Marriage, Now That's a Laugh!

Big D sent me an article on the importance of laughter in a marriage. The article is titled Find Something That Makes You Both Laugh. I believe that laughter and humor are essential to any good marriage.

My marriage runs smoothly a majority of the time. Then there are times where it starts to turn into a business like relationship. We are both under stress. We both have many tasks on our plate, and all we can think about is getting them done. Whether it be something happening in the kids life, money issues, work, or school it can sometimes feel like we are serious business partners rather than husband and wife.

When this type of thing happens, it is not so bad if it lasts for a day or two, but there have been times when it has dragged on for a good part of a week. At these times is when humor makes a huge difference. When Big D and I are going though the “business partner “ phase it is so relieving when he comes home from work with a funny story, or when he e-mails me something from work that he knows will make me laugh. It breaks the tension and snaps me out of my serious trance.

It is a good thing that Big D and I have somewhat of a similar sense of humor. If we didn’t I think like the article states, you should find out what your spouse considers funny and use that as a way to bring laughter into your marriage.

What feels better than having an inside joke between two people? Something that makes the two of you crack up every time you say it, but no one else knows what you’re talking about. Big D and I have these kind of inside jokes. We can be in an argument, or a stress full situation and if either of us mentions one of our inside jokes, the tension will disappear and we can’t help but smile or laugh.

Having kids can be an easy source of humor. Wherever Big D and I are, if the kids are around they are bound to do or say something that gets Big D and I to look at each other and start laughing.

Having a sense of humor while having an argument can be beneficial. If you do it at the right time and not make it seem you are making light of your spouses feelings. If Big D and I are having an argument and we have both finished stating our sides, there is a lingering tension. This is usually a good time for one of us to slip in a little joke. It's hard to stay mad when you are laughing.

This life is full of serious issues, marriage is no exception. Laughter is a way to bond with your spouse, to feel light hearted and relives some of the stress. Tell your spouse some jokes, send them a funny message, joke around, and if these things don’t work you can always resort to tickling.

Blew out my Flip Flop, and Other Love Songs

Music is very important to me. A song can remind me of a person, a place, or a feeling. I think I have a song that goes along with just about everyone that is close to me.

There are defiantly songs that remind me of Big D. There are songs that we also share together, our wedding songs, songs we listened to when we were dating, and songs that remind us of the kids.

One song that we share is Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. Not that Big D and I are frequently wasted on Margaritas; the song reminds us of our alone time we spent in Florida. Whenever we hear the line, “I blew out my flip flop, stepped on a pop top.” We look at each other and smile. I know, a little nerdy but still sweet.

For the past couple of days I have heard a song by Toby Keith that screams BigD, and one of the many reasons I adore him. Want to read it? Here it goes…

Love Me If You Can - Toby Keith

Sometimes think that war is necessary
Every night I pray for peace on earth
I hand out my dollars to the homeless
But believe that every able soul should work

My father gave me my shotgun
That I’ll hand down, to my son
Try to teach him everything it means

I’m a man of my convictions
Call me wrong, call me right
But I bring my better angels to every fight
You may not like where I’m going
But you sure know where I stand
Hate me if you want to, love me if you can


I stand by my right to speak freely
But I worry about what kids learn from TV


And before all of the debating turn to angry words and hate
Sometimes we should just agree to disagree

And I believe that Jesus
Looks down here and sees us

And if you asked him he would say

I’m a man of my convictions
Call me wrong, call me right
But I bring my better angels to every fight
You may not like where I’m going
But you sure know where I stand
Hate me if you want to, love me if you can

I’m a man of my convictions
Call me wrong, call me right
But I bring my better angels to every fight

You may not like where I’m going
But you sure know where I stand
Hate me if you want to, love me if you can


I could go on and on with my reasons why Big D is so amazing to me. He stands up for what is right. He is a rebel. Not in a without a cause kind of way, but in a good and loving way.
He teaches a rebel like me (without a cause) to have the strength to stand up for what is right, even if the world says it’s wrong.

We are two rebels passing in the night (Now I am just being funny)

He will forever be my love and hero.

Generation Gap

There are certain ages in my childhood that I can remember very distinctively. Miss is at one of those ages. The things she says and does brings me back to memories I have of that time in my life.

When we were watching the American Idol finale I thought she was going to have a spasm when the Jonas brothers performed. Big D kind of looked at her in a puzzled but amused way. I was watching her and it was bringing me back to when Michael Jackson performed Billy Jean on TV for the first time. I acted the same way. Screaming as he did his moonwalk, clasping my hands together while I had a permanent grin plastered on my face.

Yesterday when we were driving to the store, Miss was telling me all about the Jonas brothers, which one she liked the best, who her friends like the best. Giving me random facts about them. All the while I was smiling and thinking, I can really relate to her right now. I can share with her my childhood and how I felt the same way about Michael Jackson. This is how it went…

Miss~ “The Jonas Brothers are so cool.”

Me~ “Yeah, they are pretty cool.” “I remember when I was your age I loved Michael Jackson, he was the best.”

Miss~ “Who is Michael Jackson?”

Me~ “You know the guy who sings Thriller and Beat It.” I then went into my rendition of both songs.

Miss~ “You mean that weird guy with the long black hair?”

Me~ “Well he didn’t look like that when I liked him.”

Then there was silence for a while.

Me~ “I used to lay in my bed while I listened to his album and stare at his picture.” I said this with a worried laugh, thinking maybe I gave to much information of how weird of a child I was.

Miss~ “Really, that’s weird.”

So the whole relating to my nine year old didn’t work out like I thought it would. I think I will just listen to her and let her bring me back to the great memories I had at her age. I will still share some childhood stories with her, will she relate to them, maybe, maybe not.

At least she didn’t ask me what an album was.