traveling journal

Growing up, I remember wanting to only do two things: be a teacher and get married. Done and done. I guess I have accomplished everything I wanted to do in life. Except for ride in a motorcycle side car (complete with goggles & a scarf blowing in the wind), hold a baby panda, & go fly fishing (with big tall rubber pants). Those things are on my "life list"...another post, maybe.

Marriage can be exciting.
Like when you take a helicopter ride in Maui over a volcano.

Marriage can be romantic.
Like when you go ice skating in New York City, in the snow, at midnight, on Christmas Eve.
Just kidding about the Christmas Eve part...but wouldn't that be ultra-romantic?

And, marriage can be boring.
Like when your husband has his face in the computer 24/7. Even Libby is thrilled.

So, in the boring times it's a good thing that we I am creative and like to come up with fun things to do to make marriage un-boring. It's also good that DC is laid back and doesn't care if I declare that we quote favorite lines or scenes from Jurassic Park one Saturday. I always act out the water shaking in the cup when the T-Rex is getting close. Creeeepy.

He always quotes the line Samuel L. Jackson says while trying to get Jurassic Park back online..."Hold onto your butts." Great line.

Anyway, a couple of years ago I created a "Date Bag" where we each came up with 3 dates (drive-in, picnic, walk on the canal, etc) put them in a bag, & then every week we would choose out a date and go have fun. Very popular in the "make marriage un-boring" category. Except for Devin didn't like my picnic date...he said he got too sweaty & didn't like having to sit on the ground. You win some, you lose some.

The other night I decided to create a traveling journal for us to start. I got the idea from another blog and tweeked it to my liking, of course. Here are the rules: Once a week we will take turns writing in the journal; anything and everything is fair game. Then, we will hide it in a place where the other person will be likely to find it. They can then read it, write a message of their own, and then hide it sometime the next week. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. Instant marriage un-boring material.

I really took my time picking out the journal and spent $1.25 at Wal-Mart finding the best one possible. Hey - I'm on a spending freeze...my resources are limited. I picked this picture for the cover because it's the time when I remember being the happiest. It's from the night before our wedding. Nothing elaborate...no fancy editing or cropping. I think it was actually taken by my Mamaw's $5 CVS disposable camera, but goodness gracious were we happy. And, I can say that we still are which is a definite plus.

I am hiding the journal first, and it's your lucky day because I am giving you a sneak peek of the first message - and then it will never be seen again. Unless my housekeeper finds it. Oh wait, I have to re-hire a housekeeper. I fired her last year...depressing day. And, cleaning is NOT on my list of approved happy activities.

As you can see, the first entry is very deep.
Hey - I used all of my creative juices coming up with this idea, folks.

Now, I want to hear YOUR ideas on how you keep your marriage un-boring. Do you have a weekly dance party? Make crafts together? Cook new things for dinner each week? I love new ideas. As long as it doesn't involve watching ESPN or reading the newspaper. Yuck.

Now I'm off to do some hiding. I know exactly where NOT to hide it...the kitchen. No husbands allowed in the kitchen. Dev informed me that when it is his week I will probably find it hiding in the Starbucks drive-through or check-out line at Kroger. Cha-Ching!


Hooray for un-boring marriages. And, real-life Cinderella castles.