2,922 days of marriage

I got married before digital photography was available. Isn't that awesome? So, no wedding pictures. Just picture me in a white dress. Him in a tux. Got it? Good.

I tend to operate in increments of 11. Therefore, today I will be sharing with you 11 thoughts on staying married.

#1: ONE NIGHT OUT WITH THE GUYS PER WEEK = MANDATORY! My man NEEDS this. It works for us. It's awesome. We both win.

#2: IT'S OKAY TO GO TO BED MAD. Oh, #2, where were you in my 20's?? Just try it sometime, it's amazing.

#3: WORK HARD TO BE SOMEONE, HE WANTS TO COME HOME TO. Try not to nag as much, try not to be bitchy or bothered. Just try. Not eliminate, just reduce. I'm not a saint, you know.

#4: BE A FREAK IN THE SHEETS AND A LADY ON THE STREETS. My guy needs intimacy just as much as I do. I know he appreciates when I take time feel and look my best.

#5: LOVE HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY. Really love them. Be accepting.

#6: BE COMMITTED. FOR BETTER FOR WORSE. I know that we are a together forever type of team. I feel loved and needed and cherished. I hope he feels needed and loved and appreciated. Fight sometimes, it makes life interesting. Love sometimes, it makes life worth it.

#7: BE THANKFUL. I don't believe I've filled my car with gas more than 10 times in the last 2,922 days. I call it the gas fairy, but it's really my husband that does it. Yes, without asking.

#8: MAKE HIS FAVORITE MEAL. You've heard 'The way to a man's heart is through his stomach'? I don't know if it's true or not, but I want his heart and I'm willing to make the meal.

#9: TELL HIM WHAT YOU WANT. My sweet hubby is not a mind reader. If I want flowers, I say "Will you buy me flowers this week?" (or better yet, just buy them for myself) If I want more romance, I say "Let's get a babysitter and go on a date". If I want him to hug me more, kiss me more, hold my hand more. I say 'hug me more' 'kiss me more' 'hold me more'. It works.

#10: I shit you not. The best part of being married, is having a warm body to shove my frozen toes under in the middle of the night. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE that I have a warm man, who doesn't mind my frozen digits. Is that weird?

#11: Compromise is king.

My favorite musical artist: William Topley

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of going to see William Topley and the Black River Band at the Fox Theater in Boulder, CO:

Now, I don't know, if it is my love for his music. Or maybe because I love to drink bourbon and beer and listen to his music. But I sure had a good time!

Craziness insued. It's a damn glorious wonder, that we didn't get arrested. Or ticketed. My momma would NOT be proud :)

This girl is FUN with a capital F. Fun Fact about this Fun Girl: William Topley is the main reason we became friends. Thank you William!

Your BIGGEST fan,

HWM

Party at the Paint Place

One of my favorite things to do is create. I'm not great at anything, but I'm good at it. I love to paint, I love to sew, I love to drink wine. Which is why, when gifted a GC to 'Sipping and Painting', I was jazzed.

I got to go with MIL and SIL as a birthday gift from MIL to SIL and me. Did you get all that? The studio was super cute, in a fun and trendy, 1/2 urban, 1/2 hood area.

We chose 'Almond Branches', although mine feels more like Cherry Blossom. But, whatev.

Do you paint? Draw? Color? Clean? Sleep?

Bye,
HWM

Labor Day Recap

Started with an early morning run around this beautiful lake. I am up to running 2 miles, 3 times per week. I don't hate it. And I listened to Lady GaGa "you and i" for 20 minutes straight. Resulting in the most awesome run ever.

Then home to make my morning smoothie. I drink one every day. I like to get three servings of fruit in right quick like. This one had: 1c. of whole milk, 1 c. frozen cherries, 1 banana:

Met some friends on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. Played in the water features, had snacks, went to happy hour at The Boulder Cafe. I have no pictures, but enjoyed a wheat beer and a hummus plate.

We were entertained by street performers. Some of us, more than others.

I think, if you don't enjoy a Monday off, then you got yourself some real BIG problems. Ya know?

Labor and Love,
HWM

The best thing about having girlfriends?

They bring you flowers at work.

When you really need them. Thanks BFF.

Girlfriends are the bestfriends

I switched it up a bit this week. Took a few hours to relish some quality girlfriend time. Girls ROCK:

We took lots of pictures. Lots and lots and lots of pictures. My friend is a photographer. I can't say I've ever been hiking with a photographer. Photography really slows me down and keeps me in the now.

We discussed relationships. Both past, present and future.

We talked about our goals, our dreams, our visions.

The best part? We didn't talk the whole time. Lot's of time to reflect and recharge.

I lied. That wasn't the best part. The best part was when I got home, kicked off my shoes and partook:

xoxo,
HWM

Vacation is.....

Vacation time is always 5:00.

Vacation is time for catching the big ones.

Vacation is for driving home from summer camp (day camp. best idea EVER).

Vacation is for yoga, lots of yoga. In the rain garden.

Vacation is primetime for meditation and reflection.

Vacation is for a 5 day mohawk.

Vacation has a dresscode. Tie die and flip flops.

Vacation is for making memories and fun family time.

Vacation is for giving thanks and appreciating the beauty in every day.

Lake Vacation 2011 is officially over.

Namaste,
HWM

We're still on vacation right?

We've arrived at our destination. Our lake house in the middle of nowhere. In the middle of the summer.

I don't know about you, but my perfect day starts with a coffee cruise. Did I mention that we're at the lake now? We don't 'do' cars this week. Our transportation is by boat. A long, solo, sunrise coffee cruise. Did I mention SOLO? 'cuz that's where it's at. Let's find a good parking spot and head for java.

Up these stairs to meet our barista.

I'll order a large black coffee with french vanilla. What the heck, we're on vacation! What are you getting?

Back to the boat for a nice long cruise. Sometimes we'll go fast. Sometimes we'll go slow. Sometimes we'll just shut it all down in the middle of the lake and ponder. We'll pray. We'll ask God to please, please, please instill a love of fishing in our hearts. True story.

Yes, you can sit in the beanie. It's awesome. You know what else is awesome? This vacation! And I'm not done, vacation round III next time!

Love,
HWM

Do you want to go on vacation with me?

Do you want to go on a really long but kind of fun road trip? Let's roll the windows down and listen to Amos Lee. We should definitely take the roads less travelled. Then we might stumble upon things like this:

What the what??!!?? Carhenge? Definitely on the back roads. Speaking of backroads, look what else we'll see:

and just about sunset, we'll be shown a great gift, Chimney Rock in all her glory:

And we haven't even reached our destination yet!!! But we will, next post!

Love and Smooches,
HWM

The night that changed it all.

I believe it's called Manifest Destiny?

I'm not going to lie. Weight loss is a total bitch. A whorey bitch. A stinky, smelly, whorey, bitch. And to make matters worse, I suck at it. I suck so bad that I don't even try. I don't talk about it. I don't acknowledge it. Atleast not on the outside. But on the inside, I notice it.

And then, I realized. I'm not the only one who notices. And I'm not being fair. In the course of one conversation, a myriad of emotions were felt. Anger, rage, resentment, love. Most of all love. It started with a simple statement.

'Let's do this together'

And it got deep. Real deep. And it got real. And I am even more in love with my husband now than ever. After a week of crying and sobbing and acting hysterically, I got control of myself and I'm moving forward.

I moved from sadness. Why doesn't he love me no matter what? Why can't I weigh 300 pounds and he accept it? I went through anger. Why is weight so important? I think my curves are fantabulous. Fuck him! Who are you? the food police?

And the most glorious of all states: acceptance.

Did you hear me???? ACCEPTANCE. I accept that I'm not the same weight I was when I met you. 10 years ago, HOLLA!! In fact, I'm 45+ pounds more than I was when I met you. And that is not fair. It's not right. I'm beautiful, yes. I'm awesome, of course! I'm your best friend, without a doubt. But I'm overweight. And as bad as that furreeeeekin sucks, it's true.

and because I love you. And because I love myself. And because I love our boy. I'm going to change. I can do it. I have demons that need to be fought.

Those demons should be afraid because I'm a damn ninja and I'm pissed. Something is different this time. I'm fighting for my life. I'm fighting for my marriage. I'm fighting for intimacy. I'm fighting for a decent tasting black bean burger. I'm fighting for happiness and love and confidence. I'm fighting for ME.