Unity Email Accounts

Raise your hand if you have a joint email address that you and your spouse use.  What about a family email?  I've seen these "joint" email addresses in the past.  I've even created one for us.  We've never used it.  Insert sad face here.  Why the sad face?  I received an email today from a friend, informing us of her new email address - which she shares with her husband.  I think it's a cute idea!  They each still have their own separate accounts but have the joint address for household matters (bills, other accounts) and to make things easier on family and friends when they're sending invites and such to both the Mr. and the Mrs.

The more I think about it, the more sense it might make.  Should we try it?  Will you try it?  Please share!  And thanks to Mr. and Mrs. L for the inspiration for this blog!

LBL Visits the Obamas!

Well...not really. Our friends, Mr. and Mrs. P invited us and 6 other married couples (who are Living Black Love) to go on a White House tour. So technically, we did visit the Obamas' home! The tour was really interesting - I personally enjoyed hearing the little stories as we walked through the different rooms. If you're in the DC area, or are planning a visit, try to make some time to go.

Following the tour, Mrs. P set up a block of time for us to bowl. I'm not going to share details from bowling...it was not good for Johnny and I. But it was nice to spend time with other Black and married couples - in the home of our country's #1 couple who is Living Black Love.

Attached to this post are pics from the event (which took place waaaay back in March. Don't judge, I've been tired lately). Enjoy!

Learning to Wait

I've gotten lots of little nudges lately that are reminding me that I need to learn to wait. The other day I was watching The Wendy Williams Show (no, us teachers didn't have another day off; I had DVR'ed it) and when she came out onto the stage she seemed so humbled by the ovation she received from her audience. In another show, A few days later, she mentioned that she's 48 years old!

Today, as I flipped through the seemingly thousands of channels on Fios (we just switched from DirectTV) looking for a cheesy romantic comedy on the Hallmark Channel, I happened across an episode of one of my old favorites - Gilmore Girls. I thought about one of the co-stars, who I only remembered by her character's name, Sookie, and how 10 years after this episode, she's up for an Oscar. In case you're not familiar with Sookie, or the woman who played her - she's the one from the movie Bridesmaids - the heavyset one who was a relative of the groom (if I'm remembering right). She had some of the funniest lines in the movie! Hence, the reason she's up for an Oscar. Oh, and her real name is Melissa McCarthy. (Here's a link to her website, in case you still don't know who I'm talking about.)

Those are only two examples of real-life, regular people who had to wait - in this case, for their success and celebrity-status. Interestingly enough, this grand success did not come right after they graduated college,or in time for their 30th birthdays (Wendy's 48, Melissa's 41). But it did eventually come.

Stories like these are a helpful reminder that I need to learn to wait for what I want (in my case, a job that allows me done flexibility and an opportunity to write). I was just going to post a short blurb about this on my Facebook status, but then thought about how it could help our loyal followers.

If you're waiting for your chance to live black love, please just learn to wait. Like Wendy and Sookie, don't limit yourself by saying, "If I don't do this by this age/time, I'm not gonna do it." What if they had said those things, and quit before they had a chance to share their talents with us? So, our lesson for today: no time/age limits for when you should be engaged, married, or have kids. Just do the work (as I'm sure they both did) in the meantime to get there. And when you do, you'll be ready for all that comes with that personal success of yours.

That Couple that Prays Together

Why doesn't my body work as quickly as my mind? As I made my way downstairs to sit in front of our laptop, I had in my head exactly what I was going to write in this post. By the time I logged in and ate a few fries (I'm just eating dinner as I am posting this because Little J.Z. refused to fall asleep without me next to him) all of those eloquent thoughts were lost! So, here's my attempt at re-creating my original post.

Whether you are married, engaged, or in a relationship, I'd argue that prayer should be a major part of it. I'd also argue how much easier said than done that is. I pray. Johnny prays. One of us usually prays with our son at meals and before bedtime. But rarely do we pray together - as a pair or as a family. Shame on us!

Today we turned over a new leaf. I was getting ready to leave for work and Johnny stopped me and said he wanted us to pray. Though I was running late, I obliged, and I am so glad I did. First off, it was a great prayer. My hubby is not very detailed, or long-winded when it comes to praying, and he usually sticks to the point. This prayer was not very different than usual, but this time it was about the content of the prayer. I left home feeling ready to overcome any challenges I'd face. I just knew the day would fly by and it would be easy, and I'd have the best day ever because we had prayed.

Well, my day wasn't the happily ever after I had expected. I had to drag a student out from under her desk at lunch time, my grade level chair reminded me of more work that needed to be done in addition to the laundry list of things I was already behind on, and the more time that passed, the more busy and talkative and disobedient my students became. So no, our family prayer this morning didn't make my day any easier, but it did make my day more bearable. Somehow, I was able to better cope with all of the mess I dealt with today. And somehow, it didn't feel as bad as it usually does when those things happen. Johnny said it helped him too.

So why not pray with your spouse or your honey? If you have children, include them in your prayers too. I've never known prayer to hurt a situation. Have you?

Oh...and if you don't know how to pray, it's soooo simple. Just talk to God. I always start by thanking Him for whatever I am thankful for, because He's the one who's provided those things to me. Then I ask him for whatever I need help with or guidance on.

One Plus for January 19, 2012

I am on a mission to say one positive (hence the plus) thing about my husband per day. It's so easy to focus on what our spouses are not doing (I'm soooo guilty), but we all need to challenge ourselves to keep a "glass half-full" outlook on our marriages - and everything else, for that matter.

Please share your One Plus about your spouse below or tweet them to us @livingblacklove (#1Plus). It's all about strengthening our relationships and this is an easy way to do it.

Is Your Tank Full?

Lately, if I do something that Johnny likes or appreciates, and I do it just for him, he'll say, "My tank is full." Then he'll make this gulp, gulp, gulp sound similar to gas being pumped into a car. I've been giving him a similar response if he does something nice for me. It's become our running joke, but it didn't come out of left field. It's a reference to a book we've both read, that I've studied in my small group (shout out to the ladies, past and present, of Women in Marriage at Zion Church!), and from which our pastor Keith Battle, has preached a whole series.

The book is The Five Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman. It's a thin book, a quick read, and very insightful. I'll spare you the details (mainly because it's worth your while to pick up the book. That, and the fact that I've been trying to finish this post for a week!). But I will ask...what do you think you love language is? And do you have any idea what love language your significant other speaks?

Excellente!

Johnny and I just got back from our fifth wedding this year (all of which united couples who are Living Black Love, by the way). Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Thomas!

The wedding was beautiful, as all weddings are, but this one was extra-beautiful because it took place in beautiful Cancun, Mexico. (And yes, the trip was well-worth three "beautifuls".) Just as beautiful as the wedding was the resort where we stayed. It was the Excellence Playa Mujeres. Johnny and I have been to a few resorts (in Jamaica, Aruba, and Puerto Rico) in our years together. In comparison, those places were like LeBron vs. me (I'm 5'1") on the basketball court - no contest.

The Excellence was truly the nicest place we've ever been. Although we've only been to a handful of international destinations, this was probably the nicest place you've been, too. I can't wait to go to another Excellence Resort! Couples retreat, anyone???

Johnny having one of many all-inclusive drinks
(this was actually during the wedding reception)



Johnny and I at the wedding

Me hanging out on the balcony of our hotel room

One of the views from our balcony...

Another view...


And another. And our room was one of the least expensive the
resort offers.