Date Night!

It's amazing what a powerful emotion love is.  When you are tied to someone with the bonds of love, you are capable of the widest range of emotions one can experience.  Your deep love for another makes you vulnerable to deeper feelings of both joy and happiness, or pain and hurt, but mostly that deep love gives you the motivation to move forward, to know there is someone there who will forge through anything with you, because they feel the same way about you that you do about them.

I feel like the very luckiest person in the whole world because I've found in my life a love that will last through the eternities in my husband and best friend.  It's hard to describe exactly how I feel about him, because my feelings are so deep and so complex, with so much dimension to them, because of the range of experiences we've shared together, that it feels impossible to put it into words.  Suffice it to say, I love him A LOT!!!  He is the man that comes up and rubs my shoulders at exactly the right moment, when I'm chopping up vegetables in the kitchen and my back is in agony.  I don't have to say a word, and he knows me so well he can read me like a book.  He's the one that I can laugh so hard with that I cry, and when sad times comes, he's the one I hold onto as we sob together.  He's the one that when I hug him I feel like I just completed myself, like we just "fit".  He is the one that slides his hand over and grabs mine first thing in the morning, and it feels like my day just got better before it's even started, knowing that it's starting with him by my side.  He is considerate and kind.  He comes to my rescue when I can't take the stress of the supper and bedtime routine with the kids.  He supports me and backs me in all that I take on.  He allows me to be me, to make my own decisions even if they aren't his first choice.  He notices when I'm worried or stressed, and he's the one that after a hard day, when we sit down to watch a movie together, will grab the remote and press pause, just because he can tell {again without me saying a thing} that something is wrong, and he genuinely wants to listen.  He will listen to me for as long as it takes, with a smile on his face and a look in his eyes that makes me feel not only loved, but valued.  He listens until my stress just dissipates or we find a solution and can press play again.  Our relationship is centred on a mutual love for and belief in God, on communication, trust, love for our children and mutual respect.  It is something more precious than jewels to me.

{my best friend forever}

On Monday I am leaving for 11 days to trek across the country with four little kids to go visit their Grandparents for Canadian Thanksgiving {a 20 hour drive each way, yikes}!  I will miss my husband so much while we are away.  Being apart is truly not our thing, and I just never like to leave.  Because we will be apart on my birthday, he surprised me Friday night with a very special date night as an early birthday gift to me.  He took me out to The Caribou Restaurant, which was to die for!  The menu was simple yet elegant, so we went all out and ordered the Short Rib Poutine as an appetizer {for all you non-Canadians out there who have never had poutine before, I'm telling you, you haven't lived}.  For our main dish I had the Chicken Pasta {it might sound simple, but it was the fanciest pasta dish I've ever had} and Jordan had a 16 oz steak, cooked to perfection.  We finished it off with a beautiful custard and caramel dessert topped with raspberries that was perfectly succulent {like a crème brûlée but with soft caramel rather than crusted}.  It was a beautiful dinner.

{the night is young...ready for our big date in my mostly thrift-store digs!}

Afterwords we cruised around in the date-mobile, enjoying each other's company.  Now, the date-mobile is a very special truck, complete with state of the art after market sound system, classy new rims, and dark tinted windows.  You may not know this about me because it may seem out of place to you, but besides church and family and knitting and cooking, and all the things I normally Blog about, I am PASSIONATE about cars.  I especially am fond of muscle cars {specifically, I would love a 1970 Nova} and I love trucks.

{the date-mobile}

I also love quads and I like to go fast.  I have to admit, I am a bit of an adrenaline junky at heart.  So there's my little confession for the day.  I am a girl who appreciates a beefed up, mean sounding engine, as well as a respectable sound system, so although it may seem like a "guy thing", Jordan was right on the money when he put together this little "Date Night" playlist for me {sigh...so romantic}.

{our magical date-night playlist}

Nothing like laying your head on somebody's shoulder {not just anybody mind you}, feeling subs thumping all around you, listening to great lyrics and basking in all the memories and feelings of why you love the guy next to you so much!  He is exactly the right guy for me.  He planned our date so well that he even had our best buds Chris and Kayla all ready and lined up to come over and babysit for us.  What more could I ask for?!

So there it is, I love my husband {as I hope all wives out there do}. I am so grateful every day that I
am blessed to be his wife, and I am going through a bit of mourning about the thought of being away from him.  I hope that I can always show him just how much I love him in all the things I do and say.  I am a firm believer that relationships need to be nurtured and cared for.  I know that without the serving and listening and caring for each other that we so cherish, we wouldn't have the beautiful marriage that we do.  We recently read together Gary Chapman's Book The 5 Love Languages, and I highly recommend it to any couple, whether your marriage is already well into bloom or shrivelling up, it's an inspired read and will only help any marriage grow stronger.

So thank you Jordan for the beautiful date night, it is a night that I will cherish always.  I love you Jordan, for all that you do for me!  Thank you for being exactly who you are, and always striving to become even better!

Speaking of always striving to be better, this weekend is an extra special time in our home, because our church is holding it's semi-annual {October & April} worldwide broadcast {aka: General Conference}.  We had two beautiful sessions we watched yesterday, and two more we are looking forward to watching today.  General Conference always inspires me to be better and make goals to reach a higher potential.  I am of the firm belief that we must always strive for self improvement, because as the saying goes...

"There is only progress or regress, there’s no standing still. 

You’re either moving forward or you’re moving backward." 

~author unknown~

Today while I listened to Tad. R. Callister's talk, I was touched by the story of a young boy named Ben.  Here is Ben's story...

"Ben Carson said of himself "I was the worst student in my fifth grade class.  One day Ben took a math test with 30 problems.  The student behind him corrected it and handed it back.  The teacher, Mrs. Williamson, started calling each student's name for the score.  Finally she got to Ben.  Out of embarrassment, he mumbled the answer.  Mrs. Williamson, thinking he said nine, replied that for Ben to score nine out of thirty was a wonderful improvement.  The student behind Ben then yelled out "Not nine.  He got NONE right."  Ben said he wanted to drop through the floor.  

At the same time Ben's mother Sonja faced obstacles of her own.  She was one of 24 children, had only a 3rd grade education, and she could not read.  She was married at age 13, was divorced, had two sons, and was raising them in the ghettos of Detroit.  Nonetheless she was fiercely self-reliant and had a firm belief that God would help her and her sons if they did their part.  One day a turning point came in her life, and that of her sons...it dawned on her that successful people for whom she cleaned homes had libraries...they read.  After work she came home and turned off the television that Ben and his brother were watching.  She said in essence, "You boys are watching too much television.  From now on you can watch three programs a week.  In your free time you will go to the library, read two books a week, and give me a report".  The boys were shocked!  Ben said he had never read a book in his entire life except when required to do so at school.  They protested, they complained, they argued, but it was to no avail.  Then Ben reflected, "She layed down the law!  I didn't like the rule, but her determination to see us improve changed the course of my life."  

And what a change it made.  By the seventh grade he was at the top of his class.  He went on to attend Yale University on a scholarship, then Johns Hopkins medical school where at age 33 he became it's chief of Paediatric Neuro-surgery and a world renowned surgeon.  How is that possible?  Largely because of a mother, who without many of the advantages of life, magnified her calling as a parent."

Ben's story gives me a deeper desire for self-improvement, while Sonja's gives me a strong desire to teach my children correct principles, strong values and a good work ethic.  I love being uplifted by General Conference.  What a blessing it is in my life.  For any of you interested in listening in on tomorrow's sessions, there is one at 10am and another at 2pm {MST}, and you can watch online here.

{enjoying General Conference at home with the family}