April 23, 2014

A Few Experiments . . .

garden

It’s a season of experimenting around here. I like trying new things every now and again to shake it up and keep everyone on their toes.  Here are some of the things we’re doing:

  • THE FIFTEEN SECOND KISS – The Hubby and I are trying a little trick I read about on Facebook. In an effort to improve our marriage we are purposely meeting for a fifteen second kiss at sometime during the day. Think about all the things you do during that day that last at least (but usually more than) fifteen seconds: talk to friends, exercise, surf the internet, text, watch TV, read a book. Do you give that much time each day to physically connect with your spouse? The Hubby and I have always loved a few good smooches here and there, but the 15 Second Kiss is changing things in a really wonderful way. I love that we stop whatever we’re doing, kiss for what seems like a long enough time to be meaningful and then both leave the moment feel happier for having taking the time! Try it and let me know what happens.
  • A VEGETABLE GARDEN – I know many of you are adept gardeners. I’ve always been great with flowers but a failure at food gardening. My father-in-law ( a gardening pro) converted our old wood sandbox into a small garden for us while he was visiting last week. It only has two vegetables, but they are vegetables that we love. We’re hoping for a bumper crop of zucchini and yellow squash to roast, sauté, bake and enjoy this Summer. Hannie B. has taken on the care of the garden as a Personal Progress project. You can see the garden in the background of the photo above. I’m pretty excited about it!
  • REGULAR, CONSISTANT EXERCISE – Sadly, this experiment is all about me. Ever since I had Ollie, I have been off the exercise wagon. But for the past thirty days, I have exercised six days a week, taking a rest day on Sundays.  I am partnering with my SIL in this venture and we are checking in with each other every single day. If you’re curious, we’re following the Bikini Body Mommy 90 day challenge and am really feeling challenged by it.
  • CREE LED LIGHT BULBS – I have been a huge stickler about not changing over to CFL (compact fluorescent) light bulbs for quite a while now, much to the chagrin of my Hubby. I can’t stand the sickly light they put out. It just zaps all of the atmosphere and warmth right out of a room. Snobby? You betcha. But a few months ago we discovered Cree light bulbs at The Home Depot. They are LED as opposed to CFL. Here are the benefits of LED over CFL: longer life span, use less wattage, use less energy to run, cost less money to run per year, contain no toxic mercury, put out less carbon dioxide per year.  Cree light bulbs also have a 10 year guarantee as long as you keep the original proof of purchase. They are not cheap, but we have been slowly replacing our existing incandescent light bulbs with them throughout the house. The lighting is more natural and less “office warehouse” too. Happy me, happy Hubby!

So, those are a few experiments we have going on right now. The changes all seem to be for the better.

Anything new going on for you? Please share!

4 comments:

The Queen Vee said...

I like your experiments, looking forward to a report on the results.

Sue said...

We are hoping to be homeowners by the beginning of next week. That's new.

Apis Melliflora said...

The 15 second kiss is by far my favorite! I will report back on the husband's response… but first, to get over my cold. No new projects around here. Just trying to finish the old ones.

Anonymous said...

I like the idea with the 15 second kiss. I'll have to suggest that one to my husband. My sisters and I started with a 30-day-picture challenge. We each take turns naming a topic that everybody has to take a picture of throughout the day. The topics have ranged from a flower to what made you smile today. I have gotten to know my sisters so much better even though we are pretty close. We enjoy the challenge so much that we are already on day 42 :) Thank you for your wonderful blog! I always enjoy reading it.