A Fashionista's Fear...

...Not that I call myself a fashionista (or that I am any where close to being one) but it works for this story.

We have seen it in movies, TV shows, and it even shows up in every issues of US Weekly - "who wore it best." Yes, it happened to me. I went shopping, purchased the perfect dress for Jeff's annual company Christmas party (it was only $29.99 at Marshalls, what a steal), I put it on last night feeling wonderful about my purchase, showed up to Jeff's Christmas party and the firt woman I was introduced to was...WEARING THE SAME DRESS!

Nobody knew except for me, I was wearing a pashmina that fully covered my dress. So I kept it to myself at first. Stupid things were running through my head, "should I go home and change? Does she look better in it than me? Should I keep my pashmina on all night, even when I am out on the dance floor so nobody else will know?" Finally I told Jeff and of course he responded as any husband should, by telling me that I looked much better in it. Probably not true, but I love him for saying so! I decided it wasn't worth any more fret, she probably didn't notice, either did anyone else and it would just be my little secret. Until, Jeff and I sat down for dinner at a table and who else would choose to sit right next to me at dinner other than the woman in my same dress! I laughed. What are the chances? Obviously, she still didn't notice. We chatted throughout dinner and she turned out to be a really nice girl, and obviously she has great taste. Finally, out on the dance floor, and with a little bit of liquid courage in me, I told her! I said, did you know we are wearing the same dress? She was like no way! And we both laughed. I continued to keep my pashmina on, until later in the night when I noticed she and her date had left. I am realizing as I get older (and now that I am someones wife) that things such as this are nothing worth fretting over. I am happy to say, that I overcame a who wore it best moment. Just another thing I can appreciate about my Life As A Wife.

Freshman Fifteen

So everyone knows that females, in their first year of college, gain 15 pounds -- the wonderful Freshman Fifteen. I was prepared for that, I fought against it, and I succeeded in overcoming that dreaded situation that affected many around me. What nobody told me was that wives, in their first year of marriage, also gain 15 pounds -- some refer to it as "happy weight." I personally, am not so happy (Happy in my marriage, yes! Happy with those extra pounds, NO!).



This vicious weight gain started on my honeymoon (the accompanying pictures are all from our amazing trip to Fiji). We were staying at an all-inclusive resort -- enough said right? I told myself that I might as well get my money's worth. The food was absolutely delicious and they served dessert at every meal! And I mean every meal, there were even cookies for breakfast. I thought, I am on vacation, what the heck. I can relax, enjoy my expensive meal and then when I go back to the real world I will get back on track. Easier said than done. I could continue on with multiple excuses as to why this so-called "happy weight" happened: new job, long commute, cooking and baking for my husband, traveling for work a lot, being forced to eat out too much, a vending machine at the office (where everything in there is only $.25). There are a million excuses, but what it really comes down to is willpower - the ability to exert one's will over one's actions. That is all it is. I want to be in better shape but my actions are not making it happen!

You might be wondering why I am writing about this today. Well, last night was the final episode before the season finale of The Biggest Loser. I am a big (no pun intended) fan of that show. I cry nearly every episode. It is amazing to watch those people completely change their lives. I talk about needing to lose 10 pounds, these people lose 10 pounds in a week!! I find it hard to make it to the gym for 30 minutes a day, these people are in the gym 8 hours a day!! If they can do it, I can do it. I got a hold of the weight gainage about 2 months ago by standing up to the aforementioned excuses. #1 - just because that bag of M&Ms only costs a quarter doesn't mean I should eat them every day. #2 - if the hour and a half commute in the evenings makes me too tired to go to the gym then I should become a morning gym person -- 5:00 am has been treating me well! #3 - there are healthy choices on the menu where ever you go, eating out is not an excuse to eat horribly. The problem is (in my old age - sadly I am getting up there) just eating healthy and working out regularly doesn't seem to be enough to actually lose weight. It has stopped the weight gain, but I am not losing anything! So today, I am pledging to take further action to sincerely commit to losing those 10 pounds (again...sigh) and making myself healthier for my Life As A Wife.

Oh Christmas Tree

I have not lived at home with my parents for about 10 years now. Wow, has it really been that long? And, every year, as I am sure most people in this situation do this time of year, I have pondered over whether or not to get a Christmas Tree. I absolutely love Christmas and it just doesn't seem like Christmas without a tree! But, every year my arguments are the same, they are expensive, no one will enjoy it except for me, I don't have any ornaments either so I will have to buy those and they are expensive, I don't have any other Christmas decorations so really a random tree is all I would get - which again goes back decorations also being expensive - and the biggest factor, by the time I get back from Christmas with my family it will be dead.

Well this year, things have changed. First, I would just like to say that my Mother-in-law is amazing. All the cute little things that mom's say they are going to do for their kids, she actually did! She is a real life, living, breathing Martha Stewart. Here are some examples. Photos albums - first of all, she actually has them (that is more than most people can say) and they are organized by date. There is a whole album for October - December, 1985, one for April - June, 1990 (you get the picture). Another amazing capture of history, sayings of the kids. She had paper in her kitchen cabinet that she would use to write down funny little things the kids said or did that day. Did you know that on May 2, 1986 Jeff was found singing "oh my darling" to his little sister Megan (I can't remember the exact specifics but it was was something like that)? It's amazing the amount of history she was able to capture. It definitely motivates me to be on top of things when I have children. Going back to Christmas, the other thing that my Mother-in-law did that really excites me and makes this story possible, is that she bought one Christmas ornament for each of her children every year and put them on the tree, knowing that one day they would have families of their own and would need some Christmas ornaments - exactly the situation that her son is now in.

So yesterday an amazing box arrived - it was all of Jeff's Christmas ornaments, and yes they are all labeled by year. From a rustic wooden sled dating back to 1984 (Jeff was 1) to a Central Valley Bear sitting on a football from 1998 (Jeff's Sophomore year of High School), and a brand-new ornament that is a picture of our first kiss as husband and wife (March 8, 2008) - they all are a special part of Jeff, who he is and the amazing family that he has and that I am lucky enough to call my in-laws. In honor of these ornaments we decided this was the year that we were going to put up a Christmas tree! Taking all of the aforementioned excuses into consideration, Jeff and I purchased a 4-foot, pre-lit, fake tree! We used all of Jeff's ornaments to decorate it and I must say that it couldn't be more perfect. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Liepmans! With each and every occasion such as this, the more I love my Life As A Wife.

Cooking Is Dangerous

I used to mention to Jeff every once in a while that life would be easier on us both if I was a stay at home wife - joking of course, I love my job and would be miserably bored being at home all by myself every day. But I told him, I could do all of the household chores, I could go grocery shopping, pay bills, take clothes to the drycleaners, we could get a puppy, and more important to this story, I could have a hot meal waiting for him every night when he got home from work. No longer will I say that...being a stay at home wife could be dangerous! The other day I was working from home and decided it would be really nice if I showed my hubby just how great of a stay at home wife I could be. I wanted to have dinner ready for him when he got home. As I rummaged through the kitchen, debating on what we would have, I came across one of our favorites, an acorn squash. Now many of you might say, "an acorn squash??? Who cooks an acorn squash?" Well, I do. I came across the recipe when I first moved to California and didn't have a job. I would spend my afternoon sifting through cookbooks, finding something to make, going to the store to get the ingredients and then cooking all afternoon so that Jeff and I could enjoy eating dinner together (which usally took about 10 minutes). Then the real world came around and I finally got a job and the amount of cooking I have done has diminished. Believe me it has, and my husband frequently reminds me that it's true.

Anyway, so the squash and I went at it. I pulled out the biggest, baddest butcher knife we had and I started hacking. This squash seemed to be winning. From the second I touched the knife to the squash a little voice kept whispering in my head, "JoLee, you are going to cut your finger off. JoLee, wouldn't that be cute if you cut your finger off. JoLee, be careful, you are going to..." and yep sure enough, the tip of the knife jolted up as I pushed on the handle, and shot directly into my left hand pinky! Immediately I knew something bad had happened. I looked down at the pinky and it looked like just a paper cut, with about the same amount of blood that a paper cute conjours up. But under closer examination, meaning pulling apart my skin, I realized that this was no paper cut, I had gone all the way down to the bone. My initial recreation was, "JoLee, how could you be so stupid, you told yourself to be careful." And then, I realized how excited I was that I could call my husband and tell him what happened and he would take care of me!

And that is exactly what he did. He rushed home from work, took a look and realized we needed to get stitches. Before I knew it he had pulled up the closest Urgent Care on the computer, called them to ensure they were open and that they did stitches and had me in the car on my way. We made it to Urgent Care and sure enough, 5 stitches were needed (see above picture). Jeff held my hand the entire time, even when I had to squeeze it really hard - it hurts when they give the numbing shot. The picture to the left is us leaving the hospital. I got a blow-pop for being such a good patient, exciting! Back to the husband, he even took me home and finished up our dinner for that night. I know people talk about how amazing it is to have a companion there to take care of you "...in sickness and health." But, not until you live through something like this do you really realize just how great of a feeling it is to know that you will never have to go through another moment like this alone. And this my friends, is why I love my Life As A Wife.

Three Brothers

I grew up with three older brothers. Now to some that might seem like no big deal, but to me it was AWESOME! On a daily basis I thank the Lord for giving me those brothers. Every time I hear about two sisters fighting over clothes or boys or competing against each other in everything I think, "I am so glad I had those three brothers." Everytime my husband compliments me on being able to get ready quickly I think, "I am so glad those brothers did't cut me any slack." Everytime I go hunting, fishing, riding motorcycles or ATVs I think, "I am so lucky I had those three brothers to teach me about these things." I truly do feel blessed. And now that I have a husband, who grew up with only sisters, I think he too is feeling lucky to have some brothers. I also am extremely glad that my brother is now married and gave me my first sister-in-law and that my husband has two sisters so I have two more sister-in-laws, they are all three amazing and I thank the Lord for them as well!

Back to the brothers. On Thanksgiving morning, Daniel decided he was restless and wanted to go do something. We asked, "what are you going to do." He replied, "I don't know, maybe drive around, shoot some stuff." Now, please keep in mind I live in a very small town and again, grew up with three brothers, so to me that statement does not at all seem strange. Luckily, Jeff and I were invited to go with him and we indeed did get to drive around and shoot some stuff! Don't worry we didn't hit / kill anything. We also pulled quite a few e-brakes around the wet pavement corners of Warrenton. Jeff and I hadn't laughed and had that much fun in quite some time. It's those little things I love about being from a small town in Oregon. Things that those that live there probably take for granted.

During our driving around we also made a stop at my all-time favorite place in the world - The South Jetty. For those that don't know, there is a platform in Warrenton that overlooks the Pacific Ocean and the mouth of the Columbia River, and you can also see Washington. This place is not only beautiful but extremely meaningful to me. Prior to April 22, 2007 it was meaningful as it represented all that I loved and knew about my life and my hometown. My father and brothers were commercial fisherman that worked long and hard in the ocean it overlooked. I personally worked on a charter fishing boat in that same ocean and so did my grandfather. It became even more meaningful on Aprill 22, 2007 when my husband proposed to me there. That picture is of my brother and Jeff re-enacting our propsal - ha! You can also check out how excited I was right after the proposal by watching this video.

Back to the brothers. Again, I just feel so lucky to have them in my life. They loved me, they protected me, they taught me how to work hard, how to set goals and acheive them, and in an extremely non-literal statement - they taught me how to be a man. Even though it may not be a direct correlation for you, I personally think that having those three brothers better prepared me for my Life As A Wife.

Home For The Holidays

Getting to go home for the holidays is one of the most exciting things about living away from your family. Although you miss them on a day-to-day basis, the time spent away makes the time you do get to spend with them that much more meaningful. This year we got to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Jeff and I started alternating spending Thanksgiving with each others families four years ago. We can't believe it has been that long! We headed to Oregon on Wednesday and from the second we stepped outside the Portland Airport we knew we were "home." The cool brisk air felt amazing and Jeff laughed at me because I was the only person in Oregon that night wearing a t-shirt (it was 80 in Southern California when we left!). We also realized during the travels to Oregon that we actually spend more time in the car than we do on a plane. It is a two hour drive from our house to LAX (should only take 45 minutes but with traffic...yuck), then it is a two hour drive from PDX to Warrenton. That drive should actually take two hours! But all those hours are worth it!

We got to Warrenton and the relaxing began. We spent nearly all of our time on Thursday and Friday cooking, eating, and playing with the nieces and nephews. Those little guys are what you really miss when you are away from home. I loved every second of spending time with those kids! I taught my 12 year old niece, Riley, to do a volleyball role (that is her in the picture above, I remember the day she was born, how quickly they grow up!), I got to do boy stuff with Ryder like swing him in the blanket, shoot guns and do tricks on the skate board...yes and he is only 2, and I got to curl my niece Jezalynn's hair and paint her toe nails, also only 2 (that is the two of them kissing in the picture on the right - adorbale). It's amazing that even at 2 the little ones are all boy and all girl. Except for when Ryder wears around Jezalynn's little plastic dress up high heels. Then we kind of worry about him! My nephew Devon was also a kick to be around. He just turned 1 and started walking recently. Poor guy has bruises all over him from toppling over, but he is a trooper (that is him in the picture to the right).

The best part about being around all those nieces and nephews was seeing my husband interact with them. There is just something attractive to a woman about watching a man play with kids. Jeff is great with them. It was the sweetest thing when he sat down with Jez and Ryder and drew them pictures and read to them. I had never seen them have that long of an attention span. The other strange part about being around little ones now that I am married is thinking that my husband and I could have kids anytime we wanted. Not that we want them anytime soon (espeically after spending 4 days with the nieces and nephews - great form of birth control) but now that we are married we could! Spending time with family and dreaming about someday watching our family expand by having kids of our own is defnitely something I love about my Life As A Wife.