"Beautiful Love Stories Should Happen Every Day"

I saw this picture today while I was cruising pinterest.  I go through these phases where I can't get enough of that stupid website and then I go through phases where I don't log on to it for weeks.  Today, I was tagged in a post, so I logged on and saw this...and I paused, and my heart slowed down and I felt peace.

The truth is, beautiful love stories should happen EVERY DAY. I also think the truth is, they do.  We just aren't looking hard enough.  In this world full of Hollywood RomComs and Chick-Flicks combined with Chick Lit and romance novels I think this idea of a beautiful love story gets distorted, it gets unrealstic, and in the process, it gets lost.

Beautiful love stories do not have to happen between two lovers.  There don't have to be romantic feelings for a person for it to be a beautiful love story. Don't get me wrong, I think there are some seriously amazing love stories I am blessed to either be witness to or involved in that are romantic relationships but that isn't the only form of love.

I saw a love story at the park the other day. I watched a young father teach his young child how to throw and catch a baseball.  Beautiful love story.

I saw a love story at church.  I watched a new Mom with tired eyes and worn out hands hold her new born and smile into his eyes as though he was all that there was in this world.  Beautiful love story.

I saw a love story in my own life.  I was invited to a party and being included in something fun and special with someone I adore warmed my heart. Beautiful love story.

I saw a love story at home when I walked in the door the other night and my giant Maine Coon sat cuddled with his feline brother in a rocking chair.  Beautiful love story.

I see love stories on my cell phone regularly when my friends and family reach out to make me laugh or keep in touch or just let me know they are thinking of me.  Beautiful love story.

I see a love story every time I am surrounded by my elderly grandparents.  They are old, so is their relationship intimate in the traditional way people think of? Probably not.  But they sit hand in hand.  His voice still calms her better than anyone else's.  They still protect and cherish one another fiercely.  Beautiful love story.

I see a love story in my husband every day we are together.  They aren't the love stories where he comes riding in on a white horse in armor or seduces me so seriously that my knees go week (although there is plenty of that, lets get real here), but rather the love story where he rubs a calf cramp out of my leg in the middle of the night. Or I come home from work to dinner on the table. Or he vacuums just because.  Or he leaves me a sweet note on my car. Or he does a load of laundry. Or he cares for me when I am ill.  Beautiful love story.

I see a love story when my little brother comes to town and my heart, along with my mother's, feels so full to be around him again.  Beautiful love story.

I see a love story when a pot of flowers tenderly cared for and nursed through the winter blooms again.  Beautiful love story.

I see a love story as spring settles in and summer teases us about showing up with green grass and gorgeous sunsets.  Beautiful love story.

I see a love story when I see cousins and siblings and friends love someone and circle the wagons to protect them in their darkest hours.  Beautiful love story.

I see a love story every time someone is engaged in laughter.  I especially admire the sparkle in the eye and look of pure bliss when the laughter is the deep, belly-bursting, soul-healing kind of of laughter. Beautiful, beautiful love story.

I see a love story every time I come home and marvel at the blessings that my Heavenly Father has given me: a home, a husband, a job, my health, a family, a firm set of good friends, my critters who are always happy to see me, the neighbor who always smiles and waves, music, a bed to sleep in at night, warm water, indoor plumbing, books, food in my belly (maybe too much sometimes) and so, so, so much more. Beautiful love stories.

So, it's true, a beautiful love story should happen every day.  It is also true, you see, that it does.  It just matters where we look.

The Great Toilet Seat Problem

You know, I hear a lot of women often complaining about the great toilet seat conundrum.  I have been lucky in my life. Never really having had to share a bathroom with my brothers, I never experienced the moment so many women refer to with disgust and shock of falling into the toilet after a man hadn’t put the toilet seat down behind him.

When I got married, I thought I was sure to experience this fateful moment.  In fact, I braced myself those first few months, but by the grace of the Good Lord, I unknowingly married a man who puts the toilet seat down. Every time.  I don’t know when he picked up this habit or whether I should be grateful for a roommate or past girlfriend or kiss my mother-in-law or if he just managed to pick it up on his own, but either way, this amazing miracle just made up one more reason I decided my husband is basically, well, perfect.

In all the time that we dated and the time we have been married, he has never, EVER, not ONCE left the toilet seat up.  Guess what ladies? I got lazy.  I quit looking behind me when I went to sit.  I thought I had it made.

Until Sunday morning.

I don’t see well. I wear corrective lenses about 18 hours a day and have glasses for when I am at home. I am just a few points shy of legally blind. I can’t even squint into clear vision.  In my own home, I walk to and from the bathroom without glasses in the wee hours of the night or first thing in the morning. I have always felt safe doing this.  I don’t trip over things on the floor because we keep the place well kept. I don’t worry about surprises.

So, imagine my surprise when I stumbled into the bathroom in the early hours of Sunday morning, no glasses, didn’t turn the light on, and went to sit on the toilet only to experience immense panic when I realized that I was sinking lower than I thought I should, the sudden heart racing when the toilet seat didn’t rise up to meet my naked rear end, the instant panic when I realized what was happening and my small hiney slid right past the edge of the toilet bowl. My heart thudded out of my chest in the moment I thought maybe certain death was imminent accompanied with a rapid heart beat and sudden sweat beading along my forehead as I strained my legs to hold me up so I would not touch bare ass to toilet water.  My abs hurt from the effort. I gasped. I shouted my husband’s name. I strained my thigh muscles and stood up, dropping the seat with a resounding BANG.

While washing my hands my husband finally made it back and asked what all the commotion was about.

“YOU LEFT THE TOILET SEAT UP ASSHOLE!”

I don’t honestly know why I was so upset, but I was piping mad.  I think part of it was that I have lived 27 years 2 months and 11 days without having fallen into the toilet bowl.  He just looked at me and laughed. I am talking hysterical, loud belly laughs.  As he turned to walk out of the room he said:

“Ah man, I love you so much. I guess I got up in the middle of the night to pee. I guess once every few years isn’t too bad of a record.”

Well, I guess, in the scheme of things...it really isn’t.  But Still.

Today, I was wondering...

*Do people who LOVE their job still have days where they, well, hate it?

*Does the guy that invented drink umbrellas look at the world today and think, “Man, that was one freaking genius invention?”

*Do people who really hurt my feelings ever look back and regret it? Or feel bad? Or wish they‘d apologized? Because I do look back at feelings I have hurt and think all those things.

*How many kids actually get some life experience under their belt and go tell the grown-ups in their world, “I hate to admit this, but you were right?” I have been eating crow for a few years now.

*Does anyone love Ellen as much as I do? “Be kind to one another.”

*Do the parents with the obnoxious child running around and touching food of the strangers at the restaurant really think that it is cute and part of being a kid? It isn’t cute, control your child.

*Do personal trainers/work-out buddies/fit people really enjoy inspiring the less active or are you really slowing down your jogging pace and thinking in your head, “Good grief, lay off the cookies?”

*Why do we feel the need to get mad or degrade other people when they are trying to make a healthy lifestyle change?

*On the other hand, why do people feel the need to judge me when I eat a slice of cheesecake? How do you know I didn’t spend all day eating celery to save my calories?

*Do you ever wish you could find the excitement over a pretty rock like you did as a child? I don’t mean a pretty rock on a wedding band either.

*Who invented water filters? They were genius.

*Why do people turn the air conditioning on at the first sign of spring? 60 degrees is not an air condition worthy temperature.

*Why are people so close minded? Try a grilled hummus sandwich, it’s delicious.

*Why don’t more people have porches? They are a fading trend. I love porches.

I mean, I’m just wondering.

The Last of our Cruise...Finally!!!

I looked up the word “cruise” in the dictionary and it said: to sail about on a pleasure trip.  I’m not certain there could be a more accurate description for our honeymoon! The cruise ship process is really quite impressive.  The ships are far larger than anything you can imagine and when you stand next to it, really you just sort of stare! Basically, a cruise ship is an entire floating city!

The mister was concerned about sea sickness in all the days leading up to our trip. After one day on the ship all his concerns went away. I did learn a few things though due to our room placement.  We had an ocean view room on the very bottom and very front of the ship.  As a result, we felt things a lot more when we were in our room than in other places.  The front of the ship is what cuts the waves and chops through the ocean as you are sailing so of course we felt it.  I thought it just rocked me to sleep every night though, quite honestly!!! If we are ever lucky enough to go again I would definitely get a room closer to mid ship and higher up.

My favorite part of being on the cruise ship was dinner…and not just the food but the whole process.  Every night I got to dress up and wear something nice, do my hair pretty, slap on some amateur make-up, and go “out” to dinner.  There was always live music in the lounge an hour before our seating time so we would go sit on the couches in the lounge and listen to live music while sipping tropical juice and awaiting our dinner time.  Every night in the main dining room is like eating at a fairly fancy restaurant.  There are pretty glasses and shiny silverware and cloth napkins and beautiful place settings.  The servers would pull out our chairs and put our fancily folded napkins in our laps and bring us menus already opened with delicious food listed in pretty fonts. When you couldn’t decide on something they just brought it all and we ate more than we have in our entire lives.  Here is a tip for future cruisers: when browsing the menu, don’t ask your server which is the best dish between three, he will just bring all three to you! I loved our team of wait staff though and was sad in my heart when it was time to leave them.  They learned in the first night that sour dough bread is my favorite and there was always a stocked basket on our table after that.

I know this so makes me sound like a fat kid but the food was endless.  On our formal night, we were STARVING so we went up to the 24-hour buffet for a “snack” before dinner and ate pizza and mousse in our dress clothes on the open deck.  I ate so much on this vacation I came home and didn’t eat for 3 days. I’m not lying either, ask the Mister.  If you are going to skip a meal on a cruise, breakfast is the meal to skip. Don’t get me wrong, it is still delicious, but you can get breakfast anywhere!

During our time on the boat we enjoyed some theatre, some comedy shows, some casino time, some lounging on the deck by the pool, some fruity drinks, a turned down bed every evening and a miniature golf course.  We spent our actual anniversary at sea and we thought we would celebrate with some golfing. However, the gale force winds weren’t very cooperative.  We managed to make it a great time anyway though. We also got a special piece of cake that night at dinner.

I have not been on many vacations, but I will say as vacations go, cruising has got to be one of the best! I was over prepared for some things and underprepared for others, so if you are a first time cruiser, ask someone who has been on one before you pack 4 suitcases. With the affordable rates that a person can find to go cruising, I am hopeful it is a vacation we can repeat a few different times before we are too old to enjoy it.

SIGH…finally I finished all the cruise posts!