And now, one of my favorite, favorite bloggers, Jennifer from She Likes Purple. I've gushed over her plenty of times on this blog, but I'll let you all see why. And Happy July 4th. Or America's Birthday Party, as my nephew calls it.
Whenever I’m asked to guest post, I immediately get excited. And then, after that brief moment of excitement, I panic. Because, um, what the hell do I talk about that will interest people who don’t know me? Let’s see, I could talk about how Robin is annoying me lately on General Hospital (for anyone who watches, does she seem to say the exact same irritating thing EVERY SINGLE DAY or is that just me?). Or, I could talk about how hardwood floors need to be swiffered on a daily basis so the dustbunnies don’t reach unbelievable sizes, and, yeah, I don’t swiffer every day or even every other day so let me know before you stop by our house, okay? There’s also the constant fall-back topic of my dog (she can open the backdoor on her own now!) but talking about my dog doesn’t even interest my own mother, and she’s morally obligated to listen to me. So, what now?
How about I first tell you a little about me and then you can tell me a little about you. We can see if we’d like to take this friendship past Jodifur’s fun little corner of the Internet and onto our own respective blogs—well, that is if you have a blog, and if you don’t, you really should get one as it’s amazing how much laundry you can put off with one.
I’m a twenty-six year old who lives in Texas (a suburb nestled between Dallas and Fort Worth) with my husband, Mike, and dog, Molly. I don’t clean much and I don’t cook much but I do make sure all the bills are paid on time. I also let my husband watch horribly boring Discovery Channel shows, so I’m bringing something to the table. I work in publishing. I spend a lot of time in Target. I like to read but sometimes it’s Pride & Prejudice and more often it’s US Weekly. I also feel a lot of pressure when I’m the passenger in a car that is driving through a fast-food place. I feel that if I don’t know what I want AS SOON AS THEY DO they’ll order without me. So, without fail, when the driver pulls up to the order screen I’ll yell out, “I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WANT YET.” And I usually get a look back as if to say, “Um, okay. We’re not beating the clock here, you know?” But I can’t help it. The pressure!
So, are we friends yet? Not so much?
Let me move along to something that just occurred to me then. This exact day last year my husband I returned from our honeymoon—ten days in St. John, the US Virgin Islands. This makes me rather nostalgic and blue and also sad that suntans don’t last a full year because it would have been great if I could have kept that Virgin Island color for longer than five days upon returning to Texas. But other than all that it reminds me how that trip was easily—hands-down—the best vacation I’ve ever been on. There were copious amounts of drinking, lounging on beaches, eating quite a lot and, mostly, enjoying the views.
In St. John, you drive on the left side of the road even though it is indeed a U.S. territory for historical reasons I would probably know if I had listened even once when my husband was explaining the island to me. (Instead I was thinking about my next raspberry colada.) Anyway, it’s also an extremely hilly island and you really can’t get around (safely, at least) without a four-wheel drive vehicle. We rented a Jeep for the trip and Mike maneuvered all of the insane curves and hills on the left-hand side of the road. And, also, there were animals just meandering around the island at all times—goats and donkeys and cows—so his task of driving and my task of, say, pointing out the cutest goat of the bunch weren’t exactly equal.
Now, let me back up just a bit. I had absolutely no reservations about marrying my husband. I was ready. I was calm. I was thrilled. The day of our wedding, I couldn’t have been surer, more at ease, happier than I was when I walked down the aisle. It’s one of those perfect moments you hope for in life, and I’ll never forget it. But after we got married, I began to freak out just a bit because, well, forever is kind of a long time and why hadn’t I thought of that before!? And apparently a marriage license does not force your spouse to clean up after themselves no matter how badly you wish it did. So there was a brief amount of time I thought, “Hmm, well what did I go and do?”
We waited a month before we went on our honeymoon because we had a lot of gifts to play with after the wedding. So a month into our marriage, while in a Jeep on St. John, on one of those insanely curvy, steep roads (where traffic is on the wrong side of the road, remember), I looked over at my husband and realized that marriage was going to work out just fine. I had chosen someone who would take the wheel when I really wanted to ride shotgun and who would let me take charge in other areas (example: colada drinking and shoe purchasing).
I’m a solid year in now and I still feel the same way. He does what he can to make my ride smoother and I try to do the same for him. It’s more than I could ever have asked for.
Although would it KILL him to fold a load of laundry? JUST ONE?
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Of course, we’re friends because Robyn has been very annoying (Lulu too), my swiffer needs dusting before it can hit my hardwoods and, I talk about my dog. A lot.
Sounds like a perfect honeymoon..hmm, going to figure out how to make a raspberry colada and get my husband to fold laundry. Good goals for me, thanks.
Of course, we’re friends because Robyn has been very annoying (Lulu too), my swiffer needs dusting before it can hit my hardwoods and, I talk about my dog. A lot.
Sounds like a perfect honeymoon..hmm, going to figure out how to make a raspberry colada and get my husband to fold laundry. Good goals for me, thanks.
Of course, we’re friends because Robyn has been very annoying (Lulu too), my swiffer needs dusting before it can hit my hardwoods and, I talk about my dog. A lot.
Sounds like a perfect honeymoon..hmm, going to figure out how to make a raspberry colada and get my husband to fold laundry. Good goals for me, thanks.
Of course, we’re friends because Robyn has been very annoying (Lulu too), my swiffer needs dusting before it can hit my hardwoods and, I talk about my dog. A lot.
Sounds like a perfect honeymoon..hmm, going to figure out how to make a raspberry colada and get my husband to fold laundry. Good goals for me, thanks.
Dude, I haven’t Swiffered in months so I can show you pictures of what the dust bunny/hair ball tumbleweeds become.
I always hear that music from the old western movies in my head when I see one roll through the living room. And then something about a shoot out at high noon.
Dude, I haven’t Swiffered in months so I can show you pictures of what the dust bunny/hair ball tumbleweeds become.
I always hear that music from the old western movies in my head when I see one roll through the living room. And then something about a shoot out at high noon.
Dude, I haven’t Swiffered in months so I can show you pictures of what the dust bunny/hair ball tumbleweeds become.
I always hear that music from the old western movies in my head when I see one roll through the living room. And then something about a shoot out at high noon.
Dude, I haven’t Swiffered in months so I can show you pictures of what the dust bunny/hair ball tumbleweeds become.
I always hear that music from the old western movies in my head when I see one roll through the living room. And then something about a shoot out at high noon.
Holy cow. Jodifur, remember months and months ago that every time I went to your blog my computer locked up one me without fail? No more! YAY!
And I hear ya, Jennie, about floors. Now that I have no carpet I find the biggest dust elephants under the sofa.
Holy cow. Jodifur, remember months and months ago that every time I went to your blog my computer locked up one me without fail? No more! YAY!
And I hear ya, Jennie, about floors. Now that I have no carpet I find the biggest dust elephants under the sofa.
Holy cow. Jodifur, remember months and months ago that every time I went to your blog my computer locked up one me without fail? No more! YAY!
And I hear ya, Jennie, about floors. Now that I have no carpet I find the biggest dust elephants under the sofa.
Holy cow. Jodifur, remember months and months ago that every time I went to your blog my computer locked up one me without fail? No more! YAY!
And I hear ya, Jennie, about floors. Now that I have no carpet I find the biggest dust elephants under the sofa.
Girl, I just bought a Swiffer sweeper today and refills for my Swiffer Duster. I gotcha covered. I do love a man who isn’t afraid to drive. Did I mention my husband drove the whole way to Florida and back?
Girl, I just bought a Swiffer sweeper today and refills for my Swiffer Duster. I gotcha covered. I do love a man who isn’t afraid to drive. Did I mention my husband drove the whole way to Florida and back?
Girl, I just bought a Swiffer sweeper today and refills for my Swiffer Duster. I gotcha covered. I do love a man who isn’t afraid to drive. Did I mention my husband drove the whole way to Florida and back?
Girl, I just bought a Swiffer sweeper today and refills for my Swiffer Duster. I gotcha covered. I do love a man who isn’t afraid to drive. Did I mention my husband drove the whole way to Florida and back?