June 20, 2013

Internal Struggles

Tonight, well ok the last 48 hours or so have been hard. I recently found out from Alex that he and a friend are talking again.

(Shocking I know!…please sense the sarcasm at myself.)

Anyway, you’d think this would be no big deal but reality is for me it IS a big deal. It’s a big deal because both this friend and Alex are friendly and open and naturally “bubbly” personality wise. Which means to me, it often feels like its “flirty” even when everyone else is staring at me and thinking “WTF is your problem woman?!” So I’m struggling.

Bad memories trigger at the weirdest times and for the weirdest reasons. Alex and I, we HAVE been doing well so long as you take the “baby” debate out of the equation. So its frustrating to have this ROAR of doubt and fear and just general anxiety bubble up inside me the second certain relationships crop up. It’s not fair to me, it’s not fair to Alex and his friend…its not fair but reality is the anxieties do pop up and I can’t stop it.

{On a total tangent - just to clarify – when I say I want children and he doesn’t neither of us are referring to right here and now. I’m referring to this lifetime and so is he. So no kids will be procreated unless 1. we’re both on board and 2. our marriage is strong and stable. Just sayin.}

I talked to Alex about it a little last night and I ended up crying as I explained to him that truly and honestly if he EVER feels like he wants to flirt with other women, if he ever feels like he emotionally wants a “break” then please just tell me. Give me the chance to walk away because I will. To his credit he stared at me like I was nuts, reassured me and then cuddled me before badgering me into eating. (I don’t eat when I’m stressed.) So in all reality he’s doing everything right and I’m just stuck in a rut. No one’s fault…it just is. I don’t think I could ever live through that kind of revelation again because I STILL don’t have confidence in me back yet. Its getting there. The job thing was HUGE for me. But the fear that “one day” will happen is also still there and it’s NOT there because of any current situations or anything like that. No its there because I’m still fighting demons.

So yea – the last 48 hours have been a bitch and I’m just kind of stuck in the mud. I’m trying to be excited about Monday but between old demons and nerves I’m stuck. Damn emotions.

new sign 200x113 Internal Struggles

Quiet Times

I’ve been a horrible no good very poor blogger lately. And I really don’t have any excuses other than well I’m in a bit of a walled off place.

I don’t have any urge to take photos, sorry y’all the house ain’t pretty enough as a background, and well a post without pictures (sadly like this one) seems rather lame.

On top of that, this blog “Our MARRIAGE Adventure” isn’t quite fitting. I hate to be glum and drum about things but the reality is we’re struggling. Alex knew about the affair post and was OK that I wrote it because he knows that I need an outlet. However we’ve had some people attempt to drive a wedge between us about that as if I was ripping some damn wound open again and again. I’d say I’m sorry for that but truthfully I’m not, Alex knows who I am and he understands better than everyone else what exactly this whole mess has done to me. So please take your negative thoughts and attitudes away because this marriage needs healing which means we need SUPPORT. Not judgement.

On that same note – we’re at odds about a very big subject. We had all the talks you’re supposed to prior to getting married (money, long-term goals, short-term goals, KIDS) but we’ve had some recent developments called Alex isn’t sure if he wants kids. Ever. This is a huge huge huge issue for me. So we’re stuck, do we continue to move the marriage to better only for it to end in divorce over this issue? Do we throw in the towel now and say oh well we tried but let’s quit before we hate each other? Do we both hope one of us changes their mind before the end and then regret it when someone doesn’t? Do we stick around and have happily ever after because one of us DOES change their mind? SO MUCH TO CONSIDER.

I saw a quote from Katie Brown of Marriage Confessions on a post she put up yesterday that I ended up emailing Alex. I did it because I feel like, though they haven’t struggled through the same issues – they can be an inspirational marriage for Alex and I. Plus she’s a one thousand percent better blogger / writer.

{My Email}I know you think my internet stuff is ‘stupid” and often “pointless” but its part of who I am as a person. I’m the nerd, the geek, the one who likes to play furry animals in an online world with lots of Chinese teenagers and look for the “latest and greatest” toy. I’m also that person who could care less about getting my oil change (oh yea, um…I’ll do it tomorrow. I SWEAR.)

And yes, in the end I look for lots of inspiration on love, life, and yes our marriage on the internet. So when I saw this blog post by Katie of the Katie, Chris BEAN and Gracie blog I thought I’d share a very small part of it. I know we struggle a lot and I know we want our smiles back, our laughter, the Lurv (said in my best Urkel voice) and I know we are still looking but look at this as inspiration. Even if it’s not an answer per se.

{Katie Wisdom}“I have been hiding right here inside your own marriage,” the smile said. “I’ve been waiting for you to hold hands and push forward like you used to do, or for your feet to find each other at night when you laid down. But you never thought to look for me inside your own marriage, and so I stayed hidden. I am so glad you finally remembered where your smiles live!”

And for once, the townspeople had nothing to say. Because who can argue with a smile?

I guess you could say right now we’re on the hope track but some days we weeble wobble and we end up staring at divorce wondering if it is an option. Other days we’re that annoying couple in love. Marriage is hard as hell people, wish I knew why but I don’t. The reality is that is why I’ve been blogging less. Who wants to hear about marriage struggles time and time again? What else do I talk about? What on earth should I take photos of??

So for those of you who came here hoping for witty, I apologize. For those of you who have given up because my latest blog posts suck, I apologize. For those of you hoping for some chocolate cake – I ate it all.

2012 signature 200x200 Quiet Times

To My Prince Charming

No fairytale consists of only roses and perfume. There is always a challenge, a quest, a trial to overcome and I’m so glad that you are the Prince I get to fight the dragons beside. (Unless its Toothless…he’s too cute to fight.)

Happy Anniversary my love. 3 years that have been hard-fought for and worth their weight in gold.

IMG 0224 500x333 To My Prince Charming

2012 signature 200x200 To My Prince Charming

Tough Love

This is a continuation of adjusting the blog to reflect me and mine more. I’m quite sure my most recent post has shocked some people, offended some people, and made some people leave. I won’t lie – I am still waffling on how I feel about all that (feelings range from “Well tough poop its my blog” to “Oh God what have I done” to “Can I now avoid people for the next half century?”).

I’m sure y’all have opinions on whether or not I should be opening up this box of well…stuff…about me, myself, and mine as well as my marriage. I’m quite sure there are family members reading this who will proceed to call other people and say things about me and what they think I OUGHT to do. (Yes I do hear about those calls.) It’s not that I don’t care, I do…I struggle with what to do, but the reality is though, I need this. So I can heal. I’m sorry if you don’t like my method – here is the quick way to fix it. Stop reading.

Have you ever seen gold refined? Gold starts out as this hunk of rock with the good parts woven through the “bad” parts that are not needed. Step one is always smelting – basically you heat up the rock and ore literally burning off the bad parts before reducing the now boiling pile of goo into something better. Refining though is where the good becomes best. Its how you get wedding bands made of 14K gold. Refining takes that ore and makes into its purest and best composition so that it can truly shine. Just like the wedding bands on mine and Alex’s hands. I like to think that this is what this last year has been about…refining us. We were smelted and we were pretty good, but we weren’t our best. Far from it. So the flames of challenge and hellashish moments took a chance where we’d either burn away or come out from the other side being stronger, better, and so much more precious than we were before the process began. I think we came out as gold.

Love is damn tough. Love is damn draining. Love is bigger than your wants, your needs, your feelings. Love is giving it all when you feel like there is nothing left to give because you should. At least that is how I was raised so to me that answers the #1 question I was asked. “Why did you stay?” Because I love him. Because I promised for better or worse. Because as tough as it is to swallow, as tough as it is to hear the marriage didn’t get crappy due to one person. BOTH of us could have been better people and damn it all to hell if I was going to let that B*!%$ win without a freaking fight.

In simpler terms – I was too pissed and stubborn to say “Fuck it.”

I also had to know in my heart of hearts that no matter what happened I gave it my  all. A year down the road and there are still days of struggle. We just got back from a GREAT vacation. It was an amazing time of happiness, togetherness, and love. The drive home was full of laughter, but the last 30 minutes practically had me in tears.

One of the comments I got was that my husband didn’t epitomize a GODLY marriage and that kind of threw me for a loop. Did marriage mean perfection? Did marriage mean the minute something bad happened you walked away? I remember reflecting on this and realizing that quite frankly Alex and I were a damn GOOD example of a Godly marriage.

God did not give up on you when you stumbled or disobeyed his commands, instead he gave you chance after chance. Even when he knew there was no way we could achieve grace on our own he did not turn away, rather he sent his  SON to DIE for OUR sins. That same son spent time on earth in the company of the very worst sinners, not turning away but loving and forgiving and then saving them the same as he saved you or I. He was AGAPE.

Yes I choose to stay. Some of the reasons are selfish, some are perhaps silly, but others are quite simply love. When you truly dearly love someone you risk it all. You never know what you may get, but love is worth the price. I’m lucky – love brought me a better marriage then I ever could have expected despite the tough times.

2012 signature 200x200 Tough Love