Real Life Marriage: Weekend Warrior Dating

My husband and I mostly dated on the weekends. We both had crazy busy jobs, and the only time we could reliably carve out was Friday/Saturday, so that was the time we spent. When we decided we wanted to get married, I looked forward to sharing a home and hopefully, more life together with him. Little did I know how God would use our dating style to prepare us for our next season.

Shortly after we got married, we decided for my husband to go back to school. He expressed interest. I supported him, and away we went! Then the hours got long and arduous. (He also worked part-time.) I also worked long hours, so we saw each other briefly in the morning, and briefly at night. Weekends were our only periods of quality time. 

We let weekends go for a while. Then, during COVID, I decided to prioritize date night, even if only at home. It helped, some. We had to actually focus on each other, and that was good.

Now, we are in yet another intense season as my husband has stepped up his work while finishing up his classes. While I am thankful that we do share a home together, and thus a little more time together than when we were dating, we are still weekend warriors. We text when we can during our work days, and we chat a little in the evenings. Other than that, weekends are our time, and we have learned to protect them as such. If we go out with individual friends, we try to do that apart from weekend time. If we have guests, we try to make them couple or family guests. We endeavor to be intentional.

I try to plan a date activity every weekend. It sometimes is not much, but it is something. Gary Thomas (2023) talked about using 100% of what is left in a summer podcast. That is what we are doing with our weekend warrior dating. Would we like to spend more time together during the week? Yes, but it is not our reality, so we do the best with what we had.

Our dating experience was good (or at least I think so). Our marriage is a blessing, too. Our time together might not look like what we expected, but we are together, and that is what we value.

Reference.

Smalley, G., Smalley, E., & Fuller, J. (Hosts). (2023, June 8). Giving 100% of what you have left. [Audio podcast episode]. In Focus on the Family marriage podcast. Focus on the Family. https://podcasts.focusonthefamily.com/show/focus-on-marriage-podcast/giving-100-of-what-you-have-left/

A Practically Perfect Day

A little belated, but we finally got to celebrate my birthday, well, to celebrate my birthday in the way I had envisioned. More than things, I want experiences, and I want those experiences to be with those I love. This past Saturday, this came to fruition with a day practically perfect in every way:

Walking with my mom (and running the day's miles home)

Yoga

Pancakes, cocoa and an apple (unpictured) for breakfast

Climbing at Gripstone with my love

A long, leisurely nap

Trying out a new outfit (complements of my Ohio best friend)

Dinner out (peppercorn gorgo burger at Prescott Brewing Company)

Belated Mother's Day photos

An evening walk

And just relaxing... 

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Thank you, Lord, for a wonderful day!

Whirlwind Weekend

We took a whirlwind trip this past weekend, flying out Friday night and back Sunday morning. I never thought I would take such a trip. I never thought I would be so willing to travel wearing a mask, but you know what? It was totally worth it!

We traveled this weekend to attend an event at my brother's work. We rarely get to see him, so when he invited us, we jumped at the chance. Normally, our vacations are about eating and seeing the sights. This time, it was more about soaking up time together. We still did a little of our "normal," though.

Eats

More bao from Dumpling Haus (I went there last time I visited, and we had to go again.)

Taco bao-definitely different, but surprisingly tasty!

Treats

A walk to see the lake

Complete with fall colors

Cheese curds (a Wisconsin must)

Using my brother's Japanese fire table after a walk in the cold.

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Most of all, though, it was just good to be together!

Exploring Flagstaff

Arizona has so many great little places to explore. Flagstaff is one of them. My husband and I went to there just a few weekends ago. The real reason we went was for me to attend training, but we decided to make a weekend getaway of it. We'd been to Flagstaff before, but in our "not dating" phase, and that time, we only to stayed to hike and visit Chipotle. This time we did a little more.

We found this little park and ate lunch at it the first day:

Bushmaster Park

That evening, we dined at Collin's Irish Pub and Grill.

I wouldn't call my slider burger and sweet potato fries very authentic Irish food, or even really Irish, but the restaurant aura was nice with high booths, and wooden tables. The service was good, though I wish the waitresses had a little different attire. Since we went early, though, the atmosphere was overall pretty family friendly. In fact, we saw several families with kids come in while we were there.

After that, we walked around and explored downtown. There are so many shops and lots of fun kitschy things.

Some appropriate (and some not so much)

Sunday morning, we hiked at Campbell Mesa.

 The 2.7 Anasazi Loop was more of a walk than a hike, but we still enjoyed it.

We stopped at Bushmaster Park for lunch the second day as well.

And since we had work on Monday, we hightailed it down the mountain after I finished training. But I definitely think there's more to explore.

Until next time, Flagstaff!

Pat's Run 2.0

Pat's Run number two is in the books! 

And we made an enjoyable weekend of it. Chris and I went down to Tempe Friday night to run a wedding errand. Then we picked up my race packet and went to dinner at Oregano's. 

It wasn't the most amazing food ever, and the environment was a little noisy, but we enjoyed our time nonetheless.

My Italian flag lasagna (Seriously, though, the garlic bread was the best part!)

Then we walked around Arizona Mills Mall. 

Look at this lego statue!

And made a quick walk through IKEA. I mean why not?

He went to his sister's house and I went to my trusty Drury Inn. Drury is expensive, but quality is consistent. I somehow got a king room with a whole office area. 

Too bad I was just there long enough to sleep and head out again!

The pre-race pinning of the bib!

Then it was race day! I got up at 5 am. Chris picked me up at 5:30 and we were off to the Metro parking. We rode the Metro and then walked to the race corrals at ASU stadium. Some of the vendors were already out of giveaways, but we still picked up a few goodies.

And took a pre-race photo.

I got into my corral about 6:45 am. I was in Corral 4 this year, which was way better than Corral 13 two years ago. There were still 1,000 people per corral, though (28,000 racers total).

This year, it felt a little cramped.

The road felt congested too.

But I heard the national anthem. Our corral was led by a University of Arkansas graduate, which was pretty cool, since I moved here from Arkansas. 

The end of the race felt a little hard this year. I drank a little water on the way, but I felt a little like I wanted to vomit by the end. Was I running too hard, or was it the heat? I don't know.

But I finished.

 And I found Chris. (He took this photo.) 

That equaled success with all the people that were there!

We waited awhile for the Metro, but that's okay. People in Corral 28 were getting off the Metro when we got to the station. Corral 18 was starting when I finished. I felt like we made good time.

Post race, we brunched at The Egg and I with Chris' sister and family. We only had to wait 25 minutes to get a table, and the food came out fast, so I felt it was a success.

My Hiker's Benedict

We went to a game store in Gilbert, came home, and I did stuff at home and then made dinner.

Cauliflower carbonara, boiled carrots with parsley, and homemade freezer garlic bread

I mean sunshine, movement, and cooking are therapy for me, so why not do them all on the same day? 

It was a good weekend. 

Thank you, Lord!

Unshaken Prayer Conference

I worked a half day on Friday, and then we headed to Phoenix to get my sister-in-law from the airport. Her flight got a little delayed, so Mom got some coffee while we waited. I crocheted.

We swung by the church to drop off Mom to check in for the Unshaken Conference and then ran to Chic-Fil-A to get some dinner. I got into the worship time a little late, but I made it.

The first night, we worshipped with 29:11 and then heard from Cheryl Saks of Bridge Builders and Sally Burke, Moms in Prayer President. My two take-aways were that secular schools cannot meet the spiritual needs of students and that God is not shaken. The key verse for the event was Psalm 16:8,"I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken" (New International Version, NIV). The more we look to God, the more we will be like Him, unshaken.

We got to bed pretty late Friday night, but we still woke up early. So Mom and I went for a walk. We discovered some lovely little water features in the middle of an industrial center and apartment complex.

Day two of the conference was intense, but good. The focus was on persevering prayer, even when we don't have answers or see answers. One of the speakers talked about how sometimes we persevere in prayer not so that we get what we want, but to remind others to pray and not give up. Karen Abercrombie, aka Miss Clara of War Room, talked about how God led her to that role. Basically, she prayed and waited 13 years to play a character like this. Her testimony was pretty powerful. We had a boxed lunch and fellowship, and then more stories about how God is working around the world through prayer.

I don't know that I'll ever be a prayer warrior like my mom, but I'm glad I had a chance to go to this conference with her and my sister-in-law. In the midst of all the craziness, I do need to remember to look up instead of looking down or in. I tend to be an easily shaken person, but I serve an unshakeable God, and prayer is my connection to Him.