My Warby Parkers

When my friend Jenny was in town last year she mentioned to me about this company that sells really cool glasses. And if there was one thing I needed it was really cool glasses. I had not updated my glasses since middle school. Yeah, a good 12 years! 

So I got me some Warby Parkers. 

I got the Crosby's and I love them. 

What's great is that they are only $99. {Although I had to pay another $50 because my prescription is so bad.} 

I am not really advertising. I just really love my new glasses. 

What do you think? 

Who's In-Charge Here?

It has not even been a week, and I am already missing what it's like to have a husband. With Matt gone, I am realizing all the things he did around the house and in our relationship. 

In the last couple of years, I started to consider myself as the "face" of this marriage. You know, I send the update e-mails out, I blog about our updates, get the doctor appointments, order Christmas cards, pay the bills, keep us organized, etc. etc. etc! 

That paragraph was not to make myself feel really important, but just to clarify my role. 

 I am not any more important than Matt in our relationship, but I'll be honest, I thought I was the one that made sure our life was in working order! 

This is NOT THE CASE! 

Here's what Matt has been doing behind the scenes: 

Taking out the trash and recycling 

Making sure we have stuff for dinner (if I had my way we would just eat sandwiches) 

Laundry (I might just buy new clothes) 

Shutting and locking our front door, which is just a sliding glass door (So, I might have left the door open one night.... oops.)

Making sure I take my medicine 

Putting gas in the car 

Getting my lunch and breakfast ready 

Cleaning the dishes 

And much much more. 

Basically, Matt is the major player in our relationship. Hmmm- who would have thought. 

I sure do miss this guy

In other news, Matt is loving Korea. I can't wait to get there and see everything and teach the kids! 

Working on Us: Part II

A couple of months ago, I wrote this post called Working on Us. It was all about how Matt and I are working together to keep us well, together! 

What we sometimes forget is that we are never safe. I don't want to sound crazy, but I believe it's when you think things are great you start to get a little lazy. And when you get lazy things start to slip. This is true with every part of your life, so we have to be vigilant. 

We have to remember, "Whatever the quality of your marriage now, it can always be better." (The Five Love Languages)

Our marriage is pretty great, but Matt and I have the potential to be in an AWESOME marriage. 

One thing that I feel is holding us back is my patience, or lack there of. I have the worst patience level ever and it's not just in my marriage, but with everything in my life, especially with teaching. 

I get really frustrated really fast when things aren't being done the way I want and when I want. This is equally frustrating when I have a husband who doesn't have the same level of urgency. 

I recently came across a blog (I can't remember which) and the writer chooses one word to focus on for the year. Just ONE word. She tries to improve in this one area and she keeps track of her progress throughout the year. 

I thought this was a great idea and a great way to work on our marriage and to even carry this out in other aspects of my life. 

So my word is of course: Patience. 

{image via} 

I want to work on not snapping at Matt when he is five minutes late picking me up, or when my students ask me the same question I just answered. 

So here it goes. 

Love, 

Alex 

Our Staycation

After Matt's graduation we spent a lot of time with his parents at Ko'olina. It was so nice to stay in a really beautiful place and spend time with his family. 

We also got a lot of quality time with Eli. He is one cute baby. We sure will miss him. 

After Matt's parents left, my dad came for a visit. It was equally as wonderful. We got to stay with him at the Outrigger Waikiki. And it was awesome! And we ate some great food! (And some food that just looked great.) 

Matt and I really got spoiled for the week and a half we were with family, and it was really nice. We truly are lucky to have a such a supportive family. 

This Time of Year

This time of year always reminds me of when Matt and I got engaged. In fact, three years ago today, Matt proposed to me in the kitchen of his parents house. 

{If you want to read all about our engagement click here.} 

Since I have already shared my story. I wanted to share someone else's. 

Watch this youtube video of this guy proposing to his girlfriend. I usually don't like huge proposal productions, but this is one exception. I loved this video. And I am not ashamed to say I even cried a little. I tried to get Matt to watch it, but he was not impressed. Maybe it's a girl thing. 

I think this is great, and I hope you do too. 

Also, Happy Anniversary to my wonderful in-laws! {Yup, we got engaged on their anniversary.} Here's to 33 years. 

Working on Us

I have wanted to write this post for a while, but I kept putting it off because it is such an important topic  that I didn't want to mess it up. And then I realized, as with all my posts, nothing is perfect. It is more important for me to speak what's on my mind than be afraid to write it because it won't be perfect. 

Matt and I are constantly working on our marriage. Every single day we put in the effort to make sure our marriage stays alive.

"Marriage does not guarantee you are going to be together forever, it's only paper. It takes love, respect, trust, understanding, friendship, and faith in your relationship to make it last."- Unknown 

To do this, I often find inspiration through outside sources. I read blogs, I read books, I look at quotes on Pinterest, I listen to my parents, my church leaders, and pretty much anything and everything to help us with our relationship. 

{image via}

I want to share a secret with you- I am terrified of getting divorced. I know most people don't walk into a marriage thinking yeah I love this guy, but eh it would be okay if it didn't work out. 

But I feel like I am paranoid that one day I am going to wake up and think what the heck have I done and then just run away. 

Now that might be my slight anxiety talking, but it is a major concern in my life and because of it I chose to live hyper-viligant with my relationship with Matt. And I think that is okay. 

We work at this relationship every single day. And some days it is not pretty, and some it's the best thing ever. That is part of the work. Finding things for us that work. This is the purpose of the post- Helping others find something that works. 

So I wanted to share some of my inspiration on keeping my marriage alive and well. I am no expert; heck, I still consider Matt and I newlyweds, but I think any bit of advice can't hurt those feeling like they need a bit of something. 

Today I wanted to talk specifically about finding inspiration. I love finding things that make me want to be a better person, and the things I list below do exactly that!

1. Things I Wish I'd Known Before We Got Married by Gary Chapman- Seriously one of the best books I have read when it comes to marriage. It's not too long and it gives great advice. If you are engaged or in a serious relationship, I encourage you to read it, and then of course talk to your loved one about it. 

2. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman- Uh, what can I say- I like Gary. This was not my favorite boot, but I do think it has a great message and has a lot of great points. I would also encourage reading this. {I will talk more in detail about this book at a later date.} 

3. Friday We're In Love- Ummm this blog changed my life. Well, maybe it wasn't that dramatic, but I love reading every post Camille writes. The purpose of Friday We're in Love is to document their Friday Night Dates. They strive to stay out of a 'business' like relationship with each other and really stay in love. And they do this through dating each other. This is something Matt and I are currently working on. We noticed that some days we would be in the same room all day and had barely spoken to each other. This really bothered us and we are trying to 'date' each other more often. 

4. A Blog About Love- written by Mara and Danny. The title says it all. I love Mara and Danny's story. I love their message, and I love their purpose for writing. This blog gives young couples, like Matt and I, and older more experienced couples plenty to think about in our own marriages and love. Every time I read this blog, I am inspired to be a better wife. 

Over the last two years, and through my research I have learned "Keeping love alive in our marriages is serious business."(Colman) This is the foundation of our lives, and we need to treat it as such. 

I am in no ways perfect, but I know that through hard work and constant active love towards Matt, we can get through any hard spot. 

I will try to post every so often about what Matt and I are doing to help our marriage of two years continue to grow. 

Until then, here's something to leave you with: 

{image via}

Love ya, 

Alex 

300 Down... Many More to Come

This is my 300th blog post. 

I can't believe it. 

I have been in the blog world since May of 2009, and I gotta say: I love it. 

I am so glad I started this blog. It's my little corner of the web and I like to think people enjoy the things I share. 

One thing I have struggled with, especially in the past year, is feeling like my blog isn't good enough. Or that people don't really care. I see other blogs with tons of followers and tons of comments being left, and I think- how can I make my blog like theirs. 

And this is what I have figured out: 

{image via} 

And I am finally fine with myself... or I should say my blog. I am happy that this blog is part inspiration... part journal... part venting... part recipe sharing... part crafting... and part sharing myself with y'all. 

At the end of the day, I think what I write is awesome, and so does Matt. Honestly, that's what counts the most. I am happy with my blog and I am proud that I take the time to write my feelings out and share them to the world. It's a great feeling, and I definitely recommend it!

So here's to a Happy 300! Enjoy. 

Love, Alex 

A Whole Bunch of Mail

Matt went to check the mail today, and I am so glad he did because we had a ton of love waiting for us! 

 {A Valentine's card from my Abuela and Papa.}

{Shot glasses from my Bates family- including a lovely note. If you can't tell- I was really excited I got these. I love them!} 

{Valentine's Day gifts from my love.}

{A thank you note from my niece Sophia. So very impressed she is writing thank you notes.}

{I couldn't wait to put all the cards on our frame wall.!} 

Thanks everyone for the love! 

It's Journal Time

Throughout my life, I have felt that journaling is one of the most important things I could do. 

I have always loved to document my life, and now I am loving documenting my life with Matt.

When I was younger, I thought I was journaling because I wanted my future children and grandchildren to have a piece of my history {I mean volumes of my history :) }. But as I look back at my old journals, photo albums, and blog posts I realize I was journaling for myself as well. 

I love reading my old journals and seeing the person I was then. I love re-remembering all the things that happened all those years ago. 

I know that eventually my future generations might get a kick out of my old stuff, but I don't think it will be as big as me sitting down and reading all the things I don't quite remember. 

A few weeks ago, Matt and I went to dinner at our friend's house. They are a newly wed couple, and as these things go the men formed a little group and started talking manly stuff {read video games} and us women started talking about girly stuff {read crazy things our husbands do}. 

As we were talking the topic of journaling came up. I shared with the newly wed how important I thought journaling was in our marriage. I expressed how much I love going back over old blog posts and seeing all the things Matt and I did. 

Like I have said before, I consider this blog to be a journal of our lives. I take the time to update as often as I can so we can remember all the small and large things we did over the years. 

Another form of journaling I have started doing are my Gadanke journals. 

The founder, Katie, has the greatest message for fellow journalers, or want to be journalers: 

"I believe an incredible thing happens when we pause to celebrate our stories. IT GIVES US MEANING. The ordinary starts to feel downright awesome.

I help women find their voices, capture memories, and celebrate themselves. In the Gadanke world, there is no meaning of “if only”. It’s a world of thoughtfulness, creativity, and empowerment.
Let me guide you and cheer for you in this brave journey of celebrating your story." {From Gadanke} 

When I found Gadanke, I immediately bought the Love fills a Lifetime journal, and the Love Where We Live journal. 

Then I bought the Christmas Joy to the World, and Baby Hello journal for my mother-in-law. 

I am currently wishing for the Love Letter mini book and the A Note to Say Hi journals. 

Katie makes recording your stories extremely easy, and her prices are great. If you are stuck and have no where to start- I recommend Gadanke. 

I started with our Love Fills a Lifetime Journal and I love the way it turned out. In fact, I have asked Katie to share my journal on her main web sight for others to see! I am so excited for people to see a part of my story. 

Here are a few pages from this journal: 

{A score card from when Matt and I played miniature golf.} 

{For this journal, I pulled all my wedding planning stuff out and made this a wedding book/ journal of the day.  I put our save the dates, photo booth pictures, magazine pages that inspired me with the planning, fabric swatches, my bridal shower invitations, and cards people got us. Anything that reminded me of my big day, or dating Matt I put in the journal.} 

My Christmas Journal was just as fun to put together. As you know, Matt and I went home this year and I needed something special to document it! 

{For this journal- I added any pictures we took, movie tickets, a peppermint bark candy wrapper, and anything that had to do with the holidays.}

I am going to give you a piece of advice- journal! If writing every day overwhelms you then pick up The Question a Day 5 year journal from Amazon. 

Or write in a spiral notebook once a week. 

Or start a blog- even if it's private- you are still writing. 

Or buy a Gadanke journal. Just get your story down! 

There are some many cute journals out there- there really is no excuse. 

Have a great week and remember- start journaling! 

Love Letters- Keep on Coming

Some of my favorite from the last few days. 

Matt and I decided we weren't going to let the fact that Valentine's was over to stop writing love notes. So we are going to continue until the month is over. 

Valentine Love

I hope your Valentine's Day was as great as mine, and maybe even a little better since I only saw Matt for about 30 minutes! 

Last night I set up everything for Matt to find in the morning. 

While I was on intersession, I decided to list a few of the reasons I love Matt. {This was one of my ideas in my Valentine's gift post, and I realized I had never done this for Matt.} 

So I took a pack of playing cards I had, some shipping labels, markers, and a small piece of sandpaper (which I borrowed from our cousins) and made made this little Love Booklet. All I had to buy were the binder rings I used to bind the cards together, but you could use twine. 

{Thank you Nana for always buying me Betty Boop stuff! These cards were perfect for this.}

{I wrapped the booklet in the tin the cards came in and put it in our red mailbox with a note saying "Open this while you are waiting for your bus." The top right picture is the card Matt made me. This is the second year we have made cards for each other and I have got to recommend this for you guys! It is awesome. Matt makes the best cards. The M&Ms are from a student!} 

{I used shipping labels to stick on the cards. I didn't want to deal with tape or glue, and I think this turned out great.! And I love how every card has a different picture of Betty.} 

This was a big hit with Matt and all I spent was like $1. 

I found this Valentine holder at Wal-Mart and I knew I needed to get it for Matt. So I bought it- filled it with candy- wrote this Valentine card (thanks Pinterest) and stuck it in Matt's dresser drawer for him to find this morning. {Matt loves Star Wars and Yoda is kinda a little joke between us. My gift for Matt on our wedding day was a surprise groom's cake in the shape of Yoda's head.}

The Yoda Valentine holder also came with these Valentine cards which I stuck on the bathroom mirror and his lunch box. 

When I woke up I found this lovely note on our mirror. 

Matt had stuck a bunch of notes around the house for me to find this morning. It was awesome. 

The last gift I had for Matt was this coupon book I had made from Datevitation. I hand picked a bunch of coupons I thought Matt would enjoy and had them made into a personalized coupon book. {Another gift from my Valentine gift ideas.} It turned out great and Matt loved it. Plus, I used a coupon code and got a really good deal!

There are a few coupons I am nervous for Matt to redeem {Chinese Food}, but it's all in the name of love! 

Matt and I didn't get to see each other that much today because of our busy schedules, but I did get to spend my night with this cutie. 

All in all it was a great day. I am so lucky to have Matt in my life and to know he loves me so much. 

I think we might celebrate tomorrow night with some one on one time, but all these little notes and treats have been perfect. 

I also spent my night giving out all my candy grams for my RACK of the month. I just left them on the doors, and it felt really good doing this small thing for my neighbors. I even ran into a friend of mine and she helped me drop the packets off. It was nice to chat with her and get some quality time in. {Click here if you have no idea what I am talking about with the RACKs.}

{I changed the quote from the Mother Teresa quote I shared in the previous post to this one from William James.} 

Happy Valentine's Day! Muah and Much Love! 

Loving More and Random Acts of Kindness Month 1

Throughout the month of December, Matt and I really tried to take part in completing RACKS (otherwise known as Random Acts of Kindness). When December was over we realized we didn't want to stop, but we hadn't done anything since the holidays were over. 

Then I came across this blog post from Thirty Handmade Days. In January she sent out a challenge for people to commit RACKs in honor of her son's 13th birthday. And she got tons of people messaging pictures and e-mails of the acts they completed that day. 

She had such a blast that day she has decided to dedicate the 14th of every month to RACKs, and she has challenged everyone to join her. {She even created a free RACK tag for you to use!} 

Needless to say this is exactly what I was looking for!  I have taken the challenge and I am excited to get started! 

I saw this printable with the phrase "Love More". And I fell in love with it. Sometimes we get in the habit of just rushing through life and often times not thinking of others. 

This phrase "Love More" fits perfectly with the RACK challenge. 

This year I am going to try to Love More and really think of others while I am going through my days. 

Since the 14th of this month landed on Valentine's Day, I wanted to give some special people a Valentine's Day treat. 

There is a couple that go to church with us, and they had their first baby a few months ago. For the last couple of weeks, I have seen them at church and I can tell they really love their new baby. But I also noticed that they look a little bit tired- not a bad tired, just a we have to continue our classes and work and take care of our baby kinda way. 

I felt like I should do something to help them out and one thing kept popping into my head: Offer to watch their baby. And I kept pushing it aside. I mean, I know this couple, but I don't KNOW this couple. And I have never held their baby- let alone babysat it! 

But the thought kept popping in and I knew I needed to offer to watch their baby. 

Last Sunday, I asked if they had anyone lined up to watch their baby for Valentine's Day and she replied "No." 

In which I said: "Okay, you two pick a date and Matt and I will watch the baby." 

Wife: "Are you sure." 

Me: "Yes, of course." 

Wife: "What is your rate?"

Me: (with a confused look) My rate? .... Oh my rate... Free!" 

Wife: (with tears in her eyes) "Are you serious." 

Me: "Yes- pick a date and let me know. 

Seriously, the best feeling ever. I am so excited that this young couple gets to go out and have some fun. And I get to take care of a baby for a couple hours! 

*I also wanted to do something small for some others that are around us. So I decided to make candy goodie bags and give them to our neighbors. 

I am pretty excited to hand them out tomorrow. I think I am going to just leave them at their door so they are more anonymous. {Although, if you happen to read this, and you happen to be my neighbor, and you happen to get a bag of candy- I guess the surprise is ruined.} 

Here is how they turned out: 

{I didn't have time to print the free printable, so I just made my own version. I will print them next time.}

I encourage you all to try to complete at least one RACK this year, and then share it with me! 

Love Letters Continue

Look what I found in my mailbox! 

"A little sock monkey for my lover!" 

Love Matt 

And the Love Fest continues. 

Love Letters

This little red mailbox has seriously been the most fun ever! If you ever see a little mailbox, I would recommend buying it! 

This mailbox has made the month of February so great. Matt and I both love getting mail and seeing the   love notes. 

Here is a sample of a note Matt wrote me a few days ago: 

Doing this has really ensured our love tanks are full. (Yes, I have been reading the 5 Languages of Love.) I am all for doing small things to keep the love alive, and this mailbox has done this. 

I am happy I went with my instinct to buy it when I saw it in Target. 

Look out for some more love notes coming soon!