This week my husband Daniel and I celebrated 12 years of marriage. I know we’re not coming up on our golden anniversary or anything but 12 years, 10 moves (2 cross country), and almost 4 kids (she’s due late July), have taught us a few things. And one thing that I’ve been reflecting on lately is that it’s the little things that really matter. Last Friday I threw a surprise party for Daniel. His … [Read more...]
How We Share the “Mental Load” of Homemaking
I was recently intrigued by this visual depiction of women's workload and this related article that describes the "mental load" that is carried by most women who are homemakers. While I'm not crazy about the underlying tones in these pieces of that infer mothering and maintaining the home are insignificant drudgery or that all men are clueless when it comes to homemaking, I think there are … [Read more...]
How to Pursue Your Passions (And Not Sacrifice Your Marriage and Family to Do It)
A few years ago we were living a life we didn’t want. It included an unfulfilling office 9-5 for Daniel that required too much overtime and didn’t leave enough hours for family time. We just weren’t thriving. Now we’re both doing good work that fuels our creativity. We are all thriving. And I am so glad we took the leap we did to change our lives and get where we are now. When we first announced … [Read more...]
Making Romance a Priority (Or, How We’re Bad at Valentine’s Day)
This post is sponsored by Melt. Daniel and I are terrible at Valentine’s Day. Just the absolute worst. I think the last time we actually planned something for it was the first year we were dating (2003?) and what we planned was watching Disney’s Robin Hood. So...yeah...not great at Valentine’s. We've tried to plan a date night for Valentine’s, but with three little ones it gets tricky. … [Read more...]
How Marriage Fuels the Creative Life: The Chestertons, Hamilton, and Chef’s Table
Give a warm welcome to today's guest poster, my dear friend and Fountains of Carrots partner in crime Christy Isinger! Like all beautiful, mysterious, and true things in life marriage is a thing that never fails to disappoint in providing surprisingly new and interesting revelations. And I'm not just talking about my own marriage. Lately I keep seeing a common trait of marriage appearing … [Read more...]
The Wear Your Wedding Dress 10th Anniversary Party of My Dreams
Y'all. We threw a party. A big party for our 10th wedding anniversary. And it was one of the sweetest days of my life. And yup, I wore my wedding dress. But that's not all, oh no that's not all... So did these lovely ladies. It was a BYOWD event. My friends Rachael, Jen, Rebecca, and Cate all humored me by wearing their dresses from years past, too. And if you've read Something Other … [Read more...]
What NBC’s “Parenthood” Reminded Me About Marriage
Over the past couple of years, I’ve made my way through the NBC show Parenthood in spurts, finally finishing the series during a pretty epic season of Netflix binge watching. It’s not a perfect show (read: it’s not Mad Men) but I enjoyed it. And some of the themes surprised me. (Psst! Spoilers within! Ye have been warned!) The plot is built around the four children of Zeke and Camille … [Read more...]
It’s OK to Skip Your “20s” and Start Your Life
image source I turned 30 today. My 20s are officially over. Oh the 20s. Carefree years between college and the era of serious responsibility. Years to find yourself, travel the world, change your major, dabble in internships, and experiment with romance! At least that’s what the expectation seems to be, right? And popular advice would say that whatever you do, don’t tie yourself down too … [Read more...]
NFP Should Be a Part of Parish Life
I have a proposal. It’s about bringing NFP out of the shadows and into parish life. Because as young Catholic married folk, we need help. We love and embrace the teachings of the Church on marriage, fertility, and openness to life. We desire to be faithful to these teachings by choosing not to contracept and acknowledging the truth that sex and babies are designed to go together. And we are … [Read more...]
Valentinesy Reading from Carrots
It's almost Valentine's Day. I'm not going to write a whole post about the whole 50 Shades of Grey thing because it's all been said, probably much better than I could say it. So I'll leave it at this: domestic abuse is not sexy. Glamorizing domestic violence is not ok. You know what is sexy? When your husband stays up late to help set up for the Daddy Daughter Dance in the Parish Hall, even … [Read more...]
