this year

"The Help", "Transformers 3" and "Colombiana" and "New Year's Eve" which

has made me officially have a crush on Zac Efron (yes I realize he's too young)!

I know there were a lot but these are the ones I had the opportunity

to see and that really I enjoyed.

Before the year ends I hope that I can see

"The Girl with The Dragon Tatto" and

of course my second love Tom Cruise's

"Mission Impossible"

What was your favorite movie this year?

Mini Reverb #6 People

I met some wonderful people this year.

I realy found a sense of community this year in blogging, 

meeting wonderful strong women, and fellow IFers. 

I had the opportunity to meet a second blogger in real life.

At school, I met focused and like-minded individuals.

I was exposed to a plethora of people from all walks of life,

all with one goal, to become a nurse and change lives,

to give back to the world around us by caring for others.

But the person who most affected me this year

was a little 11 year old, who barely spoke english,

whom I hadn't seen since he was 1yr old.

My nephew!

Due to circumstances between his mother,

and my brother, I haven't seen him in 

close to 10 years. My faith never waivered though,

I always prayed that one day he would grow up and look for us.

He did just that this year,

demanding from his mother that he see his Aunt and see his dad.

She complied and they flew here from Switzerland.

This boy who I have loved since the day he was born

and held in my arms every day of the first year of his life,

hugged me tight and said

"I'm glad you didn't forget me, because I always kept loving you,

 even though I couldn't remember you".

We talked and tried to catch up on all the missed years,

I showed him picture after picture that I had kept close,

of me holding him, playing with him, feeding him.

He didn't remember any of it but he said he knew in his heart,

and believed that I still loved him. 

My nephew is the person who most affected me this year.

He is the human connection that stands out the most for me this year.

He is such an incredibly strong and loving young man, he is

mature beyond his years and perceptive and I only hope 

I can see him more and not be caught in the cross hairs. 

What was the human connection that you made this year that stands out the most?

Who was the person who made the greatest impact on you in 2011?

Where did you find a sense of community or who touched your heart?

Mini Reverb #5 Travel

It's no secret that I am a tad bit travel obsessed.

I love going new places, and discovering new things.

I love immersing myself in a foreign culture or getting lost in a new world.

This year hubs and I started off the year with out feet

on the ground and off running.

As usual he did much more traveling than me.

But the traveling we did do together was phenomenal.

It's only fitting that we began the year traveling,

and will end the year traveling.

This year took us to Kansas City, Illinois,

Bahamas, New York, Arizona, Mexico,

and in several days we leave for Italy!

Where did your travels take you this year? What are your travel plans in 2012? 

Mini Reverb #4 Giving

"For it is in giving, that we receive"
St. Francis of Assisi


I'm always happy to give, if and when I can.
This year a lot of what I gave was not tangible, though
I did make a few small donations here and there,
but rather my greatest gifts were in prayer and through spirit and support.


The gift I gave this year that stands out most
was the book of "Our First Year" together
which I gave to my husband as an anniversary gift.
He loved it more than anything I had ever given him he said.


I don't think it was so much the book,
as maybe the memories, captured through pictures that 
I compiled in it, a complete look back 
out our first year of marriage. 

What was your gift to someone this year? What giving experience stands out to you?

Mini Reverb #3 Living Out Loud

I've lived my life based on a series of mottos, and mantras,

that all have to do with living your life out loud, living as if it were your last.

This year the moment I felt most alive was at

a Miami Heat game.

We always go to the games.

We are fortunate enough to have great seats.
I've watched game after game, had players fall in 
my lap or balls pass way too close to my face.
So what was it that made one game stand out?

This year, the moment that most made me alive

was watching LeBron's reaction and actions,

as the Miami Heat beat the Celtics,

clenching the title of Eastern Conference Champs,

and headed to NBA Playoffs.

The entire arena was in a frenzied state.

Players, fans, even I was screaming at 

the top of my lungs.

But I watched closely as LeBron

watched the score board then dropped to his knees

to pray.

Knowing his struggle and watching as he rejoiced made me feel

the most alive this year!
Being able to witness this one moment in someone else's life
that was a milestone to them.

What was the moment when you felt most alive this year?

Mini Reverb #2 Faith & Hope

This year just like the coming year continues to be full of hope sustained by faith.
Several moments tested my faith this year, the major one most definitely has been trying to conceive.
I continue to have faith that there is a family in our future.
I am filled with hope that next year will be that year when our dreams come to fruition.

Looking back on this year is there anything you were hoping to accomplish? Is there one thing that stands out that tested or moved your faith?