I came across this article, written by a wedding planner on "warning signs" she sees in couples as they plan their weddings (I of course thought of The Wedding Planner where she pegs those whose marriages will fail based on the color of the bridesmaids' dresses and the couple's "song"). It's pretty interesting-- I highly recommend reading it and thinking about it, whether you are about to get married, are a newly-wed, or are a veteran. It got me thinkin, anyway. (I'm so glad I let Ryan choose his own cake! ;D)
We celebrated my groom's first Father's Day last Sunday, and it was so fun! I made GF Monkey Bread for breakfast, and his favorite meal (Hobo Casserole), and closed out the day with homemade strawberry ice cream (again his favorite)- we tried adding chocolate chunks this time. Éowyn got her daddy a CD she thought he'd like (the newest Casting Crowns CD), and I made the card. =D She also featured in a bookmark we made together for him-- her sweet little ultrasound picture at the top!
For our entertainment, I interviewed the Dad-to-Be. My friend Lauren's wedding shower was the previous day, and as a shower game they'd interviewed the groom (q's like "What's his favorite dessert?" "What was the name of his first pet?" "What's his favorite meal that you've made?" "What was your first date like?" "What's been his favorite of your dates?") and then asked the bride the questions to see how well she knew her intended. Lots of us there were like "Woah! I don't know if I could answer all these about my husband!" So I interviewed mine and have tucked away the answers into my brain and journal-- a girl's gotta know these things! Plus it was fun to ask him and see if I could guess his answers. Couples need to be students of each other-- my goal is to be an expert in Ryanology. And it's not like it's an onerous task; Thompson Dating Rule #1 is: "Only date those whom you find interesting and attractive" (not kidding- it really is one of The Three Rules)!
Celebrating Ryan's entrance into Fatherhood was an extra blessing for me as his wife because it made me look around at all the little ways he shows love and care for me now, and not only give thanks for that, but realize what a loving dad that means he'll be! I thought of how he got me a sprayer head for our hose as a surprise, so I don't have to wear my thumb out watering our garden every morning. I'd never mentioned it and hadn't asked for it, and one morning I went out to water the plants, and voila! there it was! (hehehe and I totally soaked myself in the face trying to figure out how to use it. THAT was funny.) I remembered how he went to Blockbuster & got me Meet the Robinsons when I had a random hankerin' to watch it last week. Surrounding me are the walls recently-painted to suit my tastes, the best wall being the red one... the wall he had to give 4 coats to get the color to stick... I thought of how he took me out to dinner at Los Aztecas on my whim last week, just because I was tired after VBS and it sounded so nice to eat out (we ended up going with another couple & some other friends and had a great time). Oh yes, and the way he vacuums every Sunday after Care Group so I don't have to worry about it. Things like that are so small and so mundane, which is precisely what makes them reassuring and heart-warming. I love Éowyn's daddy, and can't wait to watch him love her like he lavishes love on me, her mama.
I'm wanting to love him better-- to pray diligently for him, and to ask him every day what one thing I can do to help or serve him that day (advice I received from an older happily-married friend). We've had fun reading these silly quizzes in Babytalk and Parenting magazine, too. They get us talking and analyzing each other and just being goofy...such as the "What's Your Dad-Style?," read over Blizzards at DQ one sticky night. Apparently Ryan is a mix of "The Consciencious Provider" and "The Clueless Wonder." lol. Hmmm. So is he a Clueless Provider or a Consciencious Wonder? =D Other fodder for conversation lately has been the Bradley Childbirth material & stuff we get in class... more "what do you think of ___" type questions.
Well, my Lovely is in Denver this weekend and I am all alone. Well, not really alone-- Miss Princess reminds me of her little presence with sweet kicks (just got one) and not-so-sweet acid reflux after every meal... and this morning woke me up at 4 a.m. to eat... of course I couldn't go back to sleep, so I'm headed to bed now (I already had a 90 min. power nap). I'm already waking up every night to feed the baby, and she isn't even born yet!
Missing you, Ryan, and glad you're coming home soon,
--your happy wife
That article reminded me of videotaping weddings and such. We used to debate amongst ourselves and with the photographers about such things. We usually looked at whether or not the bride and groom stayed mostly beside each other at their reception and how each one treated their own families as well as their new in-laws during the day. It's amazing how telling the stress of a wedding can be of a couple's personalities, especially when you're looking through lenses at them the entire day. ;-)
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