bringing sexy back this summer!

all right WIVES!! i'm calling you out! it's time to put our marriages on the FRONT burners!


i'm doing a book club- 'bringing sexy back this summer!' (thanks jenny for the name!)- with this book:

it's 'Sheet Music...Uncovering the Secrets of Sexual Intimacy in Marriage' by Dr. Kevin Leman.
marriage is on my heart lately. i'm hearing about more hurting marriages than healthy marriages. i'm hearing women that are hurting...and i'm sure there are men hurting. i'm hearing 'we just exist in the same house'. i'm hearing men that are done and filing for divorce. i'm hearing women that are done and filing for divorce. sigh...

so when i'm hearing a lot of the same things...it's time for me to make a move. i told heath i'm not doing my part if i'm not sharing with as many wives as possible how stinky marriage can be sometimes and how wonderful it can be sometimes.

let's start a new trend! marriages that are fulfilling. marriages that are more health than hurt. doesn't that sound fresh?! don't you want some of that?!

SOOO...we are going to open up the communication on sex. that's right...i said it. S-E-X. i know this is a tender area for some. and it will be treated as such. but sex is also fun and beautiful in marriage. a quote from sheet music...'sex is about the quality of your entire love life, not just the alignment of your bodies.' (emphasis added)

ok. so here's what's happening. whether you are saying:

'my marriage is on the rocks'. or 'my marriage is "eh"..ho hum'. or 'my marriage rocks!'.

the girls are getting together!!!

here's the 4.1.1.

*we will be getting together every other wednesday starting june 8th. this is a laid back summer book club so sign up even if you can only come to a couple. the dates are: june 8th, june 22nd, july 6th, july 20th, august 3rd, august 17th.

*we will be chatting it up from 6:30-7:30

*we'll meet at my house, parks, or if there is anyone else that wants to offer their yard and firepit (wink).

*you must be a wife. that is the only requirement. doesn't matter how short or long you have been married. the more variety, the better.

*you must sign up via comment here, facebook, facebook message or text me. you must sign up by MAY 2Oth.

*i also need to know if you will be getting the book yourself (amazon.com and halfpricebooks.com are good prices) OR you want me to order it for you through our local bookstore-Hope Crossing.

i'm just going to end on a thought with how differently men and women are created.

*men want to have sex TO fix things. women want to fix things BEFORE they have sex.

o! how true this is! how different we are from our hubbies. BUT we, as husbands and wives, can make beautiful harmonized music together!

fa la la laaaaaaa!

a day-after-mother's-day TREAT

i love this devo book!!!

it is jen hatmaker's 'out of the spin cycle...devotions to lighten your motherload'.

i cannot say enough wonderful things about it or share it with enough mommas! it is serious good. i laugh. i cry. it hits home with so many of my own stories.

today i was reminded and wanted to share this one:

You want to be the mom of your kids' dreams? Want to give them security, health, stability, and happiness? Love your husband. Love him so much it's almost embarrassing. Kiss him, hug him, talk about him to your kids like your heart would expire without him. Refuse to let issues fester until you blow like Mount Vesuvius and char everyone. Have sex with him (this alone would solve most of his problems). Tell your children their daddy is a hero and they're the luckiest kids to belong to him. Be his fan. The best gift for your kids is parents who are crazy for each other. (Did I mention have sex with him?). Love each other well, and your house will stand, sweet friend.

i know mother's day is a day where we either love our husbands more because of special attention we got OR we want to wring their necks because we didn't get any special attention at all.

i say 'choose LOVE' today. maybe even....gasp!....have sex with him! (little sidenote...i have more blogs about this coming my fellow WIVES...stay tuned!)

whether you had a wonderful mother's day or a sucky one...treat yourself to this book. treat your husband to some love. and treat your kids to a happy mom and dad.

open

last week and still, i've been asking myself some hard questions in light of my relationship with God. so hold on to your shorts...this is going to be a heavy post. and for my friends who will ask 'are you ok?'...yes i am fine (*grin*). im just examining myself and feel impressed to share these questions... how far am i willing to go for God? how much am i willing to give up? how much of my comforts am i willing to give up? how far am i willing to say yes to Him? do i have a limit? am i truly OPEN to whatever He wants for my life? at whatever cost?

i watched the closing video from sun stand still by steven furtick for my activate group. amazing book. a definate 'must read'. maybe i'll write a review on it later...someday...heck. probably not. but it sounded good. *wink*. anyways... my encouragement was this... steven furtick said: "when the dream inside you looks nothing like the situation around you." and then he later prayed: "i pray you believe when you can't see Him. that you trust Him when you can't discern what He's doing."

what dreams do you have? a broken relationship restored? a fulfilling marriage? a healthy lifestyle...weight loss/gain? addictions released? job? impact?

what are you willing to give up? control? comfort?

for more info on sun stand still, check out http://www.sunstandstill.org/

power of my words

i read this... http://www.shaunaniequist.com/blog/2011/3/15/lent-part-two.html ...a couple weeks ago. and i can't quit thinking about it...especially this part: shauna writes: i didn't tell anyone (these things). because giving voice to those six things gives them power. what i'm finding is holding back the words takes their power away. i notice the passing flicker of annoyance, but then it's gone, because silence absorbs the power, reduces it. on a normal day, i'd tell aaron or a friend, and by telling someone, i'd give it power, igniting it like a fire. what words am i giving power to? for me, when i read this, it was confusion. trying to figure out 'what's next?' in my life. when i much rather prefer the andrea who just enjoys the ride God has her on. *smiles* but, how often do i give power to confusion? worry? negativity? do i breathe life. hope. and trust into conversations and situations??? just some thoughts. what words are you giving power to?

i don't want to go...

i first need to say...

i heart leapin ministries.

leapin is a free clothing shelter here in marion that me, heath and our kids get to go and volunteer each tuesday folding and putting away toddler clothes.

but today...

today...i don't want to go. its rainy and i just want to curl up in a blanket and hang at home. no real good excuse not to go. i just don't.

but this picture has been on my mind...

with this quote:

"we teach what we know. we reproduce who we are."

this is our 2 year old, garrett. also lovingly called destructor, g, bubbs. heehee.

anyways, when we first started volunteering, we just assumed garrett would play while we folded and put clothes away. we thought wrong! and i'm so glad i had the camera to capture how wrong we were!

i needed this reminder tonite. so its off to leapin we go!

what are some things you do, that you don't think your kids are watching you do? OR. what are some things you do, that you don't think your kids are old enough to help you do?

more info on leapin at www.leapinoutreach.org

family nights

i have a crush on them.

family nights, that is. they make me so happy!

the romance began last fall. i had put on my calendar to watch an online live conference on http://www.leadingandlovingit.com/. i remember before watching it, that i wanted to see someone on there that wasnt put together. preferably no makeup. maybe their house could be a wreck... (wink).

i was in the middle of being a momma. being mrs. coach. being a leader of 'real' in other areas in my community and church.

looking back i realize that in that moment its not that i wanted someone to be a mess. i desperately wanted to see what 'real' looked like for mommas in ministry. i am a lover of 'real'. i love when people are real with ya. ok, rambling....back to my crush.

so when laid back, fun heather whittaker http://www.whittakerwoman.typepad.com/ got on talking about 'being intentional with family time'...i was hooked!

its quite simple.

we spend time together. we laugh together. we relax together.

I. LOVE. IT.

thursday nights are our nights.

here's a peek a boo at last thursday...'snuggle night'.

after school i asked the girls what they wanted to do for family night. they pick most the themes and get creative which is half the fun. but that thursday i told them i just wanted to snuggle with them on the couch and do nothing. so we came up with make a tent, movie and popcorn daddy style...which means pourable butter. happy.

so after dinner we got on our tent making skills! fun fun!

family nights are health to us. they are the discipline i was missing. i was spending so much time with time outs, spankings, yelling and beating my head against a wall of what would work so they would just listen to their momma. and now...well i still have those times but they are fewer and farther between. spending time together is really the attention they were wanting. and i love it.

no matter what your family dynamic is...what do you do to spend time together? we're always looking for ideas!

oooo and one more pic! when we are plum out of ideas, we made this...

i got the idea from debra parker www.debraparker.blogspot.com who makes one for summertime...aaaahhhh summer...

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