WINNER!

And the winner is. . . comment number 7, June! I’ll be contacting you via email to get your address to send out your prizes.

Thank you, everyone, for reading my blog and participating in the giveaway.

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PS. I’m behind on my weekly Happy Homekeeping Moments and Sample Saturday posts because Little Lady has been sick the past couple days. I’ll have those posts up in the next couple days, hopefully.

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Mean What you Say

Don’t forget to enter my GIVEAWAY! Details are here!

Big Man and I were watching a typical sit-com scene where the man asks his wife for permission to do an activity, she says “yes,” and later he gets in trouble for doing said activity. Big Man looked at me and said, “Well, he hasn’t been married long enough to know that when she says ‘yes’ she really means ‘we will talk about it later.’ See, when a guy says ‘yes’ he actually means it. Girls mean something different.”

Now, Big Man said this to me jokingly and we laughed about it, but it got me thinking. Is that really true? I know it is a common stereotype about men and women and marriage and it provides endless fodder for comedy sketches. Is it really so common that women say one thing and mean something completely different? And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it is quite common.

I am not saying all women do this. Nor am I saying that all men “say what they mean and mean what they say.” But I am saying that men and women communicate differently and misunderstanding is bound to happen. One of the parts of a healthy marriage is living in understanding with your spouse and I think that includes speaking truthfully and clearly. So I have been thinking about my own communication style and wondering how many times I have told Big Man one thing while meaning something entirely different. And sadly, I’ve come up with a lot of examples. If I am really honest with myself, I can even find examples where I was intentionally manipulative or less-than-honest in what I said. And that is definitely not OK.

I shouldn’t be making it difficult for Big Man to understand me. I shouldn’t be playing mind games and making him guess my true meaning. I should say what I mean. And mean what I say. It’s not really an optional thing. Jesus was pretty clear on “let your yes be yes and your no be no.” That doesn’t leave a lot of room for I’m fine when I am really not, or I don’t care which restaurant when I really do. It definitely doesn’t allow for Yes honey, go have fun and then the cold shoulder when he gets home. I’m trying to get better at saying what I mean. Speaking clearly and honestly and not engaging in half-truths or double meanings. I don’t want Big Man to feel wary every time I say something and wonder what it is I really mean. I don’t want to say one thing and mean another.

I know we will still have misunderstandings and times when we don’t communicate well. We’re both human and there are inherent differences in communication style. But if I do my best to let my yes be yes, that can only improve things.

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One Year GIVEAWAY!

I can’t believe I’ve had this blog for a year already! Little Lady was only an infant when I started and Little Man was barely talking. So much has happened in the past year, and I am very blessed that you have been here to read my ramblings.

So to celebrate and thank you for reading, I’m giving away a couple of my favorite things!

First, The Joy the Baker Cookbook. One of the very first food blogs I started reading was Joy’s and her cookbook is wonderful. Delicious recipes, beautiful photography, and her down-to-earth writing style make this a very special book. The cream cheese frosting recipe is phenomenal!

Image from joythebaker.com

Second, a full set of photo greeting cards from our Etsy store, NatureWild Photos! I’m giving away the Wildflower Card set, which includes 5 full-color, 5×7 greeting cards. Our cards are special because they include a high-quality 4×6 photo, so the card doubles as a matted print that fits perfectly in a 5×7 frame!

Image from naturewildphotos.etsy.com

I’m excited for my first giveaway! The winner will be chosen at random on Saturday, July 28, 2012. To enter your name in the giveaway:

1. Comment on this post. If you want, list some of your favorite things! Or, you can just say hi

**(If you have a blog or shop, be sure to include the link in your comment! I’ll give an extra shout-out to the winner’s blog/shop if applicable)**

2. You can get an extra entry by following me on Facebook or Twitter, and leaving a separate comment saying you have done so.

I’ll post the winner as part of Sample Saturday. Thanks again for reading, commenting, and participating in my blog. It’s a blessing.

Disclaimer: This giveaway is entirely sponsored by me and no one else. The winner will be chosen at random. I will use a random number generator and the prize will be given to that comment #.

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