Day 3203 – Our Amazing Weekend – Goat Yoga, Steamed Crabs, A Larger Than Life Cheesesteak, And A Vacation Without Going Away

Posted on April 18, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

To say this past weekend was amazing would be a gross understatement. It’s been a long time since we took a genuine weekend off. While I have been pretty diligent at not doing any client work the past few weekends, I have done work for our business, as well as projects for myself. While there were little things here and there we needed to do, it was primarily a weekend in the normal sense.

We attended goat yoga at Faint Away Farm in Conowingo, Maryland. It was over an hour from home, and I have to say a beautiful day for a drive. I haven’t explored this area at all, so it was fun to experience it for the first time with Bret. I’m not sure if I’ve ever driven over the Conowingo dam before, but I do know that it’s home to many bald eagles. I mentioned this to Bret as we started to cross, and within a few minutes, we saw half a dozen eagles. It was SO cool!

It was such a lovely day, that I mentioned wanting to get steamed crabs. In our past, we would have talked about it, but then decided we couldn’t afford it, or gone and not gotten much. Almost as soon as I mentioned it, Bret said, let’s do it! It’s crazy how much our mindsets are changing about money, experiencing things, and not putting things off for a rainy day.

As an aside, if you’re looking to make some shifts about how you view money, I’m currently working through The Maui Millionaires by David Finkel & Diane Kennedy (very slowly, because I want to actually work through things) and You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero (this is a MUST as an audiobook – disclaimer, there is a bunch of language).

So it was a really cool moment to realize how much we had changed. Funny enough, we were listening to You Are A Badass at Making Money on the drive up.

We arrived and got set up for yoga. It was lead by Becky Rondone of Pura Vida Yoga & Physical Training.

When we started, the goats were released.

I was a little nervous, so there were times I didn’t close my eyes. Bret said hello and welcomed the goats with food on our towels.

But those goats are smart and found where we were hiding the cups of food.

I got to hold one of the little guys. Oh so cute! If you’re interested in purchasing a goat for yourself, check out the Facebook page!

We asked the owner of the farm (and also one of our friends) if she had a recommendation for where to get crabs. She suggested Jumbo Jimmy’s Crab Shack.

We started sharing cream of crab soup….which even our server thought might be a mistake…given the amount of food we ordered…but it was a good mistake because it was absolutely delicious. Definitely in my top five.

I ordered a dozen small and mediums mixed. They were amazing and I think there was only 1 dud.

Bret ordered Jumbo Jimmy’s Belly Buster Cheesesteak. Friends, I’m not sure this picture does it justice. It was THE biggest cheesesteak I’ve EVER seen. I still cannot believe Bret finished it. We were there for a while since I had a dozen crabs to get through.

Upon arriving home, we relaxed and read for the rest of the day. It felt like a vacation, even though we hadn’t gone anywhere.

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Day 3202 – Road Trip Book Preview – How Do You Stay Entertained On The Road? – repost

Posted on April 17, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I’m SO excited about my next book, all about planning a road trip across the country. This is obviously something very close to my heart and I just love giving advice about travel. Part of the book will be a frequently asked questions approach. I wanted to share one of the questions and my answer. If you have a burning question about planning a road trip, let me know below!

Disclaimer, the links to books below are affiliate links. This only means if you decide to purchase the book, we’ll get a percentage. We ONLY share links to things we have personally listened to and recommend.

How do you stay entertained?
One of the most entertaining things we do is listen to audio books. If you have multiple drivers, I would recommend being organized with the audio books. If you are able, use two different audio players. For example, we have two iPods, so we put my books on one and Bret’s on the other. That way, when it’s my turn, my book is already queued up.

Make sure you listen to part of the book before you leave! I’ll listen to about 3-4 minutes of a book to see if I like the author’s voice and if they’ll keep my attention. Biographies read by the author are really, really fun. If you can find one where the author took a road trip, even better. We happened to listen to a biography during our 2016 summer trip, Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox, and he author talked about a road trip he took with his son and wouldn’t you know, it was on the SAME route that we were on!

On a smaller road trip, I didn’t take my own advice of listening to a few minutes before I left. I ended up with a book that was very interesting, but the reader’s voice was very monotone and wasn’t helping to keep me awake. Unfortunately, it was a night drive and the only book I brought.

Some of our favorite audiobooks have been – The Hunger Games series, the Harry Potter series read by Jim Dale, Born Standing Up by Steve Martin, Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox, As You Wish by Cary Elwes, Wildflower by Drew Barrymore, to name a few!

We sometimes take a book of questions to ask each other. Writing prompts books are great for this. Or books that ask “What would you rather” or “What if?”

If you will have kids with you on the trip, know what keeps them occupied. Make a game out of the drive – count how many of blue cars we pass or have a bingo game. If you’re traveling in more barren areas, make sure to have bingo for that area.

Bret and I play the alphabet sign game where you call all words from signs in alphabetical order and you can’t repeat other’s words. So it would go like this (note, this is for example purposes only, obviously these signs would be thousands of miles apart:
Jen – Albuquerque! Buffalo Wild Wings!
Bret – Alexandria! Baltimore!
Jen/Bret – California! (whoever says it first gets its)

This is a great game, but it can be terrible if you’re in a stretch with few signs and buildings. I recommend the alphabet sign game near big cities and would you rather/what if games in wide open drives.

Another game we play is the alphabet volley game with movies/entertainment/actors. You have to say a movie/insert category here, the next person uses the last letter of the previous person’s answer.
Jen – All Dogs Go To Heaven, Bret – Next, Jen – Time Cop.

We change the rules depending on how long we want to play. Sometimes it’s just movies, other times it’s a huge realm – any actor, movie, tv show, etc.

Another way to stay entertained is having a good mix of music that you love for the times you want to enjoy the drive. Sometimes you’ll want to focus on what’s around you and not have the distraction of a story. I have a few playlists that I just love for my “thinking and driving” portions.

What about you? How do you stay entertained on the road? Do you have a question about planning a road trip? Let me know below!

(Note, you’ll notice Yes, Please in this picture. I did listen to part of it, but had to stop it. It was funny, but a little too crass for my tastes.

originally posted 2/1/17

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Day 3201 – Things Learned Over Seven Years Of Blogging Every Day

Posted on April 16, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I started this blog to help grow my wedding photography business. I saw it as a way to share stories from our marriage to connect with potential couples, and to share the message of the importance of marriage until death do us part. I love that I have blogged seven of the almost nine years we’ve been married. I’ve learned a lot about myself, my marriage, and what is possible when you show up every day to do something. Here are a few of the biggest lessons that have come out of this blog for me.

Showing up every day adds up to something you never could have imagined at the beginning. I never would have guessed that I would stop photography, or take four cross country road trips, or that I would share one of my biggest secrets.

You never know who you will impact through your posts. There have been countless times I’ve gotten messages from folks who said a post impacted them in a way I never would have expected.

You never know who is reading….every….single….day. A few times, I’ve had people say things like “I saw that on your blog” or know little details about me from reading my blog daily. It is a good reminder to really think about what I’m posting.

You never know where your life will take you. I’ve experienced a wealth of things over the last seven years. From moves to new jobs to leaving old jobs to new friends to new adventures. I’ve experienced extreme heartache as well as extreme heartoverloadgoodness.

Whatever you’re working on daily that doesn’t have foreseeable benefits – keep going.

Whatever you’re dreaming about and afraid to start because the plan isn’t clear – just start.

Whatever book you have buried in your heart – even a few lines a day will add up to a book in time.

Thank you to every one of you who has been here from the beginning or started following this week. You make me continue to show up, every day.

I took this picture at the moment I had the idea for this blog. I was so moved that I had started to cry. For some reason, the picture was flipped upside down. I’ve kept it this way because sometimes what we think will be the end product is so far from what we expected, but it’s better than we could ever have imagined. I can’t think of a better way to describe this blog.

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Day 3199 – Why Are You Putting Off Your Dreams? – repost

Posted on April 14, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I’m a big pusher. I love this about myself. I love to push people to be better, to follow their dreams and to do things that make them happy. Once I figure out how to make that quality in myself into a source of income that makes sense for my lifestyle, I will be a very happy camper.

But just as a photographer really sucks at taking photos of themselves, their family and friends….AND printing them out. I suck at pushing myself. It’s easier for me to just give advice to other people and not give it to myself.

I have had a dream to publish a book for years. I honestly have no idea how long. At least 10 years. I am pretty sure as a kid/young adult, I had dreams of writing a book. I watched countless videos, went to seminars, heard many people say how easy it is to publish a book today. I knew it was possible and it did sound pretty easy.

But here’s the thing, I still dragged my feet. It took a lot of arm twisting for me to hire a proof reader/editor. I did and I know my book is so much stronger because of the changes and general clean up that my editor did. She even made a few changes that made my formatting for Amazon a ton easier.

I also delayed a while after the manuscript was done. To be fair, I was stuck on the title. It was so hard to say what the book was about. I had so many competing voices and advice. Do this, do that, you HAVE to do this, DON’T do that! One day, I finally turned everything off and just talked to God. I said tell me what you want YOUR book to be called. Because really, the book is what God has to say about work….not me. It was a big step for me, I figured out the title and everything clicked after that.

I met some resistance in getting things set up…buying the ISBN, designing my cover, uploading to Amazon. I realize now, it was mostly a “I’ve never done this before and I’m putting things off” type thing.

But now that I’m done, I can’t get over how easy it was. Not only to put publish the ebook but also the paperback (I’m still waiting for approval from Amazon, keep checking the link if you want to buy a physical copy). I had a little trouble with the cover design….but Amazon has a great program to catch any mistakes on the book.

I will be a major pusher to others who want to write a book now. I will also push affiliate marketing as well. Through people clicking on the link to my book, I’ve already made affiliate sales. Basically, if someone clicks on one of my affiliate links and buys either the product I’m sharing or something completely different, I get a percentage of that sale (at no additional cost to the purchaser). I’ve made more in the last few days through my book than I have in a few months of having an affiliate account. (If you have to shop on Amazon, follow the link to my book in the footer to make sure we get credit!)

So as I marinate over the fact that I am now a published author, I am struck by the thought “why did I put this off for so long?” It seems silly now…especially since I’m a big supporter of “go do these things that make you happy. Go take that cross country trip. Quit your job and take a chance on your own business. Get rid of all your stuff and live out of an RV.”

Why are you putting off your dreams?

originally posted 12/18/16

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Day 3195 – One Small Step, Every Day

Posted on April 10, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

Y’ll know, I have LOTS of ideas and dreams and things I want to do. At any given moment, I have half a dozen ideas floating around in my head. But there’s no way I can realistically work on all of them. Ha ha, even outsourcing might not be enough. I have big plans for YouTube, social media channels, my books, and this blog. One thing I hear over and over again is how powerful Pinterest can be as a traffic source. So, I’ve been working on getting my blog ready for that, and cataloging things as I go. I have been working on this for months. In the past, I would have gotten discouraged, thrown up my hands and said, that’s it, this is too much work, I can’t do this.

But then my mindset shifted. I read this book (this is an affiliate link, so if you purchase the book or something else on Amazon, I’ll get a small percentage….this book changed my life and I am ALL for sharing it!)….

Dream Big, Think Small: Living an Extraordinary Life One Day at a Time by Jeff Manion

The idea is that you can accomplish a lot, just by showing up every day, even if it’s in small ways. This has helped me to see my five minutes a day working on getting ready for Pinterest in a much different way. Instead of thinking, “man, this is just not worth it, it’s so little every day!” I think, “I am one blog post closer to finishing.” Some days I can do a few posts, some I only do one. I am so close to the finish line and I’ve gotten here by just plugging away at it.

So friends, no matter what you’re working towards, don’t beat yourself up if you think it’s only a small step each day. You’re still moving.

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365daysofmarriage

Simplicity in Marriage, Christianity, Travel, Business, Life

Category Archives: Travel

Day 3203 – Our Amazing Weekend – Goat Yoga, Steamed Crabs, A Larger Than Life Cheesesteak, And A Vacation Without Going Away

Day 3202 – Road Trip Book Preview – How Do You Stay Entertained On The Road? – repost

Day 3201 – Things Learned Over Seven Years Of Blogging Every Day

Day 3199 – Why Are You Putting Off Your Dreams? – repost

Day 3195 – One Small Step, Every Day