Sticking With Cupid

Once upon a time....  That's how fairytales begin right?  How often do we want to know the rest of the story when it ends with true love's kiss and happily ever after?  Do you ever picture characters lives beyond a book?  I know I do.

Today I'm sharing and my old blog post, Romantic Notions, with the story of how I met my husband.  I'm linking up with Diane Estrella's How Cupid Shot Me blog hop, so pop on over and check out all of the real life love stories.

Beyond our story of how it all began, I have a secret to share.  Cupid doesn't leave.  I fall in love with my husband all over again daily.  While love, relationships, & marriage are not easy, we don't let the struggles keep us from what's important.  We love each other.

When I'm having a rough day, C often finds a way to make me smile and laugh.  He's surprised me with a thoughtful gift when I least expect it.  When I say gift, I don't mean expensive jewelry or roses.  If you ask my husband, he'll tell you that's not what I would want anyway.  To give an example of what I mean, it could be as simple as a special sandwich I've been craving, a crafty item I've been searching for, a soundtrack on my list, or a hard to find jacket that I've desired for a long time.  It's never about money or materialism, but about the thought and time he took for me.  It's the little things, such as a much needed reminder note, daily lunch time conversation, or just sitting near each other while we read, work on projects, or relax.  He let's me vent, encourages me, laughs with me, stands beside me, and holds me up when I need it most.  There are very few people in this world that I feel I can count on and he knows he's #1 on my list.  He let's me be who I am.  I adore him for being a wonderful father and husband.

On the flip side, I do my best to put thought & heart into our relationship too.  Thoughtful gifts are my speciality, but it's more than that.  A day doesn't go by without the words "I love you" and a kiss.  C knows how much he means to me and often hears my words of appreciation.  My husband is my best friend.

Not a day goes by when I don't realize how lucky we are... and fall in love all over again.

What's your story and how do you keep the pages turning?

Life's a happy song when there's someone by your side to sing along...

<3  March 23, 2012 makes 15 years since we met online and 13 years of marriage.  <3

Life Lessons: Report Card Woes

Before I get to the main focus of my post today, I would like to direct your attention to It's So Very Cheri's latest give-a-way!  Cheri has some great posts, so check her out if you haven't yet.  I'd also like to say a big THANK YOU to Cheri for the beautiful set of necklace tiles that I won via Diane Estrella's blog!  THANKS to Diane too!

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Whether it's peeling carrots for the first time or dealing with someone you love letting you down, life lessons are everywhere.  Simple challenges can leave us feeling confident and give us a great boost of self esteem, but those are just the easy tasks.  At times it's hard to handle the learning curves that are thrown our way, but I've found it's even more difficult to see my children paddling through those rough waters.  Our latest lesson has fallen onto my oldest son, O, as well as my husband and me.

O is a very smart little man.  I realize that as his Mom, this doesn't come across as strongly as it would if I was an objective party, but I promise this to be the truth.  O has always performed above his grade level (and still is).  During March is Reading Month, my son was among the top readers of his elementary school.  He consistently meets and exceeds the goals placed before him.  It is this fact that caused us some concern when his last report card was received.

When the white envelope came home from school, it never crossed my mind that we would find anything but excellence.  In fact we fell into that category in every area... except for one.  We discovered that O was "experiencing difficulty" in... writing.  I emailed O's teacher right away and our parent/teacher conference took place less than a week later.

With this report card grade being noted, many of you might be surprised to learn that O is in an advanced writing group in his class.  In fact, I assist two days a week to monitor and help these kids.  Knowing this extra piece of information, you might have a few questions as to how a student in a higher learning group would be unable to excel in this area.  Trust me, I was asking the same questions.  What happened here?!?

Many of you may be aware that young elementary students are often tested in their areas of skill to determine their final report card grade.  As the writing "test" was given, the students were expected to meet the criteria of 5 star sentences.  On this particular day, my son decided that he wasn't interested in taking his time or doing his best.  He chose to rush through and not correct the mistakes he made in his haste to finish (so that he could read for fun).  The problem is that my son is bored with writing and although he has proven he is capable of producing 5 star sentences, he doesn't want to consistently do his best work.  Therefore, his lack of care led to a "experiencing difficulty" grade.  His teacher did however make us aware that O is doing work meant for the grade level above his own.

While we discussed the issue with his teacher, O quickly admitted to all 3 of us that he knew he hadn't done his best and could have fixed things during his test.  In return, my husband and I made him aware of what needed to change beyond his grade... his attitude towards writing.  To try and remedy the situation we determined that the following few weeks would result in no tv or video games.  A much yearned for end of the school year reward was put into jeopardy as well.

Now the lesson in this for O should be clear.  Always do your best!  If you don't try your hardest, you won't achieve your goals and may lose what's important to you as a result.

As for me, I am learning something else.  My lesson in this situation is that sometimes I need to let my children fail.  I can tell my sons what's best for them and encourage them along the way, but I can't make them do what needs to be done.  There will be moments in life when they will need to learn the hard way.  At this moment, I have to let go.  It's up to O to decide if his end of the year reward is worth working for.  If he doesn't do his best, he will be disappointed.  My job as his Mom is to let him learn this lesson in his own way.  Whatever O chooses to do, I'll be there to help him understand the positive or negative consequences of our actions or inactions.  Either way, it will involve a hug and all the love a Mom can give her son.

What lessons have you learned lately?  Have you learned any good lessons from or through your children?  Do you feel that you are constantly learning?  Share one of your special life lessons.

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Post #98 in the count up to 100!

Be sure to leave a comment on post #100 for a chance to win 1 of 2 prizes!

Cupid Shot Me: Romantic Notions

Today I am participating in Diane Estrella's "Cupid Shot Me" stories.  Hop on over to Diane's blog to view the stories of many other bloggers.  Previously posted on July 20, 2009, this is my "Cupid Shot Me" story.  If you know the story, I hope you enjoy reflecting on it again again with me.  If you don't know the story already, enjoy reading it for the first time.

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Meet Me On Monday

This Monday, and random Mondays here after, my blog will reveal something about me. All Meet Me on Monday blogs will be clearly labeled.

Warning:

Overactive reader and writer with romantic notions...

proceed with caution at your own risk!

I sit here ready to take on a topic that almost everyone can identify with in some form or another. Love! We all love, okay so there may be a few exceptions to the rule but love is a part of life. In most cases, we are loved from the very moment we are born. Some, including myself, fall in love with their children before they are even born. Children themselves, love unconditionally. We love pets, nature, cars, careers, books (yes of course books!), & hobbies. As a Christian, I personally believe in a loving God! Love is all around us in many different forms.

I find that one of the biggest, scariest, and most important kinds of love is one that we all strive to find in our lives! Sometimes we look in the worst places, like reality tv because really how often do those things pan out? Sometimes we look in the best places, which is different for everyone because no two people are alike. Often times, we take a chance on love and walk away with a heartbreak the size of Texas and enough teardrops to fill Lake Michigan. Then there are the moments when the Heavens open up just to pour a radiant beam of sunlight down upon you and the true love of your dreams as birds sing a beautiful melodic love song. My mistake, you were the one who had fireworks shooting off in every direction as fireflies danced nearby you and your sweet beloved. Oh, well, it doesn't happen that way for everyone I guess. In my case, I heard the now ancient sounds of dial up Internet (okay so some people still use it) before logging in to a now extinct chat room through the blessed chat website, wbs.net. It was love at first click click click type type type. Yes, I met my one and only prince charming on the Internet, before it was normal, accepted, or cool!

Our love story involves an abundance of Internet chats, many many miles & states of distance, expensive phone cards that were used far too quickly, letters sent via snail mail, and a first meeting (in person) that can rarely be topped. Our first date was 5 months after we met online, in Walt Disney World, Florida. Don't worry, I'll skip right to the good part. Once inside the park, I paced at the entry to Main Street USA while waiting for my TransAmGuy, his Internet chat room name, to arrive and sweep me off of my feet. He approached his SingingSensation (yes my chat handle), with obvious butterflies, before catching my attention with the words, "nice shirt." Yes, we had planned to wear a certain shirt so there would be no mistaken identities. I turned around and stepped off the curb to hug him, which he always insists was me jumping on him. Really, I'm just incredibly short and I had to put some spring in my step to get my arms around his neck. The rest of our 4 days of Disney were spent getting to know each other better and spending half of our time with his parents (he also met my grandmother, an aunt, and an uncle). We discovered a lot of firsts in our relationship on Disney property. Beyond the first look into each other's eyes as we met face to face for the first time, we also held hands for the first time, shared our first kiss, said our first real goodbyes, and after we were married, we even came back to spend our honeymoon in Disney World (as there was no better place to be). We even have our own brick on the ticket and transportation center walkway. Yeah, I prefer to think of myself as a Disney princess or maybe a pixie.

Since the day I met my husband online, I somehow knew he was the one for me. I can't explain it, but it's true. This isn't how it happens for everyone, but it is how it happened for me. I had already fallen before our meeting in Disney world. The face to face in front of Cinderella's castle, well that was just the moment my fairytale dreams became reality. That's not to say that our relationship didn't have it's challenges, and it still does of course, but we love each other enough to work through life's speed bumps. Being married to my one and only true love and prince charming is worth it!

Met... March 23, 1997
Married... March 23, 1999
10 years... March 23, 2009

I love you C.

My soundtrack for today's blog:

Michael Buble, because to me romance & Buble go hand in hand