I know, I know - every month I tell you that if you weren't at the last MOPs/MOMs meeting you missed something great; well this month is no different! You once again missed an amazing meeting; but I will fill you in on some great take away points.
First off we were blessed to have Brian Jones the Senior Pastor from Christ Church of the Valley -Royersford, PA and his wife Lisa with us as our guest speakers. The topic was marriage. A great topic and 2 great speakers. Brian and Lisa have been married forever and we considered them to be "experts" on making a marriage work and keeping the spark alive.
There are 4 things that are critical to a successful marriage and they really should be ironed out/agreed upon/discussed within the first 2 years of marriage:
1. Communication - you must fight fair, no below the belt hitting. Wives don't tell your husbands that his golf game sucks in the middle of a fight, and husbands don't tell your wives that you really don't like her pot roast! Stick to being a fair fighter; stay on the topic; don't drift to things that aren't relevant to the fight.
2. Money - you must have an agreement on your finances. You can't have one person who likes to spend like there is no tomorrow and another who is as tight as Scrooge. You have to meet in the middle and come up with an arrangement that you both can live with.
3. Household Responsibilities - you have to decide who is going to be responsible for what in the household, and it has to be a mutual agreement. In this area also be flexible; be willing to do something that typically isn't on your "list" if need be. It doesn't matter who does most of the household work - because as life stages change & shift; the responsibilities will also shift; the important part is that you have an honest discussion and decide together what works for you in your marriage.
4. Sex - you must have a mutually satisfying sexual relationship. Intimacy is very important in marriage and it is important that you and your spouse are on the same page. You have to be able to sit down together and discuss what satisfies you and what doesn't.
Here are a few tips to keep your marriage alive and full of spark; these are on-going things that you should continue throughout your marriage:
1. Date Night - if you can do it weekly; that is great; but for many monthly is the only option right now & that is good too. The main point is to have time to reconnect with your spouse without your children present. Take a minute to enjoy each others' company.
2. Family Vacations - take great family vacations and don't feel guilty about them. Vacations as a family are also a time to reconnect, not just with your spouse but with your children as well. Leave the blackberry, don't check facebook, no tweeting, not even any blogging; just enjoy the time with your family; those moments are precious.
3. Touch - it has been scientifically proven that every human needs at least 25 touches a day; so take time to hug your spouse or give them a kiss.
4. United - always have a united front with your spouse when it comes to your children. Don't disagree with a decision your spouse has made regarding your children in front of those children. If you don't agree - make sure you find time to sit down and discuss it; just wait until the kids are out of ear shot!
5. Traditions - create family traditions, have dinner together every night (or as many nights as possible). Pick up the Christmas tree together, make homemade hot chocolate on the 1st snowfall of the year, do something that is going to keep the family connected and together.
6. Privacy - protect your privacy and your spouse's privacy. There are certain things that should never be shared outside of your marriage. Also don't bad mouth your spouse to your friends, family, or facebook!
If you want to hear more from Brian come check out one of the 3 services (9, 10:15 & 11:30) on a Sunday morning at CCV ! You can also visit Brian's website and subscribe to receive email updates.
I hope you find some use for these tips. We really enjoyed having Brian & Lisa there with us sharing their insight and wisdom. We hope to see you in March when we will be looking at child rearing!!
On Behalf of the CCV MOPs/MOMs Steering Team;
Danielle Verwey
MOPs
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Interior Design on a Budget - January 2011 Meeting
Hello Ladies!
Hope you were able to make it to the January meeting; if not have no fear I am here to fill you in on what you missed.
We had an amazing panel of interior design experts. The tips they gave us were great and tips that even someone like me who is the anti-Martha Stewart could follow!
We started the night with a remake of the master bedroom with tips and tricks provided by Jennie Fear of Willow Bean Studio (a local interior design and all things remastered (i.e. turn that old dress into an amazing Christening outfit) company). Jennie took your everyday average master bedroom and turned it into a room that you want to spend time in. The room originally had basically one color and it wasn't even a fun color - it was tan....blah right? Well that is where Jennie comes onto the scene to give the room some life. For under $140 - Jennie changed the curtain color (this added some depth to the room and showed the high ceilings), she made a duvet cover to spruce up the bed, purchased a "designer" pillow from Target, and pulled furniture and pictures from out of storage to give the room the final personal touches that it was missing. The master bedroom went from average to inviting, it went from blah to bam! It was an amazing transformation and it was very a simple and cost effective fix.
Next we moved onto accent pieces and our experts were Sara Heacock and Tricia Dimitri.
Some of the tips that Tricia gave us included:
- making your own picture mats using poster board. You cut the poster board down to the size you need and then you use double sided tape to mount your picture and then put it in the frame. You can even use a frame that you find at a thrift store or yard sale - just spray paint it to match your home decor.
- you can mount your pictures on foam board. The board can be purchased from Michael's or AC Moore for around $3 and then you use an Excto knife to cut the board into sizes that you want. Once you have the board cut into the size you want, you can then spray paint the board to match your decor - in her case Tricia did black; once the paint is dry print your pictures out, use a paper cutter to trim them down to the exact size you want, and then mount them to the board using an all purpose spray adhesive. You can then hang the pictures on your wall using the Velcro that doesn't damage walls, this way you can hang your pictures and not have to worry about fixing nail holes in the future.
- you can pick up some tiles from Lowes or Home Depot and make those into "designer" coasters. You take a regular paper napkin (if you want to get really fancy - find one that has your initial on it); cut it down to fit the tile, then you take some mod podge and cover napkin & the tile. Now the mod podge comes out white but it dries clear, so don't be alarmed. To finish off your coasters all you need is either the small felt circles or some felt material - use a hot glue gun if you buy the felt material, or if you use the small felt circles they come with an adhesive backing. Mount the felt on the bottom of the tile so that you don't scratch your tables.
Some tips provided by Sara Heacock:
- you can find a cheap lamp at the thrift store or goodwill, all it takes to spruce it up is some spray paint and a new lamp shade, and some ribbon. You spray paint the lamp to match the room you are going to use it in, then you take your lamp shade and using a hole punch - punch holes all around the top of the lampshade as well the bottom in the lampshade. You can then take a ribbon (if in a little boy's room blue, or whatever color you choose) and then you lace the ribbon through the holes and tie it in a bow once you are complete. You now have a new lamp for very little cost, and if you have a boy and then have a girl, all you have to do is change the ribbon and you have a whole new lamp!
- everyone loves those wrap around pictures that are on canvas - but no one really wants to spend the money to get them. So the solution is to go to the arts & crafts store (Michael's, AC Moore, etc.) pick up a canvas (like the kind an artist would paint on). Also pick up some fabric paper (now this can be a little expensive, its approx $16 for the package). Print your picture out on the fabric paper; peel off and then put on the canvas - use an all purpose adhesive to seal the picture. Now you have your own canvas photo!
- what about cake stands? Do you ever entertain and think man I don't have enough cake stands, or I wish I had something to display these cupcakes on? Well thanks to Sara - now you have a simple and cost effective way to solve that problem. If you go to the goodwill or thrift store you can pick up candle stick holders for under a dollar, then you can also find a saucer or small plate. If the design or color of the plate doesn't match you can always spray paint it; once the plate is dry (oh you can also paint the candle stick holder too if needed); use some glass adhesive (E6000) and stick the plate on the top of the candle stick holder. Voila - you have a new cake stand!
If you want to see some pictures of all of the wonderful pieces come and check out our pictures on Facebook!
Here are some blogs that inspire Tricia:
Well ladies if you missed this meeting, you did miss some great tips and some great fun; but don't feel dismayed - we meet again next month and cover another amazing topic - love & marriage! Our guests next month are Brian and Lisa Jones. Hope to see you there!!!
On Behalf of the CCV MOPs/MOMs Steering Team,
Danielle Verwey
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