Project 52 Date #21

Our project tonight was making paper airplanes together and seeing whose flew the best. Of course we had to start with root beer floats, because what great date doesn't start with those... really?? Okay so once those were made we went off to the dining room to begin the folding. I had printed out a variety of paper airplane models and let JT choose his first and then I chose mine. It took me three times to figure out the instructions of my plane but I finally got it. JT was pretty darn intense with his plane. I tried chit chatting with him, but most of the answers were one worded... he was in the zone!


So it was
Delta


vs
Little Nicky


So we sat down on the fireplace to start the competition, Best out of 3.
First round... no competition JT won, mine just barrel rolled and went down in style
Second round... JT kicked my rear again and I declared best out of 5 just in case
Final round.... JT's gracefully flew across the room, I balled mine up and tossed it and it still didn't go as far :) Well I tried

So the next go around, we chose a simple design together and made the same planes together.
Round 1: Mine actually went a little further then his, I was impressed
Round 2: Mine hit the stairwell, it went so far, beat JT :)
Final Round: Mine went through the doorway and down the hall. I had a pretty good plane
This was a great date and alot of fun to do something together that we have never done before. I really enjoyed this one :) -Mia

JT Says:
So I get called to the table and find the table covered in paper, paper for paper airplanes and instructions for them too. So our date tonight turns out to be to have a plane building contest and then to make the same plane and see who's turns out best. Well I'm a little intense when it comes to building things(as the picture clearly shows) and I took our test flights pretty seriously. So we pic out what design we're gonna build and get to folding! I have no idea why mine is called "little nicky" but it seemed like a good one to me so I went with it. Turns out it flew pretty good. I won't give out exact distances but I'm pretty sure my plane had to get out binoculars to see how far back Mia's landed...just kidding, they were actually pretty close but I won by a little. So Round 2 and we're building the same design and things didn't fare so well for me this time. Our first launch in our best of 3 turns out pretty even. Second launch and mine flies upside down the whole way while Mia's goes all the way across the living room. So I figure third round if I can't beat her I'll at least throw mine like a Patriot Missile and shoot down her long distance flier! Well as luck would have it she throws on 3 instead of 1,2,3 then throw! So somehow hers sails across the living room then thru a doorway and on down the hallway almost into our bedroom. Ahh well, win some lose some. Anyways, I had alot of fun and I can't remember the last time I made a paper airplane. I rank it int he top 5 so far for our dates!

P.S. After sorely losing the second round I put one plane on top of the other and threw them both at Mia as she walked back into the room from retreiving her plane and if not for her quick reflexes I probably would have put both her eyes out with my awesome two plane stacked attack! Yeah I relived a 4th grade boy moment....

Love is…sharing your passion (Week 21)

Brian and I chose to have children relatively early in life, and are now moving out of the child-having stage and into the child-rearing stage of life. We are totally thrilled that the boys are old enough for us to show them the world. We are having a blast, camping, fishing, hiking, volunteering, exploring different sports, and teaching them to be good people through small actions every day.

I have to admit, it is a little bittersweet knowing you are done. The boys are growing so fast, and I miss having the tiny, little, warm body curled up in my arms. I miss that sense of calm that came over me as I quietly sat and fed my baby and the joy of experiencing all their “firsts.”

I didn’t realize how passionate I was about the whole baby-having thing, until the next wave of babies was upon us. All my friends that waited are now just having babies, or are pregnant. I got the excited emails and phone calls spreading the happy news, and then came the nervous overwhelmed emails and phone calls asking me questions. It all came flooding back to me, the millions of things to think about, the mountains of baby gear…it made me smile. I jumped on the questions and answered them simply, but as fully as I could. My spirit soared. I started checking my email hoping to find the next set of questions to answer. For some reason my friends felt confident asking me and trusted my answers. I took it very seriously, but at the same time eased their stressed out hormonal minds.

That little nagging voice in the back of my head suddenly quieted. I was no longer torn about having just one more baby of my own. I knew for certain our family was complete, for now. My focus shifted to my friends, to every woman. I wanted them to have the wonderful birthing and nursing experiences I had with both my sons. I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed by the strength with which this new path hit me. Suddenly I was feeling passionate about empowering women to take control of their birth process and make it their own. I wanted to give them the tools, the information, to make the right choices for themselves. I wanted to be there in those first crucial moments to help them get off to a good start breastfeeding. I want to be a birth doula? Huh? Well, maybe I want to be a certified lactation consultant. Wait, you have to be a registered nurse for that? Another bachelors? I was kind of leaning toward a Master’s in Public Health. I could work for the health department and teach nutrition, parenting, or other classes? What certifications do I need for that?

Yes, I am still reeling. I am filled with this sense of purpose, this passion, and this urgency, to provide expectant mothers with information to ease their minds. I feel drawn to the lower income groups the health department services, but like the idea of the closer relationship formed as a doula. Obviously I am still working it out, but in the meantime I am answering my friends questions, recommending books to read, completing the DONA certification process to become a certified birth doula, and impatiently waiting to see where we will get stationed next so I can see what schools are around and if they have an RN or MPH program. So many questions, so many possibilities…
- Jenn

Project 52 Date #20

"Dip,dip,dip..." That's what Jocelyn says as she dips her carrot sticks in her favorite humus dip for lunch. Well tonight's date was dipping fun of the fondue kind. The date simply called for a whole meal centered around fondue. Lucky for me we just happen to have a pretty sweet fondue setup on hand. Now most people think cheese when someone talks about fondue but I'm hear to tell ya its so much more than that. And I actually didn't have a cheese dip in the meal at all. A little hot oil and some secret herbs and spices, and some cubed chicken breast and we had our main course all set. Essentially, using hot oil is like having you're own little fryer and it sure did turn out good! So we sat and talked about our day with each other over the pop and sizzle of our little chicken skewers. I topped it off with some grilled vegetables and we had a really good meal together. After that we gave our waistlines a small rest and caught up on some other thing around the house and then came back to the kitchen for dessert. Chocolate fondue was an adventure for me to say the least but I managed to create a pretty good chocolate sauce if i do say so myself. We had fresh fiji apple slices and fresh cut strawberries for dipping and I think I honestly liked the apple slices more. I did kinda make too much chocolate but I reckon more is better than not enough...We had alot of fun creating our own version of The Melting Pot(if you don't know what that it you better find one and get yourself there before its too late!) and really enjoyed just spending time together hovered over a little pot of melted deliciousness!

Mia Says: This was a delicious date and the fact that we were kinda "cooking" it together allowed us time to catch up with each other and talk! The chicken was delicious and I need to give Chef Lefty a shout out on some of the spices! And dessert was fantastic, it was a GREAT date!

Love Is...

Love is...my wife Mia! I'm sitting here in the living room with Mia and she says she's saying she needs to write the next "Love is..." blog but wants to write something special but just needs to think about it. And I hear her say that and a voice in my head says "write about her!". Now she'll never brag on herself or give herself the credit she deserves so allow me.

Mia is constantly in a thought process of some sort and usually involving about 10 things she's juggling at any given moment and I guarantee you at least 2 of those things involve doing something for someone else. She's the first one to check on a sick friend and bring them a warm meal. She has a sixth sense about knowing when someones had a bad day and needs a quick phone call to encourage them. She loves our little girl in every way imaginable, always teaching her something new or finding a new way to spend time with her. You can see the depth of Mia's love as a mother in the constant smile on my baby girl's face. She remembers everyone's birthday and not because she's got a good memory but because it's important to her to show them some extra love on their special day. Her love for her friend's is above and beyond loyal and when it comes to family lets just say you don't mess with a mama grizzly...
I can't remember the last time she went out and bought herself something nice but I have to use both hands to count on my fingers how many times she went out and got something for someone else in the last two weeks. I've gotten stronger, faster, thinner, healthier because she encourages me to go a little farther than I would on my own, and I bet she's done the same for/to you! She's always willing to listen and never one to turn away a friend in need. I still haven't figured out why God chose to smile on me and give me Mia and I cannot repent enough for how often I take for granted how amazing she is and what an example of selfless love she is to me.

Love Is...Mia

Project 52 Date #19

I picked a date from the jar and it told me to paper mache with my husband our Last Name initial.... hmmmm I began to think.... we probably wouldn't really do another with this initial so I thought of a way to keep with the theme and go off on my own a little bit. I found directions on how to papermache a piggy bank. So I pulled all the materials together and started the project. Jonathan was a little skeptical about it, turns out he has never paper mached before... really? Homeschool? Never paper mached?? So he was a little apprehensive about it but finally got the hang of it.

So while I finished, I got out the hair dryer to make the project go a little faster (one of the comments on the directions said to let dry overnight... oops) So we got through step one but step two with the legs attached did require some more time in drying..... so we made our date a two part er.
Part 2... We brought out the pigs again with their cute little bottle top noses and toilet paper roll legs and began to paint them! And then added some faces, but my favorite part came next.

During the first night I told JT to choose something that was 6 months or more away that he wanted to start planning for. It could be anything that he wanted but he needed to think about it.
So tonight we shared what our piggy banks are for, JT chose our 4th anniversary and so did I, another oops :) So I took my piggy bank to be our 5th anniversary planning money! Funny that we both picked something that included us spending special time together. The fun part is that there is no exit for this money. Once it's in there, it's in there, there is no taking it out because something comes up, which I really like! Also when it comes time to either plan or spend the money, the piggy bank "get smashed" and we get to see how well we did saving. I can't wait to see what we come up with!
Jonathan says:

Love is . . . not keeping score (Week 19)

I take you to be my husband in good times and in bad, in plenty and in want, in sickness and in health…I promise to love and honor you all the days of my life. Our wedding vows were pretty standard. We looked deeply into each other’s eyes that day and believed every word we said, although I am not sure we truly understood what they meant.

Next year we will celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary. I hadn’t thought of our vows since that day until one morning last week. We were in the shower. Brian had one arm around my waist holding my body against his while he used his other hand to gently wash my hair. It sounds romantic, maybe even sexy, but I was in agony. It was 48 hours after my shoulder surgery and the first time I was allowed to take a shower. If his arm hadn’t been around my waist I wouldn’t have been able to stand. It was at that moment, totally dependent upon my husband, that those vows came to mind. There he was, totally devoted to my care for better or worse. He woke up every 4 hours to give me pain medicine and replace my ice packs. He helped me to the bathroom, got me dressed each morning, changed the dressing over my
incisions, and put my hair in a ponytail. Oh, and all during finals week no less, when his brain was already fried from endless homework and studying.

It made me remember similar events, like my knee surgery, when he had to carry me up and down the stairs of our basement apartment. Then there was my emergency kidney stone surgery, which left him with a three year old and a hungry, screaming infant for two days, who had never taken a bottle…always there, always supportive, always devoted, rarely complaining.

Then I realized, since I have known him, he has never had surgery and has probably only been sick a handful of times. Wow, I’ve had it easy. Brian laughingly chalks it up to his superior genes!

In my mind I don’t deserve such devotion and feel indebted to him for eternity, but he never makes me feel guilty. He knows that when his turn comes I will be there for better or worse all the days of my life. There are no notches on the bedpost, no bulleted list saved on our computer somewhere…no one is keeping score. We approach each day with a clean slate, ready to do whatever it takes to uphold those words we so lovingly vowed to each other. Now, after almost ten years of marriage, we are just beginning to understand what those words really mean.
- Jennifer

Project 52 Date #18

Tonight's date night was an out of the house date. The mission was to head to your favorite bookstore and go to the cookbook section and find a recipe to cook for your spouse.

So after grabbing some really good thai food at Thai Cottage we headed to Barnes and Noble. A person could wander forever in a place that big so I set our time limit at 30 minutes to find a recipe. I gotta say that the cookbook section of Barnes proved rather daunting. Do I start with Baking or search through Souflets first? Cookies and Cakes or Southern Hospitality Casseroles? Anyways....time is running out and I'm still unsure of what direction I want to take, and then it hits me! With my choice made it doesn't take me long to find what I'm looking for, and no I don't believe I'm telling what I chose. I like being secretive, and it drives Mia crazy :) Good date and we had fun scouring the infinite pages of Barnes and Noble is search of the perfect meal.

Mia Says: First of all Thai Cottage was fantastic and the outside seating was perfect. Second finding a recipe was HARD. I had to find something that I wanted to cook for Jonathan.... hmmm where to start. Well since he isn't tell, I'm not either PHHTT, but I did choose something that I have NEVER made for Jonathan so I am excited to pick another date night to try our cooking skills. Great Date hon!

Love is…a good support system (Week 18)

My whole life changed when I had children. I was so excited to resign from my job and became a mom. I threw my whole self into the most important task of my life and never looked back. Two rambunctious little boys and endless days of their crazy antics would bring me nothing but laughter and happiness. That was the pretty picture I had imagined.

I wanted it to be that way, but it wasn’t that simple. Before kids I could mingle at dinner parties and discuss politics, current events, and spew impressive scientific facts about the research I was working on. You know, the larval tolerance studies I conducted at the University of Maryland’s Center of Marine Biotechnology looking for biological barriers to the spread of non-native species. It was important and interesting work. People looked to me as an expert in the field. It felt good.

Fast-forward six months. I am now “just” a mom at the same dinner parties. The mingling begins. Guess what, I am no longer interesting or important. I learned the fastest way to end a conversation was to begin with “I’m a stay-at-home-mom.” I could see their eyes rolling into the back of their heads as they tried to discreetly cover a yawn. Being a mother consumed me and I suddenly couldn’t talk about anything else. I couldn’t relate to the outside world. I knew mothering was important work. The future of two little lives rested in my hands, but I felt deflated. I wanted to be interesting and respected.

I felt selfish for wanting a more glamorous job. Why couldn’t I be happy being “just” a mom? I knew I was blessed to be able to stay home with my kids. I knew there were a million women who would give anything to be in my position. I felt guilty because I was living that dream, and I was miserable.

None of my closest friends had children or had given up their job. They listened, were supportive, and tried to understand, but couldn’t truly relate to my situation. I needed more. Luckily I am pretty out going. I chatted up other parents at the park, joined the CG Spouses Association, and attended my first local Mom’s Club meeting. I was suddenly surrounded by an amazingly supportive group of people with similar interests...their kids!

I learned that lurking inside many mothers is a voice that constantly reminds them of their illustrious pre-children careers, that they also feel like they will explode if they hear “Mommy I want…” one more time, and that they also need to be reassured and validated by others that this job, they so lovingly took on, truly is important and worthy of the highest respect.

I can, once again, mingle at dinner parties and be up on important current events like who made poopy on the potty for the first time and can use my scientific facts to discuss, in depth, the consistency of said poopy. I am surrounded by positive empowering people that don’t judge me if I have a selfish bad mommy day, and respect me even if there are boogers smeared across my shirt.

A knowing smile or a sympathetic look from another parent when you child is melting down in the grocery store can help you muster that extra bit of patience needed to make it through the check out line. An unsolicited compliment about your child’s behavior in a restaurant can make your heart soar. I have learned we are all in this together. I don’t need to do it all by myself…nobody does. It takes a village.
-Jenn