Missing my Hubby (and a challenge)

Well, it has been over a month now since my dear, sweet, wonderful, loving, kind, amazing, incredible, serving, caring, giving, hardworking husband went back to work at the factory. Oh, how spoiled I am!!!! I knew before that I was spoiled but didn't realize just how spoiled I was until the past month. I mean, I figured that since we only needed one cell phone because we were practically ALWAYS together and because we only needed one car because we were always together then I was no doubt getting to spend a whole lot more time with him than other wives get with their husbands. I knew I had much to be grateful for, but still, I didn't realize just how much! Having him gone for 9 hours a day definitely brought that realization full circle! (Please note, I'm not complaining, just sharing from my heart....) I mean, I have been greatly enjoying my time at home, at OUR home, but it's not so much because I'm by myself as it is because it's "our home". Oh, I am cherishing and treasuring my time with him more than ever these days! (Hence my lack of posts and pictures.) I love my husband so much and my heart just thrills at the sound of closing doors as he heads for the front door when he gets home from work. I know it seems so silly because he was working at the same factory the first 3 months of our marriage. But remember, we've been married for 12 1/2 months now and that means that for the past 9 1/2 months I've had my Hubby all to myself. I mean, when he's home he's always working on something book related, but when he's home I can get a kiss in much more frequently throughout the day than when he's gone for most of the day. :) Besides, just his presence in the house makes me so happy. I love knowing he's working on the couch while I'm doing dishes, cooking, cleaning, organizing, going through boxes (the baby's room is still 1/3 full of boxes). It's nice just to see him as I pass through the room. '

Over the past few weeks in our own place, especially since Scott is working 2 jobs (writing/being an author is always a full-time job) God has been reminding me of all the sweet aspects of being a housewife. I mean, I was still a wife for the 7 months before now but we didn't have a place of our own. It was challenging because I had to work hard and be creative to make wherever we were feel relaxing and restful but nothing beats having a home of our own that I can make a "haven of rest" for my Man (and soon to be, family). It is nice to have pictures up (even if they are mostly of *us*) and to have my candles and all the familiar things that were in our first place of residence as "husband and wife". I know Scott would say (and I agree), "it's nice to have our books out again!" :)

I love being married. I love having my own place to cook and clean in. I love learning all that God is continuously teaching me. I love planning snacks to surprise my Hubby with when he gets home. I love being pregnant and thinking that one day very soon I will have a little baby keeping me very occupied while "Daddy" is at work. :)

I don't know if any of this mumble-jumble has made much sense. But to change the subject I now have a challenge for all of my blog-readers:

I know I have not posted in almost 2 weeks and am planing a post with lots of pictures within the next week. But how about a little trivia in the meantime?

Can anyone guess how far along I am in my pregnancy and how many weeks and days are left till my due date? Rate how far along I am (weeks+days if not exact) as of today, June 23rd. If you can guess that correctly, than you'll have no problem figuring out how many weeks and days it is until my due date (that is of course, if you remember how many weeks a full-term pregnancy is). Sometime in the next few days (as long as someone has guessed correctly) I will do a Pregnancy update post as well as a "new home" post with lots of pictures.

Valentine's Day (a day late)

So, I meant to do this post yesterday, but my computer was acting up and had to settle for reading more of Scott's second book (which I'm loving, by the way). In past years, (once I was old enough to realize what Valentine's day was) my Valentine's day was spent corralling my siblings into planning surprises for Mom and Dad to make the day special, for them! :) It usually included serving them dinner (that we cooked) in another room of the house so they could eat by themselves. Last year was a little different. For the first time I had my very own Valentine, my Fiance! However, my Valentine was going to be working on V-day so we celebrated on February 11th which was his day off. He surprised me with a small red bear, flowers in a mug (with hearts on it, of course), Chocolates, and a very nice lunch! He had the whole day planned out for us! We decided that from that day on we should always celebrate Valentine's day on the 11th. (As you can tell, I will take any opportunity to show my husband he means the world to me, so even though Valentine's day is a "worldly thing" we can still take advantage of it!)

So this year, I made plans for us. I made sure I had the ingredients for a Chocolate cake (that ended up with a pink heart on the frosting thanks to sprinkles) and also bought the ingredients to make us a nice meal. I couldn't find a nice card, so I wrote him a love letter, which I knew he'd prefer anyway. Knowing my husband, as I looked at all the valentine candy (and the ridiculous prices) I finally decided to get him some ordinary Reeses Cups! They're his favorite and since I don't prefer them (although I don't mind them, but that means I always go for something else if we're deciding to get a little treat) I knew he'd love to have them!
Now, I will admit that I did constantly remind Scott that since he got me a bear (that was maybe 6 inches tall) last year, he had to get me one this year. I told him it could be really small, I didn't care, but he had started a tradition, and he should keep it! So, on February 10th, he went shopping and I made our cake (which he didn't know about). We ended up deciding to start our little celebration that night because we were going to get the house to ourselves. After he got back I had asked him to go get me something from the car and to just put it on our bed in the bedroom. Well, then he kept telling me that he had done that and that I should go make sure he got the right thing (or something like that). So I went into the bedroom and found this (see below) sitting on my pillow with a single Red Rose sticking out of the heart! It was so sweet (although a bit bigger than I had expected!!!! :) )

Scott wanted me to see it right away so the Rose could get into some water, and apparently the large bear (instead of a smaller one) was because he didn't like any of the smaller ones! That's okay, I love my bear! I especially like that it has the year right on it!!! :) I have the most wonderful husband!

So, what did you all do for Valentine's day?

As a side note, here is a picture from our stay with Bryan Davis and his family:

Love Your Husband... Titus 2:4

My time this morning is limited, as I have a full day ahead of me (when don't I?), but I could not let the day go by without sharing this with you.

Titus 2:4 says, "That they may teach the young woman to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children..."

The love in this verse is phileo, meaning friendship love - a love that cherishes, enjoys, and likes our husband. We are to value him and build a friendship with him. We should see our husband as our best friend and want to be with him more than any other person.

I am not saying that I have a problem with making my husband my best friend. He is my best friend. The above is from part of my devotions this morning. (Yes, I've finished the chapter on Submission and am now on to "A Heart That Loves".) The thing I wanted to share with you today was the following, by Elizabeth George.

"How can a wife nurture a heart of love, a heart prepared to support her husband in practical ways, "until death do us part"?
Decide to make your husband your number one relationship! Our relationship with our husband is meeant to be more important that the relationships we enjoy with our parents, friends, a good neighbor, a brother or sister, a best friend, and even our children - and the way we use our time should reflect that rank ordering!"

May you all have a blessed day, and to any wives reading this, I encourage you to ask yourself throughout the day if you're making your husband your number one relationship. Who are you eargerly sharing things with? That's what I'll be asking myself today.