December

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone and the new year is here! 2013 seems like it literally flew by!  I am getting bad at this, but I am posting for December in January!  So for December.... I finished the fall semester of Nursing School.  Just one semester away and graduation now seems attainable!!!  We had our lovely date night!

We drove down to Marshall while the weather was getting a little icy in Texarkana.  Phillip was a little apprehensive, but it turned out to be a great night.  We watched the light show, listened to the Christmas carolers, got some food and hot chocolate, and took a double decker bus tour of the lights around town.  It was a nice little getaway and a perfect date night that got us in the Christmas spirit!

Next we took a trip to Wichita, Kansas for my cousin's wedding.  We had a few delays on both flights there and back.  We got to witness a beautiful wedding, and even got to play in the snow!  It was so nice to get together with my family and made tons of memories with our family game night!

We had 3 Christmases this year.  I think Phillip has finally realized that Christmas time drives me just a little crazy.  And my crazy is hard to deal with sometimes.  I read the other day that there are five stages in marriage.

Stage 1:  passion prevails. You are head over heals in love with your mate.

Stage 2:  gives way to an earth-shattering awakening; marriage isn't at all what you expected it to be.

Stage 3:  most people believe there are two ways of looking at things, your spouse's way and your way, also known as the Right Way.

Stage 4:  couples come to terms with the fact that they are never going to see eye-to-eye about everything and they have to figure out how to live more peaceably.

Stage 5:  peace and harmony.

I completely believe Phillip and I are in the third stage.  Ironically, most couples go through this stage while faced with making all sorts of life-altering decisions (children, where to live, who will do the cooking and cleaning, who will handle bills, etc.)  And for Phillip and I this has become a competition.  We are not partners, but more like opponents.  Each one of us wants the final word and "KNOWS" exactly the way things should be and how it will work best.  We are working towards the fourth stage.  It isn't always easy.  Marriage is WORK.  Hard word.  We are both becoming more readily to forgive each other's hardheadedness and recognize neither one of us are exactly easy to live with.  So for the new year I strive to work on several things.

1.  Let go of blaming my partner.

2.  Accept our differences because these can be the best of what the other has to offer.

3.  Communicating with each other not just beating our points in with harsh words.

4.  Focus on small, positive changes because Rome wasn't built in a day.

5.  Love each other in all ways always.  We aren't perfect and only strive to be the best we can be together.

Happy New Year everyone!

Baby JAX is 2!!!!