Shopping Buddy

So it's MHR Friday again....(for those of you still unfamiliar with what MHR Fridays are please click the title of this entry to be taken to Katy Lin's blog explaining it and feel free to join in the fun.)
So this week I was thinking what have I been the most thankful for about my Ben. It was pretty easy....My Husband Rocks this week because of being such a wonderful shopping companion to me this week. He isn't like other husbands that complain or brood or stay home. Although I have tried to get him to stay home before to spare him from boredom....he refuses to stay because he wants to be with me (insert shameless warm fuzzies here). Many times he will bring a magazine or book....but this time he just brought himself and helped me pick out things he thought looked nice and waited with me in the dressing room as I tried on things. At one point he even laid down on the bench in the dressing room and relaxed as I tried on things....thankfully there were no other women in there or he would have gotten some odd stares I'm sure. LOL.... but what a friend he is...for a man that is a die hard Marine and a man's man....he certainly knows how to access his soft and tender side when he needs to. Of course all the sales women love him...he jokes with them and makes excellent conversation....
Anyway...he made me feel so precious by his endless support and his positive, and fun feedback. So that's why my husband rocks this week.
Love you Bear!!!!! XOXOOXOXOXO

A Crazy Bride to Be and MHR Friday

(If you aren't yet familiar with the MHR Fridays group of bloggers please click the title of this blog entry to be taken to Katy Lin's main MHR Friday page and feel free to join in!)
So today Rachel, Celeste and I went shopping for Rachel and Allan's wedding next April. The biggest thing we purchased of course was her gown. OH MY GOSH, can you say PRINCESS BRIDE??? The dress is absolutely FABULOUS!!!! She looks like she stepped off the page of a fairytale bedtime story. So after we left David's Bridal we went to grab some lunch. We expected of course a relaxed and enjoyable lunch among friends......instead what Celeste and I endured was a miriad of squeaks, squeals, bouncing up and down and being bopped on the head and banged into by bride to be Rachel who was FARRRRRRR too wired from the excitement of just purchasing her dress. LOL Several times we assured our waitress that she was in fact completely sober and not in any way legally medicated or illegally high.......I'm not sure she believed us though. LOL
Anyway, so after we left the restaurant we decided to do some shopping since we were at the mall anyway. Imagine three of us crammed into a handicap sized dressing room critiquing all of the sweaters wacko Rachel was trying on. LOL....seriously, how hard is it to take off a sweater??? Who knew that undressing for her would be like trying to get a finger out of a Chinese finger puzzle!!! ROFL
NEXT...we went to another store and Rachel found the earrings to wear with her wedding dress and a few other things. Then we ran to The Christmas Tree Shop (if you are lucky enough to have one of these near you, OHHHHH what a glorious store!!!) where we were VERY blessed b/c somebody had accidentally placed a ton of white candles in with the Christmas clearance items and the manager decided to honor the 50% off price. So we got all the candles we needed WOO-HOO!!
Our next pit stop was A.C.Moore......ohhhhhhhhhhh the mother-load of what we needed. Her colors are ivory, blue and silver....and guess what? We found exactly what we needed in those exact colors in the Christmas clearance section and they aren't even remotely Christmas looking. So the centerpieces and the table decor for the reception are basically done...only a couple other items needed to complete the look of the room. Plus we decided what to do for favors and the cost? $11.00 !!! Yep, that's right.....that's all it will cost to make the favors!! So when we went to the front to pay for all the things we got (which was a LOT), it came to just over $60.00...and the amount we saved? A WHOPPING $126.00 !!!! Yep, you read that right, we SAVED that much money!!! It was AWESOME!!!
So for an 8 hour day, I think we did pretty darn well. The only bad thing was that poor Celeste had to head back to her home in Brooklyn, NY on the late train. So as I write this she probably still has just about a half hour to twenty minutes left of travel time. It was fun though, what a great day and a PRODUCTIVE day too!!!
Soooooooooooooooo after all of that, where on earth is the MHR Friday?
Well, as I was reminded of how Rachel and Allan blend so well together and how involved and attentive he is to not only her, but to this whole process.....I couldn't help but think of my own knight in shining armor. When Ben and I got married 7+ years ago he was also totally involved. He wasn't one of these grooms that just showed up, he was involved in every detail and it was truly OUR wedding...not just my wedding. He has remained like that for all these years too. He is always attentive and involved and still treats me like a queen. Something that I never dreamed possible.
A few weeks ago I was running low on panty liners and even though I knew I needed them I hadn't gotten a chance to go get more. I didn't think to mention to Ben that I needed to go to the store...things were just too hectic and I knew I still had a few days worth left. So that Monday I planned to pick them up on my way home. Well, completely unbeknown to me he had noticed I was running low. I guess the box lid was slightly open or something and he saw them. Well he took it upon himself to go into the bathroom with a sheet of paper and a pen and wrote down the exact brand, style, size and quantity that I prefer. Then after he dropped me off at Sprout Central and before he had to be to work he stopped at the store and bought them for me and only told me about it that evening when he picked me up from work.
Now you MUST understand something about me, I am REALLY funny about honoring a man's masculinity so along with promising him I would never make him sleep in a frilly foo-foo girly bedroom, I also promised him I would NEVER ask him to pick up any feminine hygiene products for me...and in10 years of being together I have faithfully kept that promise. So the fact that he did this for me, without my asking or even mentioning it was HUGE...not just because it was thoughtful, but because of the statement it made to me of how much he cares. So why does my husband rock??? Because of all the little thoughtful things he does for me.....he is my knight in shining armor...and always will be....and the good news??? Rachel and I are not the only ones to find one, there are lots of them out there...just waiting for the woman who will love and appreciate them for who they are!

My Husband Rocks Friday - The Cheerleader

So today is also MHR Friday.....and quite frankly after the emotion drain I had from writing that last entry....I NEED to focus on the happy. (If you aren't yet familiar with MHR Fridays please click the title of this blog entry to be taken to Katy Lin's main MHR Friday page and feel free to join in!)
So why does my husband rock today? He rocks because of his unwaivering support of me.
Like I said in a previous post this week, I am going to be making a career change in a few days. when I told him I got he job he was so happy for me that he excitedly grinned and hugged me, and joyfully celebrated with me. Now since then he has remained fully supportive, but the realization that we won't be working side by side any longer is starting to sink in for both of us. He can't talk about me leaving for my new job without tearing up, and yet, he smiles and says how happy he is for me. **sigh** He asked me for more pictures of myself and us together to keep on his desk so even if he can't see me in person all day he can at least look at my picture.
I don't know how many couples get to work together, and I don't know how many of them are close enough friends that to do so is healthy, but I can say that for 9 years I have been so blessed by my husband's support, encouragement, love and affection for me both at home and in the workplace that I can honestly say I am a stronger and better person because of him.
So THAT is just one more reason why my husband rocks.

It's "My Husband Rocks" Friday!

So this is my first official “My Husband Rocks- Friday” blog entry (thanks sooooo much Katy Lin at the blog The Great Adventure for creating this weekly tribute! If you click the title of this entry you can be taken to Katy Lin's blog page to learn more.) …..YEAH!!! I started to post one last week, but time got away from me.

So, I was trying to decide what to put in my first MHR post and decided to go with something he did last Saturday. Ben and I usually spend our Saturdays preparing for and then going to feed the homeless and low-income people in our town as part of a ministry called Isaiah 58 Outreach. Last weekend I had a bit of an emotional meltdown (you can read my post “It’s My Party and I’ll Cry if I Want To” if you want the full details.) and decided I needed to stay home, so I gave him a bag of women’s clothes somebody had donated to us and he went without me. While he was out there, he and some of the other volunteers met a young woman who was obviously down on her luck. She lost her place to live and was afraid to sleep on the streets in our city (completely understandable if you knew our city), she hadn’t eaten anything in a few days, had no car and only the clothes on her back, her children had been taken away, and she was trying to find a rehab. Attempting to find a shelter that will admit people on a Saturday is not an easy task where we live. Most of them only take new people on weekdays between certain hours. So anyway, after he and our friends made sure she had eaten a good meal Ben let her look at the bag of clothes I had sent with him. Miraculously, they were her size, so she now had fresh clothes to wear too. Finally, he and a friend decided that since she needed rehab also, they would take her to a shelter that they knew of two towns away. So without a thought, and with total shock from the woman that somebody would actually offer to help her, they took her to this place.

Now, there’s one thing you must know about Ben, if you don’t already. That is that he is the type of guy that defines the phrase, “Knight in Shining Armor”…he always looks for a person in need and rarely turns away. I’m thoroughly convinced he should have a cape and tights….well….maybe not the tights…lol. Once as he was returning from picking up an elderly man to bring to church they saw a car on fire on the freeway. Ben pulled his car over, grabbed his fire extinguisher from the trunk, ran across three lanes of traffic, jumped a jersey barrier, ran across three more lanes of traffic, and proceeded to put the fire out….all while looking dapper dressed in his suit. Then when the fire was out and he knew everything would be ok, he said goodbye to the driver, raced back across the three lanes, the jersey barrier, the other three lanes, popped the extinguisher back into the trunk, hopped into the car and still made it to church on time. LOL. Another time he met a woman and her family who had just moved out of a homeless shelter into an apartment and literally had NOTHING….so he decided that this was not suitable. So he began calling connections and little by little we were able to furnish their entire apartment from top to bottom. Then in his spare time (lol…those of you that know us know the humor in using that term), he mentors male prisoners as a pen-pal to encourage them, help turn their lives around, teach them the value of accountability and give them hope for a better life when they get out. He’s just amazing like that…..he’s my hero….and THAT’S why my husband rocks!!