Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Are you already setting yourself up with certain expectations? Perhaps you have dropped some hints to your spouse or come right out and said what you would like. The thing with Valentine’s Day is that it can actually become very “me” focused when it is supposed to be about the one you love. When we think about this day where we celebrate love, we should be putting effort into how we can express it toward our spouse…not what they can do for us. Personally, I don’t make a very big deal about Valentine’s … Continue reading →

To keep our family busy for the Christmas season we are going to do all sorts of awesome things! This past weekend we went to the Gaylord Texan to see the ICE show. It is 2 million pounds of ice carved and colored like Shrek. The kids went sliding down an ice hill in 3 degree temperatures. We then went to the snow hills where the kids went sledding, made gingerbread men and saw an incredibly decorated life size ginger bread house and millions of lights. It was amazing there are 50 foot high Christmas trees, elves walking around full … Continue reading →

It is almost Thanksgiving and I am getting ready to for our annual guilt trip by my in laws. Every year around the holidays this happens when they know we like to do Thanksgiving at our house and his mother says that she understands. Even though she says she understands and is not upset we always seem to get the guilt trip. OK to be honest it is not me that gets the guilt trip because honestly it does not bother me enough anymore to feel guilty but my husband he still gets the guilt trip. I am sure that … Continue reading →

What about the idea of separate holidays for husband and wife? I admit I find it a very odd concept and wonder why you would want to do it. I would never want to go on holiday without Mick. Yet it appears other couples have no problem with this. Recently I heard of a couple who have only been married a few years. He has gone off on a holiday with his mates, while she has an at home holiday of coffees, outings and meals and catching up with her friends. To me it sounds like two individuals who have … Continue reading →

At present our letterbox is inundated with store catalogues trying to convince us of the need to buy jewelry, sexy underwear, chocolates and all sorts of things for Valentine’s Day. However some people, celebrities among them, have taken a whole different approach to Valentine’s Day. Singer and former Australian Idol winner, Guy Sebastian and his wife Jules will share their love with the Red Cross. Guy and Jules are encouraging Australians, ’to treat their loved ones to a Red Cross Valentine’s donation and really make Valentine’s Day count by giving a life changing gift to someone in need.’ Valentine’s Day … Continue reading →

Christmas Eve has been and gone in Australia. This Christmas Eve was a bit different to previous years. We didn’t go the carols service as we normally do on Christmas Eve. This year we just spent the time at home doing those last minute cooking jobs and wrapping presents one of the things that usually is left till around midnight Christmas Eve. This year we had been told about Christmas lights in the neighborhood, so we decided to take a walk. Our little dog thought it was a hugely exciting event, as we never normally go walking at night. So … Continue reading →

Christmas Eve in our household often means going to church and singing carols. Christmas Eve is a busy time, as after we come home from carols then there is the usual settling down too wrap gifts for each other and for family before they arrive over Christmas. When we were first married we always vowed we would wrap earlier and not get caught up in last minute preparations but somehow over the years it never happened. After we have wrapped presents for family, to the sound of accompanying Christmas carols playing on the CD player, then Mick usually disappears to … Continue reading →

My husband grew up in a home where Christmas was celebrated to the max. There were piles of presents, tons of goodies, and a lot going on all the time. I grew up in a home where money was super-tight, and Christmas was, by societal standards, pretty small. As adults, my husband doesn’t really care much for presents or personal belongings. I, on the other hand, go through a kind of holiday guilt, wondering if I got my children “enough.” I buy, bring home, wrap, and nearly always tuck something away for a birthday or later Christmas, realizing I over-shopped … Continue reading →

One quality needed in any marriage is patience. Especially at this time of year patience is a necessary ingredient when instead of showing love, many people seem to be impatiently pushing past others and not wanting to take time to talk because they are so busy. On Friday afternoon Mick and I decorated our Christmas tree. We put the wreath on the front door, the nativity scene in the window, a Christmas tableaus sitting on the coffee table and a few scattered baskets of tinsel and pine cones, but hadn’t done anything about lights. Come Saturday Mick and I decided … Continue reading →

Nearly every family has Christmas traditions. Ours includes having a real Christmas tree. Just any old pine tree won’t do. Fortunately I have a husband who understands how important it is that the tree is absolutely right. So when it came to a choice between getting a tree we weren’t happy with or going back later for a fresh tree, I knew he would agree we needed to go back. The tree we eventually got is beautiful. Just as well. The first question our daughter asked yesterday on the phone when I told her we’d bought it was, ‘what is … Continue reading →