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Our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary

The sterling silver cross necklace gift Ray gave me for our 25th "silver" wedding anniversary

The sterling silver cross necklace gift Ray gave me for our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary

This week, April 11, 2017, Ray and I had our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary. It seems like just two years, and then it also seems like it’s been forever. It has sure been HELL.

But as I pointed out in my Facebook comment, never a dull moment!

Despite our LOUD, INTENSE arguments for 25 years (yes, the WHOLE marriage; we had one tonight!), we’ve been married longer than many of our family members and friends, watching in grief as they divorced…while we have determined to fulfill our covenant with God and each other. It hasn’t been easy, and we’ve had to look to the Cross for help.

Jesus on the cross

Jesus on the cross

We’ve survived unfaithfulness to each other (both of us), bankruptcy, foreclosure of our home, stepfamily conflicts, financial crisis after crisis, multiple moves to new homes/cities, health issues, ministry failures, and much more. 

What is our greatest strength, though? We’ve never quit. Like runners in a sprint or a marathon, you keep moving forward, no matter how tired you are.

sprinters

We’ve never thrown in the towel, although we have both wanted to  many times through the years.

Ray has actually been to divorce attorneys three times because he was so fed up with our marriage! (And I’ve thought about going to one many times!)

Ray & me Holding our "faith" stone, as we wait for final approval of the VA loan for the home we're buying this year

Ray & me
Holding our “faith” stone, as we wait for final approval of the VA loan for the home we’re buying this year

By God’s grace, we’re still together, hopefully until death do us part.

  • Ray can still make me laugh more than anyone else;
  • Every time he prays over me and holds my hand, saying, “It’s going to be okay,” I know it is going to be;
  • He still turns me on;
  • He still cooks the best Cajun grilled chicken I’ve ever tasted;
  • He still loves me–which is quite a feat, considering how I am!

25 years and still going…please pray for us. 

Here’s what we did for our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary. It was a fun date!

Ray bought me a very funny card. It features a married male and female dog couple and says “It’s our anniversary.” The card seemed hand-picked by God, and made me laugh because it was so much like us.

anniversary card

anniversary card

For example, it showed the couple wanting to watch a movie together. The husband dog asked, “How about science fiction?” and the wife dog asked, “How about a love story?” Ray is a sci-fi fan, and of course I love chick flicks! 

Another hilarious thing about the card was that it read, “We still like to write each other little notes…although the subject matter isn’t always love.” It showed a cartoon of the wife posting sticky notes to her husband on a cork board with notes like, “Call the dentist,” “Grocery List,” and “Toilet keeps running.” The husband dog has stooped shoulders, and is looking at the sticky notes with an exasperated , tired expression. (Ray feels this way about my sticky notes!)

Ray said the card “nailed the notes.” (I’m addicted to sticky notes and often leave Ray little notes around the house for his “honey-do’s.”)

sticky note

sticky note

On the card, they were at a drive-through restaurant, with the husband getting the wife some food. He is asking her, “No fries, honey?” and she is saying, “No, just a cheeseburger.” Ironically, a couple of nights before Ray gave me the card, I’d asked him to go get me a Sonic cheeseburger. The card amused us both. 

Ray also gave me a beautiful, sterling silver cross necklace as my gift. Silver for our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary, and a cross as he said it is the foundation of our marriage. Amen! Ray did so good on my card and gift!

necklace

sterling silver cross necklace gift

For part of his present, I bought Ray a straight razor soap cup, that he had been requesting to go with his straight razor I’d bought him.  You put soap in the cup, and whip it to make a  good lather, then apply the soap to the face before shaving. When Ray was a little boy, he used to watch his granddaddy Hutchins shave at the bathroom mirror with a straight razor.

Recently Ray said he wanted a straight razor, from the good memories of his granddad, plus straight razors are supposed to give men a better shave. I didn’t really “get” it, but it’s a guy thing, so I bought him the straight razor, the black strop to sharpen the razor, and the soap cup.

I also have something special to give him for our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary party, which I will blog about soon!

straight razor and brush

straight razor and brush

soap cup

soap cup

For our “silver” wedding anniversary, I bought pretty silver heels for our anniversary date. Love them!

my silver shoes

my silver shoes

Ray wore a silver shirt with a silver pattern tie, black slacks, and his cowboy boots for our anniversary date. Looking good!

Ray in his silver shirt & tie for our "silver" wedding anniversary

Ray in his silver shirt & tie for our “silver” wedding anniversary

Here I am in my black dress, black wrap, the silver shoes, and wearing the sterling silver cross necklace Ray gave me.

me in black dress, black wrap, silver shoes & silver cross necklace for our "silver" anniversary

me in black dress, black wrap, silver shoes & silver cross necklace for our “silver” anniversary

For our 25th “silver” wedding anniversary date, we ate lamb gyro sandwiches with tzatziki sauce (made with cucumber), pita bread with hummus, and dolmades (stuffed grape leaves with rice and beef). Ray also had a Greek salad. It was DELICIOUS!

lamb gyros

lamb gyros

pita bread & hummus

pita bread & hummus

dolmades

dolmades

After our date, we came home and prayed together for our marriage, our children, and our grandchildren, asking God to bless us and our family and for us to walk in obedience to Jesus, and that the latter days would be greater than the former. (Haggai 2:9) It was a great 25th wedding anniversary!

*******

This book In PRINT at: https://www.createspace.com/6099550

This book In PRINT at: https://www.createspace.com/6099550

If  you are hurting in your marriage and you’d like to read about the 25 difficult years of Ray’s and my marriage, but how with God nothing is impossible,click here.

 

Blog, Business, Ebooks, Faith, Homemaking, Marriage, Parenting, prayer, Spiritual Gifts, Writing

Birthdays, babies, and books, oh my!

My husband Ray and me on his 50th birthday

My husband Ray and me on his 50th birthday

There’s a lot going on in our family right now. Birthdays, babies, and books, oh my!

My husband Ray had his milestone 50th birthday this week. In the picture above, you see him wearing the “Champ” t-shirt I bought him.

I also made him breakfast (yes, this is quite a feat for me as I hate to cook!), baked him a home-made lime pie (he loves limes), and bought him the t-shirt and work socks. I’m also hosting a birthday bbq for him in August with his friends.

Our daughter Heather bought Ray a new grill and a set of grill tools- an amazing gift! Of course we had to immediately try it out, so last night our kids and grandkids (except for our grandson Jacob, who was in AR) came over for his birthday bbq. Ray grilled his infamous Cajun chicken and corn on the cob.

Heather & Ray with his new grill for his birthday

Heather & Ray with his new grill and grill tools for his birthday

For the birthday bbq, Heather and Eden made home-made, orange-cranberry cupcakes with orange-cranberry frosting and I served Ray’s lime pie. Here’s Eden frosting the cupcakes with her cool baking frosting tool.

Eden looked so pretty in her purple sundress. She’s now about 34 weeks pregnant with her little girl, Piper. We’re all excited about meeting Piper soon!

Eden frosting Ray's cupcakes

Eden frosting Ray’s cupcakes

Aren’t the cupcakes beautiful? Leah said I need to invest in this tool, because mine do NOT turn out this pretty! Eden would like to have her own bakery business one day. Eden added an orange candy slice on top and a moustache as a joke, because I don’t like Ray with moustaches or beards. 

orange-cranberry cupcakes

orange-cranberry cupcakes

Here is Ray about to try one out. He gave his stamp of approval!

Ray and his cupcake with an orange slice and a moustache

Ray and his cupcake with an orange slice and a moustache

The grill works just great. The chicken and grilled corn on the cob turned out delicious! Everyone loved it and had fun.

Ray's Cajun grilled chicken

Ray’s Cajun grilled chicken

grilled corn on the cob

grilled corn on the cob

Everyone digging in! Left to right: Leah, Heather, Heather's boyfriend Matt, Ray, & part of Eden

Everyone digging in!
Left to right:
Leah, Heather, Heather’s boyfriend Matt, Ray, & part of Eden

Our granddaughters (Heather’s girls) Violet and Annabelle and I sat at the kitchen island to eat due to table space in the dining room (above). Annabelle (pictured on the right) is a picky eater, but she loves her papa’s grilled chicken!

Violet and Annabelle at Ray's birthday family bbq

Violet and Annabelle at Ray’s birthday family bbq

Here is a great family picture of us after we ate. I love it!

Our family, Ray's 50th bday Left to right: Heather, Eden, Ray, Leah & me

Our family, Ray’s 50th bday
Left to right:
Heather, Eden, Ray, Leah & me

Eden is eager to have Piper, but Piper doesn’t need to come yet! Eden is supposed to be 34 weeks pregnant, but she and I both think she is further along than that. Eden has already dropped and is dilated 1 cm. Of course, you can be at 1 cm for weeks!

I’m having a baby shower for Eden in late July, but Eden and I have both had dreams that she had Piper early and we don’t think she’s going to make it to her due date in August. Eden has an “owl” theme for Piper’s crib. 

owl theme for Piper's room

owl theme for Piper’s room

owl theme

owl theme

Finally, I’m about to “birth” my new, first ever fiction book, Storm Tossed. It is launching Monday, July 13, 2015, at Amazon.

Storm Tossed

I’m so excited about this. Ray and our youngest daughter Leah have been encouraging me for YEARS to write a fiction book! I had all kind of excuses WHY I couldn’t do this: I’d never written a fiction book before, I’d never taken fiction writing classes, what does plot mean, etc.

I had to tell myself what I’ve told my writer coaching students: “Just do it! No excuses! Write!”

To my surprise, my beta reader reviewers have liked (even LOVED) the eBook, and have given me very positive feedback!

I’m having a Facebook Virtual Book Launch Celebration on July 13, 2015. You can see my video about it by clicking here

Like I said, lots going on with our family right now. Very exciting! What is new with you? Leave your comments below. 

 

Blog, Business, Ebooks, Faith, prayer, Spiritual Gifts, Writing

First draft of my 1st fiction book done, woot!

Storm Tossed

I’m so excited! 

Woot! Above is the beautiful cover. I chose the image at Istock and then had a graphic designer create the ecover for Amazon.

My  husband Ray loves to read fiction books and has been encouraging me, a non-fiction author, to write fiction for years! Today he told me he is very proud of me for finally doing this.

Of course, I still have to edit (and edit, and edit) and do the re-writing; do keyword and category research on Amazon; hire the formatter; and get it uploaded to Amazon. My goal is to have all this done by July 1, 2015. You can hold me accountable! 🙂

But this was a HUGE accomplishment. At lunchtime, I went out to celebrate, eating Mexican lunch (chicken fajitas with queso cheese sauce). The chips and salsa were especially delicious today.

Celebrating with chips and salsa!

Celebrating with chips and salsa!

Chicken fajitas

Chicken fajitas

I still have lots to do before the eBook launch at Amazon, but I’m so pumped about this!

Be sure to celebrate your accomplishments, big and small!