About 365 days of marriage

I started this blog in April of 2011. At the time, Bret and I were wedding photographers and it was a way to share how marriage is more about the day to day and so much more than the wedding day itself. For about 5 years, I blogged about the joys and sorrows of the Christian walk, marriage, work, family and friends. I’ve blogged every day since a few weeks after I started. In May of 2015, we photographed our last wedding. Now, I have become passionate about simplicity, particularly in marriage, Christianity, business, travel and life. For a number of reasons, we have become minimalists. I’ve found that having simplicity makes life so much deeper, refreshing and joyful. I hope that this blog will help others see the benefits of living simply.

Day 3341 – Dragons Love Tacos & Dragons Love Tacos 2 – Books That Bring Joy – Read A New Book Month Day 3

Posted on September 3, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

Last year, the year of the kid’s books (I read 200 different children’s books), I found so many amazing books and I will be sharing a few of them this month. The first two I want to talk about is Dragons Love Tacos* and Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel* by Adam Rubin (Author) & Daniel Salmieri (Illustrator).

The links to the books on Amazon are affiliate links. As a reminder, an affiliate link is one that if you click and purchase the book (or something else) I’ll receive a small percentage at no additional cost to you. I ruthlessly only share products, services, books, etc, that I have personally used and only recommend what I think is useful and valuable. I’ve marked all affiliate links in this post with this little guy –> *

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If there is one thing I would recommend to aspiring readers or seasoned readers who are looking to up their game, it would be to read more children’s books. While some folks might say these books “don’t count” I found they would bring simplicity to difficult things or, as in the case of this book, such amazing creativity to life that it inspires me to seek more creativity in my life.

Imagine, if you will, that dragons cannot handle salsa beyond mild, what would happen if they accidentally ate it? There begins the truly fun journey of these books. I found myself laughing SO much while reading these books, they stand as a top recommendation as kid’s books, and ones that I want to share.

If you need a laugh or are genuinely curious what would happen if Dragons ate tacos that were too spicy, check out Dragons Love Tacos* and Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel*.

Check out all of my 2018 Read A New Book Month recommendations.

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Day 3340 – A Book That Changed My Mindset On Business (And Travel) Completely – The 4-Hour Workweek – Read A New Book Month Day 2

Posted on September 2, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I first read The 4-Hour Workweek* back in the summer of 2014. I wrote a post about how it was the catalyst to me eventually closing my photography business, funny enough, three years ago today.

As I was reading through The Third Door, The 4-Hour Workweek came up a few times. I have heard from countless other folks, whether through an in-person conversation, a social media post, an article, or a book, that this book has had a profound effect on them. If so many people are saying this, honestly, why haven’t you read this yet?

It completely changed how I viewed work, income, and truly, what it costs for my dream life to be a reality. I recommend this book* to anyone who is looking to change in their business or life. I talk about how it changed my view on travel in another post on my travel blog, so you can view my thoughts there.

The links to the book on Amazon are affiliate links. As a reminder, an affiliate link is one that if you click and purchase the book (or something else) I’ll receive a small percentage at no additional cost to you. I ruthlessly only share products, services, books, etc, that I have personally used and only recommend what I think is useful and valuable. I’ve marked all affiliate links in this post with this little guy –> *

Have you read this? What was your experience?

Check out all of my 2018 Read A New Book Month recommendations.

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Day 3339 – The Third Door – One Of The Best Books I’ve Ever Read – Read A New Book Month Day 1

Posted on September 1, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I’m going to do something a little different for the month of September and share my top book recommendations every day in honor of Read A New Book Month. You don’t have to follow along for long to know that I read a lot, that I adore reading, and I think reading is an essential part of life.

If you’re having trouble getting into reading, I hope that my recommendations will open your eyes to books you didn’t know existed. I’ll share non-fiction books ranging from business, to mindset, to inspiration to living a full life. I’ll share fiction books that have stuck with me for years. I’ll share kid’s books that moved me to tears and inspired me in ways I didn’t expect.

Thanks to reading challenges, my reading has expanded to many different genres, so I hope you find something you’ll love in my recommendations. There will be links to the books on Amazon, which will be affiliate links. As a reminder, an affiliate link is one that if you click and purchase the book (or something else) I’ll receive a small percentage at no additional cost to you. I ruthlessly only share products, services, books, etc, that I have personally used and only recommend what I think is useful and valuable. I’ve marked all affiliate links in this post with this little guy –> *

So here we go! For day one, I want to share a book I just finished last night – The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World’s Most Successful People Launched Their Careers* by Alex Banayan.

Here’s how it’s described:

“The larger-than-life journey of an 18-year-old college freshman who set out from his dorm room to track down Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, and dozens more of the world’s most successful people to uncover how they broke through and launched their careers.”

I found this book because of a post made by Tim Ferris about the book. It was on my to be read list for a while and one that I put a hold request on at the library. I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting out of this book, but it ended up being one of the greatest books I’ve ever read. While I didn’t really learn anything new, a lot of the advice is what I’ve heard before, learned before, applied before, and I did learn a few new things about the folks he interviewed.

But the biggest thing that drew me to the book was the journey of the author. In a lot of ways, I felt like it mirrors the journey of being a business owner, or really anything in life. It can be easy to just share the highlights, the good stuff, all the times we win, but not Alex. He shared every fall, every fail, every embarassment.

His words reminded me that no matter how crazy your dream is, you can take a shot at it. I finished the book with many tears, many smiles, and more empowered to chase my own dreams. Definitely worth the read*.

Check out all of my 2018 Read A New Book Month recommendations.

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Day 3338 – Counting Down Days, Looking Backwards

Posted on August 31, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

Y’all know I love looking back, especially using Facebook Memories. I’ve talked about how interesting it is to watch what I posted about in the weeks and months leading up to my eventual sobriety. Remembering (or barely remembering) things I did, parties I went to, etc.

But something stuck out this August. In 2011, I was counting down to becoming a full-time photographer. I was finally leaving the 9-5 world. I can’t believe I’ve been a freelancer for almost 7 years. There are definitely things I should have done differently (went full-time way too early), but the rough times over the last 7 years have taught me so much about myself.

So what struck me today is that I had one countdown I knew was coming (full-time freelancer), and one I did not (sobriety), years later. Sometimes, you can only see the countdown when looking back. You can look at posts on social media or entries in your journal and see how everything was leading to this one moment. If you find yourself in a trying time, just know that when you can look back with the clarity of time, you might just find that everything was leading you to someplace you’ve never dreamed possible.

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Day 3337 – When Did I Know I Was An Alcoholic – repost

Posted on August 30, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I’m working through my second draft of my memoir, and I’m happy to see it taking somewhat of a logical shape.

Yesterday, we had so much fun hanging out with some friends at a beautiful waterfront bar. Chatting with one of my friends, we talked about what was success for my first book, which was that one person’s mindset was changed.

In my current draft of the memoir, I wrote “I don’t want to write this book. Thinking back to these times doesn’t make me happy. Trying to read other memoirs about drinking is hard to do. I want to forget it all happened. I want to leave those memories in the past. Why would I ever want to go back there? Why would I want to share even more about the things I did? I suppose, if just one person is helped. If one person can move past addiction and treat it finally as a sin, it is worth it.”

I think I have my goal for this book.

So, when did I know I was an alcoholic?
Probably in the few days after my last drink. Here’s a snapshot from my journal, which is part thinking out loud, part praying, in the days after that last day.

September 29, 2014 (first day sober)
“I do enjoy it and I have had some great times, yet I’ve quit so many times. Can I really not control myself or am I trying to prove to myself that I can? Am I holding on to sin? Should I cut it loose? Do I need to cut it out completely? Truly? Forever? Is it standing in my way?”

On October 3, 2014
“Thank you also for the clear “it’s time” to quit drinking. Thank you for the strength already against temptation. Let it open doors to honest communications about how Christians aren’t perfect.”

Almost three years later and I think it’s so true – that it can open lines of communications. People are shocked when they hear about my sobriety – “but you’re a Christian!”

Thinking back to the months following this moment, I remember thinking that there is almost more stigma against people who don’t drink than people who do. Look at all the memes about drinking at the end of the day, or that say “how could I ever quit drinking, I’d be boring!” I was more embarrassed and nervous to say “no thank you” to a drink, then when I was downing bottle after bottle.

I’m so thankful for sober Jen, because she can go to places like we went yesterday, and remember every minute. I really hope we can live near the water some day.