Day 2663 – When Getting Everything Done At Once Backfires….Maybe

Posted on October 25, 2016 by 365 days of marriage

I’m a bit of an overachiever. I like to be the best. Sometimes I won’t play a game with others if I don’t think I will win. I like to be logistical in my grocery shopping and errands. I think about how much gas I’ll use to get from A to B to C. I’ll even add in my “hourly rate” to see if it’s worth going.

I’m thinking that this part of myself is going to backfire today. See, I went about 3 years without going to the dentist. I finally went and, of course, I have 4 cavities. Now, a normal person would schedule 4 appointments. Or maybe 2. But me? I’m not exactly normal. So, I figured, hey, why not knock them all out in one day? Hence, today, I will get 4 cavities filled. Thankfully, my new dentist is right across the street. Since I’m not sure how I’ll be, I’ve cleared my schedule and I’m knocking out my work as much as possible this morning. Hopefully, I’m over-planning and will be just fine when I arrive home.

Stay tuned…

Have you ever tried to be logistical like this and it totally backfired?

Day 2659 – How YOU Can Simplify Your Life! – or – My Recommendations For Simple Living

Posted on October 21, 2016 by 365 days of marriage

If you haven’t seen the resources page yet, I wanted to share some of the things we’ve found to be helpful in living a simple life here!

Please note: these are affiliate links. All that means is if you buy one of them, we get a small percentage. But I ONLY share things I have personally read, used and stand 100% behind. I love giving recommendations to people. I love to see people succeed, make changes and grow in their lives. So go, grow! 🙂

Simplicity in Marriage

When Sinners Say “I Do”gave us some amazing advice and really helped prepare us for the journey ahead. The biggest thing that stood out to me is admitting to your spouse “I’m a big fat sinner.” Nearly eight years later and we still say this to each other, especially after a big argument. It basically means realizing that you are not a perfect person, you never will be and come into the marriage totally messed up.

Simplicity in Travel

Luckies of London The United States of America Scratch Map (USLUKUS)is such a fun way for us to keep track of where we’ve traveled in the country together! One of the first things I do after we get home from a road trip is update our map!

Simplicity in Business

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less totally changed my life. Even though we were already pretty simplified and minimalists, this book helped me to dig even deeper into simplicity. It helps me to say no to things that need to be said no to.

Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day was a great reminder that work isn’t just about your 9-5 but “any value we create that requires us to spend our time, focus and energy is work, humans, it seems are wired to find satisfaction by adding value through toil.”

Getting There: A Book of Mentors What I loved about this book was the varied fields and methods of work shared. It felt like I sat down with each of these successful people and learned some of their secret tips.

Day 2657 – Eating Junk Food Is Hard Sometimes!

Posted on October 19, 2016 by 365 days of marriage

One of the things we took camping was some pumpkin yogurt pretzels. Bret couldn’t wait to dig in, sooooo….he tried to open the bag….and failed….twice. He was sad. 😦

That’s what you get for trying to eat the junk food before we even got to the campground Husband!

Day 2649 – How To Move On When You’ve Messed Up For The Thousandth Time

Posted on October 11, 2016 by 365 days of marriage

One of the things I mentioned in my testimony about my alcoholism was this – “But I can now more fully say I understand forgiveness. I can more fully express that God is waiting with open arms to take us back. Even after we’ve fallen for the second time…the fiftieth time…the thousandth time.”

I felt like such a failure so many times when it came to my drinking problem. I would feel retched when I would see the sadness and pity in Bret’s eyes. I would be ashamed of the things he told me I did that I couldn’t remember. Some days, it would be hard to move on to the tasks of the day because of the weight of guilt and shame. There are days I still feel this way about other sins I struggle with. I am grateful drinking is no longer a problem for me but just reading my old journals and letters to Bret, I can see I take a LOOOOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG time to deal with things sometimes.

So what do you do? How do you pick yourself up and move on?

– Acknowledge that you messed up. Don’t make excuses. Don’t blame it on someone else.
– Accept God’s forgiveness – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
– Don’t dwell on your failures – “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8
– Practice thankfulness

What about you? How do you move on when you’ve messed up…..again?

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