Staying out of jail

I don't even know if I can do this post justice. I am incredibly grateful for my man. We have been together for 25 years, married for 24 this July and I can honestly say there is no one else I would rather be with.  That is not to say that every moment has been bliss- far from it. There have been good, joyful loving wonderful times. and there have been bad, moody, frustration suxy times too. as well as the just plain mundane, hectic and ordinary.

  Such is a thing called life.  All these days , emotion and events fall into every ones timetable. Its who you spend those times, whatever they may be, that counts. and I have been privileged enough to spend those times with a kind, smart man named Marc Hill,  After so many mistakes (read date bad boys reeling in selfishness) how I landed this gem is purely grace.  

Please stop making me laugh!!

We are so very different in personality. I'm loud, he's quiet. I'm impulsive, he's contemplative. I think out loud, he thinks before he speaks.  He cooks, I don't. The list could go on and on . I once told someone that Marc married me so he would have some fun and spice in his life and I married him so I would stay out of jail.  So far , so good!  ( seriously, you have no idea)

But for all we have that is opposite, we have the core things down.  We're both honest, we're both loyal. We both fail. We both forgive. We both love and trust God. We both work hard. We both are willing to sacrifice for the other. We are both kind (in very different ways)

And we are both fun , also in different ways. We both love our children unconditionally.

Prom 2012

Fixing the retaining wall- but time for a pic!

The dog we got when I was out of town!!

Our love has changed and grown over the years. It manifest itself differently than when we were younger. We are still very much attracted to each other but flirting is where it's at and on weeknights and where it ends because baby we are 3 kids, 2 dogs and a mortgage into this thing- were kinda tired. :) 

But were closer than ever.  We know how to love each other, whats important to the other one. 

We know each others love language and we know how to just "be". Even if we are not doing the same thing, we can be in the same room, near each other . We enjoy each other.

Friday Marc will be having surgery to remove part of his colon.  While this isn't celebratory news, it is news that has a lots of reasons to be grateful : 

there is no cancer.  

we got the surgical procedure to laproscopic along with the surgeon we want. 

He is young and this is semi elective to remove damage from 10 years of diverticulitis. 

The surgery will improve the quality of his life.  

We have parents that  are going to come and help .

 Friends that are praying for us and helping with our children and 

most of all a God who is the healer of all flesh.  

So I am forever grateful to be married to Marc Hill.

I am blessed to be loved by him.

A Thankful Wife

One of the important people in my life is my husband Marc.  He is a huge portion of my world and my day. He is responsible for much of the other important people in my life: our 3 chicks.

It is often easy to overlook your spouse on a daily basis. You do life together, the good, bad, the mundane.  In and out day after day.  Some days just feel like we hit a repeat button: up, eat, work, school, errands, home, eat, chores, flop in exhaustion on couch, watch tv, fall asleep . Repeat . It's like we are stuck reading a shampoo bottle in an endless loop.
But these days are spent along side my man. They aren't necessarily exciting but they are together.  And together is where it is at.  

 I'm grateful to have his face to look at when I arrive home.  His arms around me and his face to kiss. I sometimes forget to kiss that face or fall into those arms when I get home because.... well I'm tired, distracted or hungry.Yet these are the very moments we have together right now.   We're not in the market for a vacation.  Date night can't be every night. So we have this time together and these small interactions matter.  Having 2 chicks out of the nest these moments matter even more. Very soon our littlest chick will fly the coop too and Marc and I will be alone together.

Kinda catches me by surprise when I see it all laid out in black and white like that.  I could focus on the word alone.  All my chicks out of our home. I've been a mom for so long it will be strange to have all the kids out of my immediate reach.   But I'm going to focus on the word together.  Marc and I will be together.

When that time comes I'm sure we will discover a bit of each other all over again.  But I don't want to be strangers , I don't want to have neglected so great a gift in front of me that I missed the joy . I am grateful for Marc.

I'm grateful for his love everyday in his acts of service( his love language) to his family. In fact just a moment ago he texted to ask what time I get off and told me he was buying more blue lights so we can decorate the tree while all 3 chicks are in the nest!! 

 He knows I'm weird and I only like blue lights on the Christmas tree. It's my thing.  

So I'm grateful he gets me and all my quirky things.

Like the saying on my kitchen wall

Together,  the best place to be.

New year - second day

Well here we are at day 2 of the new year. It's starting slow because we,are all on vacation and have no schedule.  It will soon be upon us with school starting next week.  But for now we are still bums.  Plus it was major college football time last night and well it didn't exactly go our way.
Who knew that 2015 would make me a Oregon Duck fan?

Today I am choosing to be grateful for my gift of a husband Marc Hill. That man has loved me through it all.  Good times, ugly times, sick times, prosperous times, and broke times. His love comes in the  reflective form  of Jesus through  sacrifice and service .

Marc's native language is service . Want to know you're loved by him?  Just look at his actions. He always puts his family first from choosing a job, planning his schedule or spending his money the Hill tribe benefits from his every action.

So today an important item on his list will be taken care of by me.  

The garage is as close to a man cave as he will ever get and 

unfortunately it looks like this right now.

stop judging me

What the heck is all this ,as Marc likes to call it , "debris" doing here?  Well some would be Christmas that was taken down and never put up. Some is " crafty" items left over from making gifts. Nothing says "we have been in here daddy " like a  touch of glitter on the work bench   The rest I like to file under " miscellaneous " otherwise known as I -might-totally-need-this-one-day treasures.  Did I mention what a patient and tolerant man he is?

So today the love in action plan is to restore the garage to its former glory. 

Minus a few specks of glitter here and there. Glitter is like  the chlamydia of the craft world,  it just keeps on spreading. At the very least I want to clear it enough that he won't trip over the giant bottle of modge podge on his way to retrieve an allen wrench.

Wish me luck I'm going in.

DAY 6: WATERFRONT RESCUE

 Today I ventured into my husband's clothing area.   I am married to an unusually tall man. He is 6' 5 and wears  a size 14 shoe.

That is one big boat.

I love my freak of
nature size man.

His neck is 17 1/2 inches thick. When he first started out in business it was suits and ties and casual Friday was a dress shirt and suit pants.  I had a heck of a time trying to find clothes that fit him properly.  Thank goodness those proper dress days are gone and he can show up in khaki and polos.

We still keep a few suits and dress shirts  around for formal occasion and interviews, but the rest we take to Waterfront Rescue.

When it came time to donate Marc's clothes I just kept picturing homeless men preparing for an interview and what if that man was a freak of nature size like my man.  I thought that would just stink having to worry about a job and then find something decent to wear.

So go find your man and take his clothes to Waterfront Rescue , located at 2365 North McKenzie Street  in Foley. (Phone: 251-943-4581)  You can even schedule a donation pick up right from the website or as  give me a call to pick them up. ( the clothes , not your man :)

Call if you need me
Alison Hill
251-463-3511
alison_hill@bellsouth.net

Sweet

Today the thank you note goes put to a sweet sweet lady Miss Peggy. 

She works the security desk at my husbands work. She is a delight , thoughtful , efficient and still working strong at 76!!!! 

She even called my husband on his B day ( he was off on Christmas Vacation ) 

 

What a kind lady. 

Do a thank you note for being sweet plus a raspberry cobbler ! 

Sweets for the Sweet!!

One Grateful Wife

Day 2

I hadn't planned on going in any particular order when I took on the "Grateful Year" project but it seems to have started at the top.   You just can't out do God so He got top dibs on Day 1.

Today my mind went straight to my #2 ,my right hand man (literally he is right handed).

Todays' thank you goes out to the one, my only, baby daddy, husband and best friend Marc Hill.

Not only is he wonderful and has kept our original bargain
 "I add spice to his life and he keeps me out of jail"
 but it has been one wild, merciful  21 year ride.
 He also gets major points for keeping that faithfulness in sickness and health thing too.

So as he is hunting in Texas tonight so I sent the following Thank You by email.
Hope it inspires you to search deeply for the ways you are grateful to be loved:

The Man

hello baby,

Wanted to start our new year off in the best way by telling you first how grateful I am that we are starting it together with our family.

We have had a wonderful year and Im looking forward to the new one with you.  I want to say thank you

Thank you for all the past moments and all the future ones

Thank you for loving me when I was not so lovable 

Thank you for believing in me when my actions and words were not so believable

Thank you for embracing my quirks ,affirming my positive traits and overlooking my shortcomings.

Thank you for being a faithful husband and a available father.

Thank you for all your hard work and effort to provide for our family, on both money and time.

Thank you for holding me together when I felt like I was shattering in pieces.

Thank you for forgiving me when I did not think before I spoke, when I didn’t give you my best.

Thank you for having a glass of wine ready after a hard day at work and the random bouquet of flowers or whenever you uttered the word beautiful and my name in the same breath.

Thank you sooo much for having a sense of humor 

Thank you for doing life with me with your unwavering commitment to love me.

I love you right back and am ready for this year to thank you each and everyday we share.

Have fun hunting in Texas, and come home like a  buck in a rut.

One Grateful Wife, 

A