You will never end up with a victorious marriage by accident. You must have a strategy.
Author: Emma Hall
My name is Emma Hall, and I am a young wife and mother of five. Yep, five kids! My husband and I are high school sweethearts, married at 18. He spent five years in the Marine Corps, during which time we followed him back and forth across the country. Nine moves + one deployed husband later we have settled in Ohio (for good?) where we work to balance chaos, joyful children, toxic free living, renovating our farmhouse, and living simple.
10 ways my husband has cherished me
My Marine husband and I have been apart half the last year and yet he still leaves me feeling cherished. How?
Staying at home with a toddler is no more chaotic than staying home during a tornado
You must have so much free time when you’re at home alone, right? If you’re a mom, that’s the funniest joke you’ll hear all day.
We’re not Instagrammable
As I sit here typing, my hair is frizzy and my makeup is smudged. I don’t look like a perfect mom. I don’t belong on Instagram.
What your baby really wants for Christmas
This past week, Grandma has been putting together a list of items to get my son for Christmas. It goes like this: Shoe laces. Buckets. Brooms. Magnets. Tupperware containers. Brightly colored toys are right up at the top of her list of items not to get him. We bought him rainbow colored blocks, bright animal magnets, and a giant blue ball, but he’s hardly interested. Why on earth would he want thetell me the rest!
The flight that made me reconsider travel
When I traveled all across the world with my baby before he even hit three weeks old, I was commended by everyone I encountered for my bravery. While I smiled and thanked them, I knew I wasn’t really one of the brave ones–after all, my newborn slept 80% of the time and when he did scream it was so quiet it didn’t bother anyone. Plus he was so little thattell me the rest!
Guess who decided to show up to Malaysia unannounced?
I’ve been keeping a secret from my family these last few weeks. Quite a big secret too. Or a little secret, I suppose. No, not that kind of little secret. The 22lb kind with a curly blonde mass of hair I can never keep combed for more than 16 seconds at a time. My little secret lives in a tiny town on the coast of North Carolina, USA, but on Monday morning,tell me the rest!
Dating my husband again
Up until this week, my husband and I have been on a grand total of four dates since my son was born. One was last Thanksgiving during a visit up to Ohio. One was because a sweet friend offered. One was for our anniversary and the other was for my birthday. On top of the lack of dates we’ve had, we’ve also had to rush home to put the babytell me the rest!
Our surprise early goodbye
The minutes are ticking away until he leaves again. Again. Didn’t he just get home? Yesterday afternoon, after two weeks of much needed vacation as a family, my husband called one of his buddies to ask what time they needed to be in at work the next morning. Less than a minute into the conversation, I heard a change in his voice. “Monday?” he asked, groaning. My stomach dropped. Sometimes, my husbandtell me the rest!
What High School Musical reminded me about my young marriage
Every once in awhile I am reminded just how young I really am. Case in point: this evening my husband went out with his buddies and I stayed home with my son. As I thought about movies I wanted to watch but would never be able to convince my husband to see with me, High School Musical came to mind. It’s okay–you can laugh–but I am not too old for High Schooltell me the rest!