Author Archives: 365 days of marriage

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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 3146 – It Might Be Poop….Or Something Really Beautiful – repost

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In searching for things to write about, I came across this post from 9/20/15. It gave me a laugh, but also things to think about.

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Originally posted 9/20/15
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Tonight, I was putting some clothes away. I’ve gotten into the habit of tossing the clean clothes on the floor of the closet when I’m doing multiple loads and then putting everything away when I’m done. Last week, being sick and all, about 3-4 loads hung around on the floor. As I was moving some things around, I noticed something dark and it looked like mouse poop. I was like, oh crap, we’ve had such a clean place with very little bugs and no rodents….except for squirrels running along our balcony and scaling up the wall, but outside.

To be sure, I reached out and touched it. Not poop, not even close. It was a sequin from the dress I wore to the Marine Corps Ball.

Here I was thinking that this beautiful, sparkly, fun thing was poop.

Isn’t this how we look at life sometimes…if we don’t know what we’re looking at? Don’t we question God when things aren’t going “our way”? But we’re so quick to forget that when we can look back and see all the crap that we went through actually WAS for our good and molding us more into Christ.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

So friends, if you think you’re seeing poop, reach out and touch it and maybe it’s a sequin. But it could be poop and if it is, please wash your hands.

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Day 3145 – Where I Want To Be Today…

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On this day last year, we were enjoying a sunrise at the beach. We ended up getting a hotel that night. It was such a nice surprise, and honestly, one of THE best trips we have ever taken. It was so nice waking up with the ocean as a background, and sun cast across the bed. One of my big goals is to have an oceanfront condo so I can enjoy it as often as I want. My soul is totally alive at the beach.

Where does your soul come alive?

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
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Day 3144 – 11 Years Later, He Still Surprises Me – or – The Way To My Heart

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Yesterday, Bret had several appointments, and I had a massive project for the real estate business. I was so engrossed in the project, I didn’t check in with Bret at all. We have an app (Life360) that gives each of the GPS location to the other. This has been great for making sure Bret is ok when going on appointments in the city, or when Bret is waiting for a ride from me. Instead of having to call or send him a text via Siri, he can just open the app and know how far away I am. When Bret has several appointments, I do tend to check in and see what’s up. But nosiriebob, I barely even thought about him. To be fair, I was working on a project for our business, so there’s that…

Just as I was finishing up on a portion of the project, I thought, oh yea, Bret’s appointment was over 2 hours ago…I wonder how it went and where he is. No sooner had I thought it then the app notified me that Bret was home! Sweet! I was focused on my work, and only slightly noticed him pulling something out of his bag. I started to turn around and he said something along the lines of “don’t look” and I continued with my work.

He finally brought the surprise over and I was very very very pleasantly surprised. This guy. This man I’ve been married to for almost 9 years, who I have known for 11, brought me not a cup, not a bowl, but a QUART of cream of crab soup from Broom’s Bloom. Oh friends, it was amazing. I think I will concede that this is THE best cream of crab soup I have ever had, and it is consistently amazing. I’m so glad they’re open year round and not just in the summer.

To further show his amazingness, he let me take a picture. 🙂

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
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Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget.
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Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
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Day 3143 – The Year Of 300 (Errrr, Maybe 200??) Books Update!

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Whew, I have been behind in this blog post! But I suppose once a month is a good time to give an update.

First, while I am not giving up hope that I will read 300 books this year, I have officially changed my Goodreads goal to 200. I found I was NOT enjoying my reading times. I was looking at my pile of books like I did my school reading assignments. The worst was when my Goodreads was like, um, you are behind 2 books, you are behind 5 books, you are behind a million books even though your goal is 300. It felt too much like work, and not at all what I want my reading to be. I am still a little behind (2 books) at the moment….but I’ve been focusing on rereading the Harry Potter series, and while only 1 book at a time, it’s totally pumping my page read count up.

Without further ado and preamble, here are my recently reads. See below for links to each reading challenge.

Book #14 – The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware – this fulfilled a book set at sea for the Popsugar challenge. I have to say, this was a great book to get me back into reading. I had JUST said to Bret I wished I had a book that I could tear through. This was just that. Whew, I read that one fast!

Book #15 – The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch – this fulfilled a book that makes you cry for the Mommy Mannegren 52 books challenge. This was just a wonderful read. I highly recommend it and think it should be required reading for all. Lots of great gems for how to live.

Book #16 – Comics for a Strange World: A Book of Poorly Drawn Lines by Reza Farazmand – this fulfilled a comic written and illustrated by the same person for the Read Harder challenge.

Book #17 – You Look Better Online: Your Life in 150 Unfiltered Cartoons by Emmet Truxes – this fulfilled a one-sitting book for the Read Harder challenge.

Book #18 – Quiet Girl in a Noisy World: An Introvert’s Story by Debbie Tung – this fulfilled a book you can read in a day for the Mommy Mannegren 52 books challenge.

Book #19 – The House That Pinterest Built by Diane Keaton – this fulfilled a book that inspires you for the Mommy Mannegren 52 books challenge.

Book #20 – Secret Lives of Walter Mitty and of James Thurber by James Thurber – this fulfilled a book that has been made into a movie for the Mommy Mannegren 52 books challenge.

Book #21 – Harry Potter and the Goblet by J.K. Rowling – this fulfilled a book with a green spine for the Mommy Mannegren 52 books challenge.

Book #22 – Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris – this fulfilled a book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist in the Popsugar challenge. This was a really fun one to listen too!

Book #23 – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling – this fulfilled the next book in a series you’ve started in the Popsugar challenge.

The 2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge
The 2018 Read Harder Challenge
The Mommy Mannegren 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge

I can’t wait to finish the Harry Potter series and get crackalackin on the rest of my huge to be read list!

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget.
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
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Day 3142 – 11 Years With This Goofball

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I love celebrating the day I met Bret. It was a crazy night…which was really the best way to start our crazy journey. It’s been a very awesome, very fun 11 years.

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget.
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel