An old fashioned wife

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about what it means to be a wife, both in today's standards and in the way God intended us to be. 
My start as a wife was somewhat stunted, getting married and then having my husband leave so soon after.  But it, I have come to believe, has been stunted by Jared and I living together first.  It has made our start into married life far less climactic that perhaps it is supposed to be.  We are having to muddle out way though figuring out how our roles as married people, as opposed to dating people, have changed.  So, here we are struggling to figure out who is going to do the housework now that Jared is not the stay-at-home partner and who holds the responsibility for income and who holds responsibility for household things.  I would much rather it be the old-fashioned way.  But I don't think my husband entirely agrees.  So there is the conundrum.  I already feel like I'm supposed to do it all, and therefore I'm failing at all of it.  I think Jared feels like he is supposed to lead and earn income, but he just doesn't really want to.  And when he has less to do, he is less productive.  When I have more to do, I am less productive. 
Does anybody feel the same way?  Anybody think I'm crazy?  I feel stuck and need some help!

And we're married... still!

After more than 6 months, here is the update...

Jared returned from Afghanistan unscathed and we started to work out how to be married people. It was bumpy to begin with, as would be expected for newlyweds and just returned war vets. Then, in March, he and I were cast together in Camelot at La Crosse Community Theatre. I played Queen Guenevere and Jared played a knight, Bliant. He had a great time and it was really good for us. He got to see what doing theatre was like and we got to spend time together doing something constructive. It really helped get us though the rough patch.

And here we are on August 21st, two days after our one year anniversary and our finally getting to celebrate our wedding! We called it the "weddiversay" and we had an absolutely wonderful time! check out some of the first photos below, taken by my wonderful bridesmaid, Ali Close.

My reception shoes!  I love my Chucks!

Ceremony shoes from Kick in La Crosse!

My dress, from Bonnie's Wedding Center in Viroqua.

I wore the pearls that were my 16th birthday present from my  mom and dad.

The reception was held at Norskedalen in Coon Valley, decorations done by Caitlin Bures and my bridesmaids (this idea was Kelsey Taunts!)

My flowers from Old Oak Family Farm in Bangor, arranged by Caitlin.

Dancing with my daddy to Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole's Unforgettable.

Jared and I dancing to You and I by Michael Buble

Ugh...

Curse you Christmas commercials featurning children, hormones, and all of the baby madness in my group of friends... I do NOT want to have a baby!! Honest! At least not right now...
But they're so freakin' cute... and... then... I sorta do. CURSE YOU GENETIC NEED TO REPRODUCE!! CURSE YOU!!!!!!!

Clearly, I suck at blogging!

I just forget to update this thing! Right now, I'm 4 days into being Jared-less for the next 7 months. And boy is it lonely! I am busy working on She Loves Me at the Community Theatre as the stage manager. I'm glad to be finally using that part of my degree! I'm also waiting to interview for an Office Assistant position at the theatre... which it would be AMAZING to get! So, here's hoping! I'll update more later... hopefully before another five months!

This video is amazing and everyone should all watch it.

Everything is amazing and nobody's happy.

Back Home

Well, I'm back from Germany, have been for almost a week now. It's very strange to be home, with nothing concrete in front of me. No classes, no shows, no project deadlines. If you think that all of our young lives we live by the schedule of starts and stops of school and are told what comes next, it's no wonder that there's a whole generation of 20 something set adrift with no idea of how to direct ourselves. We're raised being told we can be anything we want to be! We can achieve our dreams! Then, adulthood is upon us and we have to ask, "what do I do if I don't know what I want to be and I don't know what dreams I want to achieve?" It's a very difficult place to be. Jamie Cullum has a song called TwentySomething that is about exactly that. Check it out... that, and Jamie Cullum is awesome.
So, here I am... cuddling with two needy bears (JareBear and MandaBear) every night and hanging out with my parents on the weekend (don't get me wrong, I love that!). I'll find something soon!

Deutchland, Deutchland über alles....

Well, here I sit at the O'Hare International Airport, sipping a chai latte, ready to begin my next adventure (which is part of the operation entitled "Flying Nacho"). The next stop on the path of vagrancy? Deutchland. Thanks to a boyfriend in the military, I'm continuing my globetrotting ways and following him to Germany. Now, I'm not moving (I wish I were!), but only visiting. We're going to have some time to tour around, hopefully get to see a castle or three, but mostly I'm just visiting Jared. Six months apart this fall/winter is sure going to be a challenge if it's only been three weeks and I'm itching to see him! Anyhow, I'm currently in the early stages of a six hour layover, so you may hear from me again! Or, we'll talk when I'm in Deutchland! Tschus!!