279

"The Greatest Love Story"

So...a lot has happened in the past 279 days.

#1 it has been exactly 9 months since our wedding day. A lot can happen in 9 months, like a baby....haha just kidding! No baby for us. (that's how rumors get started)

#2 daily blogging for me is clearly not possible...and it only took me 4 days to realize it. Does that mean I am a fast learner or I like to bite off more than I can chew?? Learning to say "Yes" to the Marriage for me has meant saying "NO" to daily blogging, and instead saying "YES" to the tiny and numerous happenings and appointments of being a wife.

Here is a very brief compilation of the past 279 days of the Cushmans learning to love one another:

• just becuase we are married, we will not spend every waking moment together...and that is "normal" and "okay"
• learning to prepare fruit in every dinner, something my husband grew up with and something new for me...the non-fruit eater
• a full size bed is perfect for two tiny cushmans...who knew adding in a small dauschound in the mix would drastically crowd the bed and deprive my husband of sleep?? As for us we are still enjoying our full size bed...as for  Sammy, he has adjusted very well to his bed on the floor :)
• sometimes you can check and recheck the water temperature when washing colored clothes...and the clothes will come out of the wash the wrong color....it is okay
• the freshman 15 has nothing on the married 20!
• can we say selfish? I am referring entierly to myself here...being married has shown me how selfish I am...and how good the grace of God is, how covering!
• first Christmas together = first tree (cut from a farm) and a night spent beneath the lights of the tree with a fire next to us...splendid first
• learning to hem...nothing like feeling acomplished after the 3rd try on the same pair of pants!
•  the adjustment of "newness" in every aspect of life lends itself to showing how patient and understanding my husband is

There have been many firsts and many one and onlys (like the baked fish dinner...never again!) Most of all what I have learned in the past 9 months is that it is all His and all for Him.

The greatest love story is not ours, Praise God!  The greatest love story "started with the son of God hanging on a cross for me but it ends with a bride and groom in a wedding by a glassy sea, oh death where is your sting? becuase i'll be there singing holy!"          "thecityharmonic"

 "Today is the greatest day ever. Why? Because even today, even on a normal, middle of the week day, God's love is the greatest story of all!"

Day 4

4

Closer to Christ = Closer to Chris

On day four of marriage we shared coffee and juice on our patio. We had a few leftovers from the night before for breakfast and then Chris said “be right back.”

He came back, bible in hand. I sat and listened to him reflect on the message his dad gave during our ceremony. He read through some scripture and we prayed together. I felt my heart do the expansion thing my dear friend had told me about the night before my wedding (this is referenced in day 1) I was already loving him more and more. “Blessed am I” was the only thought in my head.

“Today was the best day ever!”
“What made it great?”

“Having a husband who leads me to be closer to Christ”

Day 3

3

Sleep, AC, and a King

We had been warned of the “crash” that happens on a honeymoon. We were no exception to its pull…regardless of how excited we were to be honeymooning. We slept, and slept, and slept on day 3 of marriage. No profound thoughts occurred, just peaceful precious sleep. We awoke from the peaceful sleep to a room with no air conditioning. We hadn’t noticed the AC was broken until we went outside, came back in, and realized the temp was about the same in both places. The hotel generously moved us next door and we upgraded not only to a room with AC but to a king sized bed.

While the AC was nice, and King sized bed was comfy, I woke up in the middle of the night searching for Chris. My hands just kept hitting the sheets searching for him. I had the realization that we are tiny people, and our full sized mattress back home would be just fine for us, because in the end, my favorite thing about day 3 was holding his hand while we fell asleep…all those numerous times.

“Today was the greatest day ever!”
“What made it so great?”

“Holding the hand of my husband while falling asleep

Day 2

2

Firsts in Flight and some Unexpected Surprises

I have flown before, a few times. A couple of short flights to Jax Beach to visit a dear friend and one long flight by myself to Hawaii when I was in college once pretty much sums up my flying experiences. However, flying to the Bahamas lent itself to a few firsts.

To start off the trip, Chris had a town car reserved to take us from our hotel to the airport, a first for me, and it allowed us to take advantage of the champagne we received for being honeymooners.

We had an unexpected surprise as we searched for a place to eat lunch. While waiting in our terminal, we spotted Chris’ uncle and aunt. They were on their way home from our wedding and they were waiting one section down from us, and believe it or not…we spotted each other…in the HUGE Atlanta airport…so much for not seeing people we knew on our honeymoon. We had a delightful lunch at Moe’s (where I quickly realized free refills don’t exist in the airport restaurants).

There were many firsts in flight during this trip, one of which, and the most obvious was that everything was better because Chris was there. The waiting around, the long lines, having to take my shoes off and stand where hundreds of dirty feet had probably stood that day were all things that would have probably not been fun, except they were…simply because Chris was there!

Another first for us both occurred when we changed planes and ended up on this small prop plane. The prop plane we expected…Chris accidently reserving the only two seats up in the front, seats that were in the opposite direction of everyone else, seats that faced everyone else…not expected. Yes, we had the privilege of looking everyone else on the plane in the eyes as we flew…not a big deal except that Chris gets motion sickness if he is turned backwards or faces the opposite direction that a vehicle is moving. Praise the Lord he did not have to use the courtesy barf bag…but he was queasy for a while after.

The final surprise of the day was when we were picked up by our taxi driver from the airport in the Bahamas. We were informed that he had dropped off a few of our friends at the same resort earlier in the day. “What?”

Yes, we just thought seeing family at the airport would be the only familiar faces we encountered on our honeymoon…we were wrong. A family of church friends of ours ended up being at the same resort. This was a blessing for they provided much needed sunscreen for us. It was a joy to share a few moments with them, and unforgettable to say the least.

“This is the greatest day ever!”

“What made it great?”

“Beginning a new list of firsts with my husband.”

Day 1

1

Advice that wonders the mind and tickles the tongue

I am sure there is an eloquent definition in Webster’s Dictionary for the word “advice”. In fact, I am almost tempted to look it up and copy it in here for the fun of the comparison, however, I will not. I will however, give you my definition of the word advice from the viewpoint of an engaged soon to be bride.

Advice, n.: words in which many people feel the need to express to one who is about to get married, usually with good intent. It can be sometimes costly, but mostly is free, it can be requested, but mostly is freely given without warrant or provocation.

Synonym: see opinion

Let me say that we are blessed to have the advice of having a successful marriage from WONDERFUL parents who lead by example and close friends and other family. We actually do welcome most pieces of advice simply because we want to succeed at this thing that we keep hearing is “so difficult.” We are newly weds, and well…this is day 1 so we haven’t hit the “speed bumps” I have been warned about.

What I am noting in day 1 of marriage are two pieces of advice I received that not only caused me to stop and think but also delighted my soul to realize.

Wonders the mind

A friend, one who is so dear and precious to me said something to me. She was repeating it actually. Someone, one of those free advice givers, told it to her the day she got married, and she felt it was both worthy and true enough to repeat to me. How precious she did for it caused me to stop and think and then rejoice.

 “You will love your husband the least on the day you marry him.”

Of course bewilderment crossed my face as we sat in my car the night before I was to marry Chris. She went on to explain that every day her love for her husband grows and she doesn’t understand how the heart continually expands, but it does, and my love for Chris will just continually grow in our marriage. I will never forget that piece of advice!

Tickles the tongue

One lovely afternoon, pre-pre-engagement, actually it was in October, I was sitting at the Cheesecake factory, indulging in Thai Chicken Pasta (pause for a sigh of yum…) and a friend who is proven to be honest and true and precious made note of something that would occur on our wedding day. She said the day would be special (yes I knew that) and that I needed to make sure to enjoy every minute of it (yes, I knew that too). She then went on to say that the reason I needed to enjoy the upcoming special day was because it would be the only time in my life where everyone I loved would be in the same place. “Only at your wedding do you get to have every person you love in one place. Never again will all your friends and family and out of town people all come together in the same place and at the same time. Enjoy it.”

Wow…was she right. As I reflect on day 1 of marriage, all I can think about is how everyone we love did come together for us. It will be a cherished memory that will never be forgotten.

“This is the greatest day ever. What made it great? Having everyone we love in one place.”

Intro

Say “YES” to the Marriage!

I like introductions, I like to know what I am getting myself into…I am not a risk taker. J So I feel a little introduction is necessary.

Who I am: I am not a blogger…nor am I great with computers, so don’t expect lots of pretty backgrounds and changes. I am however newly married. I married someone who is quickly becoming my best friend, and I LOVE him. This is not meant to be a source of advice on marriage…for I am an infant in this area. I am just a girl who is finding out that marriage is full of funny moments as well as ground breaking thoughts. Many of which I am aware are only ground breaking to me, but I want to document them. So I figure this is the best way to do it. I am also a child of God, and I know that He is the only true source of peace and happiness. So, while I will refer to my husband often, know that I know true joy comes from my relationship with my savior. Praise God for my salvation and that I am a new creation in Him!

What to expect: Like I said, do not expect advice from reading this. Also don’t expect a sappy love story. What you can expect is a daily journal of what I encounter in marriage. You can also expect (and those of you who know me well will not be surprised by this) LOTS of spelling and grammar mistakes. While I may be a school teacher, I can not spell well and I view commas like salt…the more the better…just sprinkled all over my sentences. I have no intention of proofing this blog often, so if grammatical and spelling mistakes give you nightmares or cause you to bite your nails off in frustration…stop reading now.

My goal: I actually don’t expect anyone to read this. I merely want to challenge myself to try and write something quick everyday so I can keep a journal for myself of my first year of marriage. The goal is to have 365 entries by the end of the year…we’ll see. Since I have been married for three weeks, I have some back tracking to do to get caught up. 

The Title: Let me throw out a disclaimer quickly. I like and watch the show “Say Yes to the Dress,” and this is not meant to be a knock at that show. It is very entertaining. After thinking about the show though and all the girls whose wedding seem on the verge of disaster if they can’t get the “perfect” dress, I realized how insignificant the dress actually is to the marriage. Every girl wants that perfect dress, “the one” as I hear it referred to often. I was no different and I personally saw nothing wrong in wanting a dress that made me feel beautiful. What I did encounter on the day I went dress shopping was that I could see how quickly it could have become an idol in my day. While the dress was important, it did not “make” the day. What “made” my day was marrying the person God had for me and marrying someone who I knew would love me forever because he loves God more than me. What made the day was knowing that it was one day, a big one none the less, but it was the day that started the marriage. So I am saying “YES” to the marriage, and documenting as I go. You will also see at the bottom of each post a quote Chris said to me. He said every day can be the greatest day ever. So that is what we will strive to have. It is the greatest day ever because each day is a gift from God and filled with many blessings.