Tag Archives: anniversary

29 years and counting!

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IMG_0266Wind-blown.

Sand-blasted.

Sun-burned.

What a great way to celebrate a 29 year anniversary! It was a beautiful, relaxed afternoon on a gorgeous, almost-empty beach. A real treat…

Not all our anniversary days have been this pleasant. The wind, sand, and sun help describe our 29 years of marriage:

Wind-blown

When the winds are in your face, you have to work harder at whatever you need to do. The winds of life are the challenges, the stretching times, the growth areas, the new endeavors, the learning curves. Through the years, Steve and I have learned hard truths about ourselves and each other. Some times this required grace, other times forgiveness. We struggled with trials beyond our capacity as parents and as professionals, and we often had to lean on each other. Even when we were learning something good, it was often exhausting or stressful or hard. I am grateful for a husband who is a life-long learner – never complete, never a know-it-all, never too good for one more faith step.

Sand-blasted

Fast flying sand hurts when it hits. In 29 years of marriage, we have been hurt – by out-of-our-control circumstances, by other people, and by each other. Pain is a part of love. We protect each other from pain when we can; some times our selfishness causes the pain. I have cried for Steve, with Steve, and because of Steve… and he has wiped away my tears, and helped to give me hope again – to believe in myself, in him, in others. I would avoid pain and hurts if I could, but the resulting scars are a precious reminder of healing, redeeming love, and second chances. After 29 years, I am so thankful for a man who never gave up, never walked away, and never stopped loving me.

Sun-burned

I love sunshine! It warms my heart and soul. (I often joke that if I didn’t know the Lord, I might worship the sun!) Sunshine reminds me of the good times, the passion, and the love. OH, the fun we have had! Steve makes me laugh all the time with his silly jokes. He brings music and dancing into our life together. We have four of the coolest children (and now a son-in-law too) in this world! We have adventures – living in foreign countries, travels to the world, great friends from everywhere… and we make memories whenever we can! 29 years have given us so many good times – a faith and job that we get to do together, a family that we can never get enough time with, and a never-ending desire to keep holding hands as we walk (close) through this life together.

29 years are so worth celebrating, but they are just the beginning of what is still to come! Wind, sand, or sun, I love you, Steve Morgan, with all my heart.

_______

How do you view marriage? What helps you make it through the hard times? And enjoy the good times?

_______

**Check out Steve’s blog at: LeaderImpact

two years fly

Aside

“Happy Anniversary! You registered on WordPress.com two years ago! Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging!”

What a nice reminder message from WordPress! So, it’s been two years now. Hard to believe.

Many days I’m a bit surprised that I have kept it up this long; other days it seems like I just started on this journey yesterday.

I am grateful that my husband encouraged me to begin to write. I have learned so much in the process! And I am VERY grateful for each of you who take the time to read and comment – I learn a lot from you. You have empathized, criticized, challenged my thinking, thanked me, laughed with me, and cried with me. Strangers have become friends, distant friends feel closer, long-time friends have become dearer.

I am often amazed by the visitors to this blog – you visit from all over the world! Most from the US and Mexico, but also from places like India, Finland, Portugal, Hong Kong, Pakistan, and Argentina (today alone!). You read in English and Spanish, and you connect mostly from Facebook posts, but also from almost every other social media forum.

Followers, views, posts and clicks have much more than doubled in the last year. I am grateful for the growing audience and influence. I consider it a great privilege  – one I don’t take lightly – to share my ideas with you.

The most viewed posts this last year have been:

Please do continue to visit and leave your comments. That is a great encouragement to me. You can also subscribe to the blog so that you receive each new post in your email.

So the journey to maturity continues! Don’t forget to bring your coffee!

happy 1st anniversary, maturitas cafe!

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I wish I could invite you to my Maturitas Cafe coffee shop for a free just-your-style coffee (or tea!) “on-the-house” in honor of our 1st year anniversary! Maybe we would request a basket of Mexican sweet bread for the table to celebrate. In an ideal world, we would definitely have sunshine lightly entering through the windows and energetic, lively music playing in the background… It would be such a treat for me to visit and talk with you!

I have been blogging for a year now… hard to believe! Some of the stats milestones:

  • over 5000 views (wow! that’s kind-of exciting for a newbie like me…)
  • grown from 5 to 50 views per day (that’s fun!)
  • over 80 posts (this has not been easy for me…)
  • over 250 comments (thanks for interacting!)
  • 30 regular followers (please do follow, if you enjoy the posts!)
  • 164  # of views on my busiest day
  • top blog for the year “cleaning house, cooking meals and a greater cause“

All in all, blogging has been a great mental challenge for me this year. I have learned about widgets and pingbacks, WordPress and twitter, tags and hyperlinks, word counts and (a little) html… It has been invigorating (at times frustrating) to push myself into something new. I have learned to process and summarize my thoughts, take feedback, increase my vocabulary, and be more creative.

My favorite part has been connecting with dear friends and making new friends – other bloggers, visitors from all parts of the world, friends of friends. Since busyness and geography make it impossible for us to visit regularly face-to-face, I am grateful for this media means to share and interact with you. I so appreciate your visits, I love reading your comments and learning from you, and I look forward to connecting with you more in the months to come!

The hardest part for me is the discipline to write regularly. Blogging helps me to set aside time to reflect on life’s experiences and lessons. As a true extrovert, I would much prefer to just talk out my thoughts – although they would often be an uncontrolled, jumbled, free-flowing mess! Here you get the sanitized, edited, organized me. 🙂

No telling what next year will bring… but I pray I’ll be growing, processing, influencing, leading and living for Him. I hope you’ll accompany me on the journey!

What is something new that you are learning?

¡feliz primer aniversario, maturitas café!

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Como me gustaría poder invitarte a mi cafetería Maturitas Café por un café gratis (o té) justo-como-te-gusta, “la casa invita” en honor de nuestro ¡primer aniversario! Quizá podríamos ordenar una canasta de pan dulce mexicano para celebrar. En el mundo ideal, tendríamos la luz del sol entrando por la ventana y música energética y vivaz escuchándose de fondo…¡sería un increíble regalo para mi poder visitarte y platicar contigo!

Ya he estado escribiendo este blog por un año… ¡difícil de creer! Algunos hitos estádisticos:

  • más de 5000 visitas (¡wow! Es emocionante para una novata como yo…)
  • aumentó de 5 a 50 visitas por día (¡qué divertido!)
  • más de 80 publicaciones (esto no ha sido fácil para mí…)
  • más de 250 comentarios (¡gracias por la interacción!)
  • 30 seguidores regulares (si te gustan las publicaciones, ¡por favor, conviértete en seguidor!)
  • El mayor número de visitas en un día: ¡164!
  • La publicación más visto del año: “limpiar la casa, cocinar y una gran causa“

Al final de todo, escribir este blog ha sido un desafío mental para mí este año. He aprendido acerca de widgets y pingbacks, WordPress y twitter, etiquetas e hipervínculos, contador de palabras y (un poco) de html… Ha sido vigorizante (a veces frustrante) forzarme a mí misma a hacer algo nuevo. He aprendido a procesar y resumir mis pensamientos, a recibir retroalimentación, a aumentar mi vocabulario y a ser más creativa.

Mi parte favorita ha sido conectarme con amigos queridos y hacer nuevos amigos –otros escritores de blogs, visitas de todas partes del mundo y amigos de amigos. Ya que las ocupaciones y la geografía nos impiden visitarnos regularmente y vernos cara a cara, estoy agradecida por tener este medio para compartir e interactuar contigo. ¡Aprecio tus visitas, me encanta leer tus comentarios y aprender de ti, y espero conectarme más contigo en los siguientes meses!

Lo más difícil para mí es la disciplina de escribir regularmente. Escribir un blog me ayuda a apartar un tiempo para reflexionar sobre las experiencias y las lecciones de la vida. Como una verdadera extrovertida, preferiría sólo decir mis pensamientos – ¡aunque frecuentemente serían un incontrolable,  confuso e imparable desorden! Aquí recibes la versión purificada, editada y organizada de mí. 🙂

No sé lo que viene el siguiente año… pero voy a orar para crecer, procesar, influenciar, liderar y vivir para Él. ¡Espero que me acompañes en la travesía!

¿Qué es algo nuevo que estás aprendiendo?