6 years and sunshine!

3.8.13 TGIF!!!

What a beautiful day in North Carolina!  It is just after 8am as I blog away and the sun is shining super bright and the skies are Carolina Blue (as in the state not the icky Tar Heels).  The good news is we are about to have a taste of spring style weekend!  Highs in the sixties and ample sunshine - I am a happy girl.

If you are living in a still wintry wonderland - I would bottle this weather up and send it to you if I could.  Your beautiful early spring is coming....hold tight!

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This weekend will mark my sixth year of wedded bliss.  OK my sixth year of marriage and my second year of bliss.  We will be celebrating on Sunday with a trip to a local state park for some hiking and pic-a-nicking.  We are still going away but that's a little while off (as well as a few more pounds away!)....

What have I learned in six years?

Marriage isn't easy.  It is a very delicate balance of two people giving their 100% each and every day.  The days where you fail to give a full 100 and only give a 99 are the days where you don't feel so connected, so great, so happy.  We have had our uphill battles, screaming matches, woulda/shoulda/coulda times but it looks as though they are further and further in the rear-view mirror.  What keeps our marriage strong?  Not looking back.  Not dwelling on past trespasses.  Striving to be a little better, a little stronger, a little lovelier every single day.  If I can tell you anything it is this - don't keep looking back - just don't look back on bad stuff or you'll be like Lot's wife - a pile of nothingness.

When I think about six years I think of all the marriages that don't even last six months.  I also think about how the covenant of marriage is taken so incredibly lightly in 2013.  We live in a society that has the mentality of - "If it doesn't work out we'll just get divorced" - that is no way to be.  When did it become A OK to let failure be acceptable?  Some people rush into marriage.  Some people are forced into marriage. Fools rush in...forcing leads to failure. We need a culture that respects real love & the bond between a husband and a wife and makes survival of the marriage cool.  We also need to respect that marriage should be between two people who really do love each other and WANT to spend the rest of their lives together.  There is more to being married than playing house.  Marriage isn't just a game.  It is a legal binding contract that says you will never hurt, forsake, harm, or wish ill will - but you will care, love, acknowledge, tend to, and nurture someone else for all of your days.

My wedding was less than $7K my honeymoon was less than $1K.  My wedding ring was ate by the ocean just two years in.  His family hated me. My dad said he'd be nothing.  Our heartache in the first four years cannot be described.  The past two have been remarkable.   I eagerly look forward to celebrating more anniversaries.

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What are we cleaning today (or this weekend)?

The sun is out -- it is time to beat and sun.  Need to get some frustrations out?  This is your day!  If you have removable cushions on your furniture then this is for you!  If you don't keep reading something will apply to you!

First off - get all the money out of your couches and chairs.  If you don't find money maybe you'll find that remote you lost a couple months back, a giftcard you misplaced, nail clippers, a pacifier, a dog bone, whatever - get it out.

Next lets vacuum.  If you have removable cushions pull them off and with your brush attachment vacuum them all over to help suck out dust, dander, etc.

If you have furniture that is not leather but also has cushions that do not come off then use the floor attachment, take off your shoes and gently vacuum the surface.

Next up take them outside and beat them or just shake them really hard to help get that established dirty, germs, allergens loosened.

Find a sunny spot in your yard, on your porch, etc.  Place a sheet or two down.  After vacuuming and beating your cushions place the cushions in the sun.  Only leave them out for about an hour.  Remember to turn them so that you don't fade out any color!

The sun is so cool - it will help kill germs and remove smells!!!

Other items you can sun -

Your mattresses! Vacuum them and put them out on a blanket. 

Pillows!  A little vacuuming and put them out on a blanket.

Stuffed animals! (See above)

Babies!  (Do not vacuum them)  (Ok maybe not but they do need to get outside)

Dogs!  (See babies)

Rugs!  Beat them, beat them, beat them, and sun them.

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Shrimp n Rice

2 cups of rice (brown or white)
1 lb of shrimp - uncooked, clean them up and cut off tails, devein, and remove their jackets
I make it very spicey some say.....
2 Tbsp Old Bay
5 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

Cook rice accordingly
Boil shrimp til pink, add in a couple teaspoons of Old Bay to your water if you would like.
In a sautee pan melt your butter with the remaining Old Bay (use as much Old Bay as you prepare)

Spoon some rice in your bowl
Put your shrimp on top
Generously pour in some of your Old Bay Butter sauce.

Yummy!

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Have a safe and happy weekend!  Remember to adjust your clocks one hour forward before you pass out on Saturday night!  See ya next week (with a new theme, maybe I'll let you in on the theme over the weekend....)

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Oh and if you don't want to clean up this weekend - then just finish off that bottle of wine!

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Until we meet again -


Brownie


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