Posts tagged “#MarriedWithOpinions

Marriage, Hurt Egos, & Good Intentions

Posted on January 14, 2015

Last year Sean and I collaborated on several posts about marriage—it’s been a while and it felt like it was time. Here is how I introduced this 2-part, I write/he writes approach before: I usually keep marriage along the periphery of the stories I tell. The silos of parenting and life are not as concise as they can seem in storytelling, they aren’t silos at all; they’re brush strokes sharing space on one canvas. Marriage, two sides, a post in two parts—first, what you’ve come to expect here, my words and emotional take on something that happened; second, words from Sean, his perspective on the same thing. It’s personal and revealing.    T he fresh snow squeaked beneath me as I walked to the back of the…

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This is What My 40s Feel Like

Posted on November 9, 2014

That title is not a sweeping statement for all people in their forties. This is specifically written about me. Navel-gazing, me-me-me in full effect. Largely in part because I have been in a funk and I read this little wisp of wonder over at Cup of Jo and it struck me as incredibly wise. Here are the words: It doesn’t make sense to call ourselves ugly, because we don’t really see ourselves. We don’t watch ourselves sleeping in bed, curled up and silent with chests rising and falling with our own rhythm. We don’t see ourselves reading a book, eyes fluttering and glowing. You don’t see yourself looking at someone with love and care inside your heart. There’s no mirror in your way when…

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There Goes The Bride

Posted on June 25, 2014

A few weeks ago I was invited to write a post about marriage for #TheHereYear. The Here Year is a project/mission of Aidan Donnelley Rowley and Lindsey Mead, a 12-month long look at presence. Each month they select a different theme and riff on it and invite others to do so as well. It’s been fascinating to watch the posts, so many different stories and unique takes on being here, from an unflinching introspection on social media use, to touching on a subject they haven’t written about publicly, to stripping away everything but the truth. I was excited to participate, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, what I thought was, turned out not to have been at all—a bit like walking away from handing…

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Things I Love Hating About You

Posted on April 29, 2014

This is a #MarriedWithOpinions post in two parts. Amanda: When something really annoys me I’ll say that it makes my ribs itch. I’m lucky, because all things considered, Sean understands what annoys me. He’ll get a wicked grin and say, “You itchin’ yet?” It helps when I don’t have to let those things fester, but there are a few things that I don’t think he knows about because my response to them is usually when he isn’t in the room. He folds and puts dirty dish towels back in the drawer. I  go to wipe flour off of my face and dried pizza sauce rakes across my skin. He loads the dishwasher like he’s building a lean-to, creating a cookie sheet and mixing bowl…

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Truth in Marriage

Posted on April 27, 2014

Sean and I have a loose agreement that we can euthanize things from one another’s wardrobe. We don’t have to talk about it too much, great detail isn’t necessary. We just have to affect an expression of pain or discomfort, cock a shoulder and say, “You need to not wear that anymore.” Having this agreement has saved us from awkward, “Uh-huh, I love you in that outfit,” lies.  Every once in a while though, we are taken aback by a suggestion to add something to the donate pile. I was most recently on the receiving end. We were on our way somewhere and as we stood in our makeshift mudroom, Sean picked up a pair of sandals. “You can’t wear these to the office…

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