Nashville Wife

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Our Favorite Movies

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Mr. Handsome and I are always up for a movie night, but finding good movies is a perpetual challenge. We both have fairly easygoing personalities and are happy to watch a movie that the other one chooses, even if it isn’t something that we particularly enjoy. We are always up for a clean comedy, but those don’t seem to be as common as comedies with excessive amounts of inappropriate content or clean movies that aren’t as funny as they claim. (Let us know if you have any suggestions.)

Unfortunately, whether we’re at a theater or at home, I have the terrible habit of falling asleep during movies, especially if it’s late. Thankfully, when it comes to long movies like Lord of the Rings, I can catch a short nap during the middle and not miss much. My habit has gotten worse since I became a mother. The trouble is that I am running around all day, and I rarely ever sit down for more than a few minutes. I eat while I stand, often feeding Little Buddy at the same time. And when I sit at my computer to blog, I’m up frequently to tend to him. If we watch TV or a movie in the evenings, I usually prefer to watch while doing stretches and light exercises because I know that if I sit down on the couch, I’ll have a hard time fighting sleep. Do you have this problem?

In the video below, we share our favorite genres and whether we like movie theaters or prefer watching at home. Feel free to chime in in the comments section.

Mr. H’s Surprise Part 2

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Two days ago, I wrote a post about the gift that Mr. Handsome surprised me with last week. If you missed that post, be sure to go back and read it before continuing.

When I left off, I had returned home and seen something very large in our house that had not been there before.

“Did you buy me a treadmill?” I asked Mr. Handsome, in shock.

“A what?” he responded, as if he had no clue what I was talking about.

“A treadmill,” I repeated.

“That’s really weird,” he replied, still trying to sound confused. “Little Buddy and I went outside to swing for a few minutes while you were gone, and I guess someone must have snuck in and left it.”

Now I know what you’re thinking. What kind of husband buys his wife a treadmill? But don’t worry, this wasn’t Mr. Handsome’s way of telling me that I need to lose a few pounds. I had wanted a treadmill for the past year because I really enjoy exercising, and I like having options, especially in the winter when the weather is blah and going outside is not feasible. (Let’s be honest, going to the gym with a baby isn’t an option.) But treadmills are expensive, and we had both agreed that we should wait a while before making such a big purchase. So you can imagine how taken aback I was when I came home to find a treadmill in our house.

For a few days, Mr. Handsome continued to pretend that he had no idea where the treadmill came from. I didn’t mind not knowing, but I knew that someone had delivered it because our vehicles are too small, and I felt like I should thank that person. So we worked out a deal. I would bake Mr. Handsome a blueberry pie (one of his favorite desserts) and he would tell me the story behind the treadmill. I finished the pie late in the evening and actually forgot to ask him about the treadmill, until he reminded me the next day.

He and one of his coworkers had been talking about gift ideas for spouses, and Mr. Handsome had mentioned that he wanted to get me a treadmill at some point. Well, it turned out that one of his coworkers had a treadmill in her closet that she was looking to get rid of. Her husband wanted it gone so badly that he even offered to deliver it. They didn’t want to take money for it, but Mr. Handsome wanted to give them something, so they suggested $40. I could hardly believe it! Some people might say that a low price for a big item diminishes the value of the gift, but I’m a sucker for a good deal.

It turns out that the massage was just a way to get me out of the house so they could deliver the treadmill. Both surprises together were probably the most thoughtful thing that anyone has ever done for me (aside from the elaborate beach engagement that Mr. Handsome planned four-and-a-half years ago). It’s not about the amount of money spent–it’s about the amount of time and thought that a person puts into something simply because they know how happy it will make you.

What was the most thoughtful gift (whether or not it was a surprise) that you have ever received?

Mr. H’s Surprise

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Last Friday, Mr. Handsome came home from work with an announcement: “Tomorrow at 11:00 in the morning, I have a surprise for you.”

“What is it?” I asked, intrigued.

“Just be ready to go tomorrow at 11, and I’ll tell you where you’re going,” he stated. “And make sure not to look at my phone before then.”

My personality is not one that likes big, life-altering surprises, and Mr. Handsome knows that. For example, if someone gifted me a vacation and told me about it a month in advance, I would be thrilled. But if I walked in the door and Mr. Handsome (or anyone else, for that matter) told me that I was going on a trip the next day (or even the next week), I wouldn’t be excited. In fact, I would likely decline the offer. But surprises that don’t involve travel (or being away from Little Buddy for more than a few hours, as that is something I would need to plan for well in advance) are lovely.

With all that in mind, Mr. Handsome orchestrated a wonderful surprise. He wouldn’t give me any details, but he knows me well enough to know that I needed the assurance that I would only be gone a couple hours and that he would be staying home with Little Buddy.

So on Saturday morning at 11am, I was standing at the front door, ready to go. I felt like a child on Christmas morning.

“Are you ready to find out where you’re going?” Mr. Handsome asked.

“Yes!” I replied.

He put an address in my GPS and then announced that he had booked me a massage. How sweet is that? He knows that I rarely get a break, and he had paid attention when I had told him a few days prior that I was having lower back pain from lifting our incredibly heavy (but incredibly adorable) son. So I was able to enjoy a couple hours of “me” time, plus a wonderfully relaxing massage.

When I returned, Daddy and Little Buddy were reading books. My heart almost burst when my 7-month-old son started laughing and smiling uncontrollably as he saw me walk in the door. After we ate lunch, Mr. Handsome laid down on the couch to take a nap with Little Buddy, and I headed for my home office to do some work. On the way there, I passed something that definitely hadn’t been there when I had left a few hours earlier. Was it…no, it couldn’t be!

Come back to the blog on Saturday to find out what I saw and to read the story behind it. But for now, I would love to hear your thoughts on surprises. Do you enjoy them? Perhaps you don’t enjoy any kind of surprises, or perhaps you would be thrilled if someone told you to pack your bags and head to the airport. Let me know in the comments section.

In Case of Emergency

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“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” (Benjamin Franklin)

This quote can apply to many different situations–preparing to give a speech, preparing a meal for a large crowd, preparing a plan for sightseeing when guests come to town, preparing to lead an important meeting, preparing a lesson plan–but today I am going to apply it to preparing for an emergency situation, before that situation occurs.

On my post recent post about debt, the topic of discussion among a couple of my readers turned to emergency preparedness–specifically having a stock of food and supplies in case of disaster. That got me thinking, why don’t I create a post where everyone can share their ideas for making an In-Case-of-Emergency Kit (also known as an Emergency Preparedness Kit or Survival Kit)?

If you have such a kit, or if you know someone who does, go ahead and share your tips for creating the kit, what to put in it, where to store it, etc. I’ll see you in the comments section!

In Debt or Debt-Free?

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One of our readers asked us if we believe in the idea of being debt-free. We decided that would be the perfect topic for a vlog (embedded below). After you watch it, feel free to share your thoughts on the topic. Do you believe in living debt-free, or are there things for which going into debt is permissible?

Sleep Training

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Happy Friday! As Little Buddy approaches his five-month milestone, we want to hear your thoughts on sleep training. Since he was born, our routine has always been to wrap him up in his soft blanket, turn on a TV show, and let him fall asleep all cuddled up to us. (Mr. Handsome is usually the one to put him to sleep, while I get things done or relax.) Then once he is fully out, we swaddle him and put him to bed.

Some nights it’s very smooth and quick, other nights he fusses and fights it. When he was really little, we had to walk him around the living room for what felt like an eternity, and we are grateful that he doesn’t usually require that anymore. Little Buddy sleeps through the night most of the time now (usually wakes up between 5:00 and 7:00am), and to say that we are thrilled is an understatement. When he does wake up in the middle of the night, I am able to wrap him in his blanket and rock him back to sleep. On days when he wakes up early in the morning, he usually wants to go down for a nap almost right away. Our son definitely likes his sleep!

We are constantly being told to “watch out” because our next child is likely going to be a terrible sleeper. We have joked about it, but for now, we are just feeling very grateful.

I will say, though, that what Little Buddy lacks in overnight fussiness, he makes up for in daytime fussiness…

From the time he was a few weeks old (after the “baby honeymoon” phase passed, when he would just sleep all the time), he has been pretty fussy on most days. Not unhappy, but just especially particular about frequent diaper changes, feedings every two hours (that’s the downside of a baby that sleeps through the night–he still wants to eat the same amount in a 24-hour period, so that means feeding ever two hours during the day), and naps whenever he desires them. (Unless we are running errands and he conks out in his car seat, he requires that we hold him while he falls asleep, sometimes through a lot of tears.)…

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Ask Ellie 3.0

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Back in 2015 and 2017, I released posts titled “Ask Ellie” and “Ask Ellie 2.0.” Tons of readers submitted questions, and I answered them in blog posts and videos. Since it’s been a while, I wanted to do another “Ask Ellie” post.

Go ahead and ask questions, about any topic, in the comments section. They can be short-answer questions, like, “What’s your favorite color?” (it’s purple, in case you wanted to know). But they can also be questions that require longer answers. You can also feel free to pose questions to Mr. Handsome.

A Unique Experience

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Good afternoon, blog readers! I saw this discussion post on social media, and I thought it would be an interesting one to pose to all of you. This is your chance to talk about the time you uncovered a dinosaur bone while backpacking across the Sahara Desert. But if you haven’t experienced something quite as unique, don’t worry…I want to hear it anyways!

What is an experience you’ve had that is so unique that you don’t expect many (or any) of my other readers to have experienced the same thing?

Here’s mine: When I was eight years old, my family visited the Big Island of Hawaii (my dad traveled a lot for work, so we paid for most of the trip using his airline miles). We went hiking at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to a spot where we came within reach of red hot lava. The flow was slow enough that the park rangers determined that it was safe for visitors to walk right up to it.

 

Merry Christmas 2018!

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Christmas Opryland Hotel NashvilleMerry Christmas to all of my wonderful blog readers! How are you celebrating? What I love about holidays like Christmas, New Year’s, and Easter is that they are celebrated by people across the world, each with their own traditions. It’s just really neat to me to think about millions (if not billions) of folks from different countries and backgrounds, although thousands of miles apart, all focused on the same thing at the same time.

This year, Mr. Handsome and I are on baby watch. Perhaps our son will make his appearance tonight or tomorrow. Although he still isn’t due for another two weeks, I have been having quite a few contractions. We haven’t decided for sure what our plans are for the day, but we are going to make homemade deep dish pizza for dinner, which is something that he always did with his family growing up, and we are planning to watch The Sound of Music later. (Mr. Handsome isn’t a huge fan of Christmas movies.)

 

Midwife or Doctor, Home Birth or Hospital? Oh My…

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home birth or hospital birthWith my due date less than four weeks away, we are nearing the end of this pregnancy journey and are very ready to meet our son. I’m also eager to have labor, delivery, and recovery behind me. Mr. Handsome and I have chosen to deliver our baby at a hospital under the care of a nurse midwife. I have had a few minor complications during pregnancy that likely won’t cause any issues during labor, but in case something comes up, we like the idea of having access to emergency care.

We feel very comfortable with our midwives, and we are praying that my delivery will be smooth and uneventful. I will say, however, that I am someone who really enjoys the comforts of home, so the idea of a home birth sounds very appealing. In today’s society, I love that there are so many delivery options for expectant moms, and I’m curious to hear what your thoughts are. Midwife or doctor? Home birth or hospital birth? What is your birth plan of choice, and what are the pros and cons?