Eric and I find it hilarious that no matter what the situation, Ramsey (our golden retriever) always ends up smiling (… and panting). Regardless of whether we have just scolded her, chased her, fed her, etc., she always quickly reverts back to her pleasant facial expression. We call it her “default setting.” One of her favorite things to do is to chase her frisbee (Zogoflex Zisc). When Eric brings her in after a satisfying frisbee session, she runs to the top of the stairs, turns around, flops on her favorite vent (with cool air coming out), and pants with a huge smile on her face. Yes, I'm … [Read more...]

A few weeks ago, my husband wrote a popular post titled: When are Guys Ready to Date? (The Quest for Authentic Manhood). To piggy back off of that, I’m going to discuss how to tell when a girl is ready to date. When I was younger, it felt like the age of sixteen would never come. For years, I heard my parents say that I couldn't date until I was sixteen. Personally, I thought I was ready to date at age nine (but, I was obviously wrong). Because I attended church youth groups and other youth activities, I had the ability to have boyfriends, and spend ample time with them, before I was … [Read more...]

Marriage is one of the biggest adjustments to anyone’s life. It may seem like a fairy tale beforehand, but after becoming man and wife, there are a number of things that will take some time getting used to them. Sharing a bed may sound like a dream come true at this point, but when it comes time to actually sleep, you may find that getting used to having someone in bed with you may be considerably out of your comfort zone. Depending on how long you've been single, it may feel overwhelming at first to have to consider the other's needs in all of your decisions. If you are used to spending … [Read more...]

We all need to be comforted from time to time. Depending on the situation, I may need a hug or just an evening cuddled in bed watching old Andy Griffith Show re-runs. If you don't know me, you wouldn't know what brings me ease; but, if you do know me, you would have no trouble calming me down, lifting my spirits, and encouraging me to press forward. One of the joys of marriage is the comfort it brings. If there is no comfort in your marriage, something is not working, and some deep communication and counseling may be needed. Philippians 2:1-2 reads, "So if there is any encouragement in … [Read more...]

Why would I be dating, and considering marrying, someone I don't like? We date people we like… right? It seems like the answer to this question would be an obvious "yes," but more often than we realize, relationships can form based on other factors. Factors like what? When we find someone incredibly attractive to us, we can find ourselves trying to like them for who they are, while the driving force behind the relationship is really their incredible good looks. In other cases, we can be so enamored with their high moral character that we ignore the other aspects of their personality that we … [Read more...]