We are having a very hot day here in Nashville, so we’ve been spending time inside. Below is my fourth and final list of responses to the questions that you posted. Feel free to submit more. And be sure to share your answers to these questions.
How old are you? How did you meet your husband?
It always makes me feel uncomfortable to share my age, so I’ll just say that Mr. Handsome is in his mid-30s, and I am five years younger. Six years ago, we posted a multiple-part story of how we met (links below).
Does your husband hope to have his own practice one day?
Possibly. We’re just waiting to see where God leads us.
What are your go-to, 30-minute-or-less dinner recipes?
Fajitas are my go-to dinner meal when I need something in 30 minutes or less. My recipe for quick and easy fajitas can be found on my Recipes page under Main Dishes. Chicken Parmesan is another great one. I haven’t made it in a while, but it’s both quick and easy.
You talk a lot about Mr. Handsome’s hobbies. Do you have hobbies? Has Little Buddy started to show interest in a sport or hobby?
Right now, Little Buddy wants to do whatever Daddy is doing, and they love making up adventures outside and inside. Little Buddy is starting team sports this fall, as well. As far as my hobbies go, I’ve never made much time for hobbies. I am a very practical person who likes to be productive and because of that, I have a hard time developing hobbies. I do enjoy exercising, so that is sort of a hobby. Forms of exercise that are also enjoyable and interesting, like hiking and biking, are my favorites. And of course, blogging is a hobby of mine.
When do you do your personal devotion time?
I usually do my personal devotion time in the evenings. Sometimes I have a chance to read the Bible during nap time, but there is usually so much to be done during the day that it’s hard for me to sit down and quiet my mind. So on most days, right after I put the kids to bed is the most ideal time. Both Mr. Handsome and I value calm, quiet evenings on weekdays. I know there will come a time when our kids are older and we will be busier, but for now, we try to keep bedtime consistent and put an emphasis on reading and quality family time.
How far away are your families? Do your kids routinely get to see grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins?
We have some family in Nashville and some a few hours away. The ones who don’t live here come to visit a lot, which we love.
What is your daily schedule like? Do you have set times that you do things?
I don’t currently have a set schedule, although we usually do school time in the mornings. Afternoons are for nap time for Littlest Buddy and rest time (independent play time) for Little Buddy. Errands and time with friends are sprinkled in at various times throughout the week.
What’s your favorite trip/favorite location that your have visited, in the US or abroad? Has there been a place you have not enjoyed visiting? I’m always looking for travel inspiration.
I’ve never traveled to a place that I haven’t enjoyed. Out of the places I have visited, it’s hard to pick a favorite because they are all unique in their own ways. The picture below is from one of my favorite historical trips. We visited some of the sites in Montgomery, Alabama, and were able to meet a sweet woman named Vera Harris. She knew Martin Luther King, Jr., because she lived down the street from the parsonage where he resided with his family. Her husband was also a Tuskegee airman, and they housed freedom riders in their home.
The picture at the top of the post is from our trip to New Orleans in 2016. For travel inspiration, take a look at my Travel page.
Hey! Not fair! You did not say your age but ask us ours! 😂😂😂
I will just say I am 9 yrs younger than my husband and we have retired.
I met my husband through work, I was his boss. We did not date while we worked with each other.
We began dating 3 years later.
You did not mention the furniture refinishing you used to do Ellie?
Have you continued to do that at all?
Do you see the house you currently own and live in as your forever home?
What is one thing you would like to learn in the future?
Did you and your husband ever work together again after getting married? Haven’t done any significant furniture refinishing recently. It was a lot of work. We did recently refinish two new chairs to match the table and chairs that I refinished over 5 years ago. I did some of the work, but Mr. Handsome did most of it. Our house is pretty small, so I don’t think it could be our forever home, unless we were able to add on. I would love to learn another language, or improve my French or German. Perhaps I will learn alongside my children when they are older.
Yes! My husband and I did work together after we married! I then stopped working while our children were small. I am glad to hear you are still doing some refinishing work. I agree it is a lot of work, but you did a really good job on your projects. I have lost a lot of my Dutch because there just isnt anyone to talk to but we do see shows from other countries and I can follow along with mist of it! Shows from Belgium, Holland and Germany.
Committing to increasing the size of your house through a reno is a big project, I hope whatever you decide your future forever house will be exactly what you want.
I love that you speak Dutch. Were you able to teach it to your kids? I could imagine that would be hard if your husband doesn’t speak it though. I agree, a reno is a big undertaking. We are still at least 5 years away from needing more space, so thankfully we have some time to think it over and decide if we would rather do that or move.
I learned German and French in school, like you I think! And Dutch at home. My husband can follow it a bit and so can our kids. What I find especially difficult about languages is that they of course evolve and change and reflect the society and culture they are from. My Dutch is quite “ old fashioned” in the Netherlands because I learnt it from another time and have not progressed as words, phrases, idioms, are added, change and develop. Have you found that or your parents with Germany?
My mom has had the same experience with her German. My German is not very good at all, and I haven’t used my French since high school.
What do you consider “pretty small”? 2000 sq. ft.?
Less than that. It’s a great house for a young family because I can keep tabs on the kids no matter where they are. And less cleaning is great for this stage of life. But when our kids get older and need more space, we would love to have a 4th bedroom and a playroom/hangout space for them and their friends.
Yes, when kids hit teens and are getting adult sized and being boys roughhousing etc, a space they can be in and an extra bedroom will feel great!
I will never understand why women are uncomfortable sharing their age. I’m 63 and proud of it. No one is guaranteed any amount of time on this earth. The Lord has been good to me. In 2020 I was diagnosed with ckd. In 2021, I was healed, no medicine, just followed the diet I was given. My kidney function went from 15% to 100%. In May, I had symptoms of a heart attack, but no blood clots, blockages were found, and my arteries were clear. The dr diagnosed me with cardiomyopathy. I had been under tremendous stress. 3 weeks ago, I had a complete hysterectomy because I had non-invasive cancer. The dr said I was 100% cancer free. I am proud to be 63, and I thank the good Lord for everything.
Wow, it sounds like you’ve been through a lot over the past few years. Praise God for the healing you have received!
Re daily schedule – I always had a set weekly schedule when kids were little. M-T-W were for appointments if needed. If not needed, then it was time at home doing what needed to be done. Wed was grocery/meal list planning, after the store ad came out. Th was grocery day, once a week only, and any errands away from home on the way. Fri was deep-cleaning the house during school hours. Every day ended with a “sweep” through the house to wipe up, pick up, and put away. Lunches were pre-packed as much as possible, backpacks were checked, forecast was checked, and appropriate clothes laid out for the next morning. Every morning after breakfast was a quick cleaning/bed making and a load of laundry. My house ran like a well-oiled machine. Unless you get a system going, things can spin out of control quickly. No more little kids but I still basically follow that schedule. In fact, I’m sitting down for a moment after getting half the house cleaned, because it’s Friday.
Sounds like a great schedule!
My hobby is crocheting. I’m currently crocheting a sock monkey but Some of the things I like to crochet are dishclothes, baby blankets and shawls.
I try to have my devotion time in the mornings but sometimes I have appointments so I have my time in the afternoon.
I used to hate exercise but since joining a senior exercise class here in town about a year ago and finding some great exercise videos on YouTube, I’m really enjoying it. I try to challenge myself without overdoing it.
I wish I could crochet. My mother did very well. She could turn out a granny square from memory lickety-split. She tried to show me. I’ve tried watching videos and practicing. I end up with a tight knotted mess. I can’t decode the patterns. They may as well be written in Sanskrit. Best I leave the crocheting to someone else. Funny thing is, I’ve made lace and things on a tatting needle, but I can’t crochet.
I would love to learn tatting. I tried knitting but I’m just not good at it.
I have been knitting and crocheting blankets and toques for homeless that are distributed before winter.
I make fleece scarves for the same reason.
It’s bothersome that you insinuate people who have hobbies lack
practicality and productivity. It’s actually very healthy to have your own hobbies. Maybe you ought to find some more hobbies of your own.
I do think it’s a negative trait of mine, that I have a hard time developing hobbies.
A lot of hobbies are practical and productive. My friend makes pottery and another is a woodworker. I’ve sewn since I was young and am skilled enough to use that hobby to produce gifts for others. It keeps me from having to shop for birthdays and Christmas. While others are fighting for a parking space at the mall the day after Thanksgiving, I’m in my sewing room being practical and productive. I can’t count the number of charity projects I’ve made – items that have gone to nursing homes, NICU’s, schools, or filled other community needs. Does your church have a charity quilt group? Many churches do. Sometimes they need volunteers to cut fabric, iron fabric, or tie quilts, no sewing skill needed. I’ll bet someone in a quilt group would teach you to sew, too. It’s not hard to sew a straight line for a charity quilt.
Sounds like a wonderful hobby that you’ve used to help other people a great deal. In the season I’m in with little kids, sewing would be hard to add, but that does sound like a productive hobby that I would enjoy later in life.
My mom sewed all of our clothes, curtains, and bedspreads when I was little. I used to sew toddler clothes during naptimes. It can be done if you put your mind to it.
Perhaps Ellie thinks of hobbies differently than you do! For instance, I believe she watches TV at night with her husband, and I would call that a hobby. A hobby is defined as an activity done regularly in one’s leisure time for pleasure. It has to do with taking a break from work to do something relaxing and/or fun. Life can’t be all work and no play! Some think of hobbies as golfing or fishing, but I think it’s broader than that and can include making things for people, baking, cooking. Anything you don’t HAVE to do in a day.
Here’s a question for Part 5. Do you consider your husband head of household and the final authority? Do you consider yourself a submissive wife in that sense?
I believe in the biblical view of marriage. Men and women are both equal before God but have different roles to play in marriage. I think people get so caught up in the part of Ephesians 5 (and other Bible passages) that talks about submission that they don’t notice the role that God calls husbands to play. A husband is called to radically and sacrificially love his wife and to lay his life down for her. If both the husband and wife are taking their roles seriously, it is a relationship of equal give and take, and the result is love and peace. I happily submit to God (above all else) because I know He is going to work everything for my good. I happily submit to my husband because I know he loves me and that he is striving to submit to God in all things. I have never, ever felt pushed into anything by my husband. He is a very kind, compassionate, and patient person who never raises his voice and does not struggle with anger in the slightest. We discuss all decisions, big and small, as a team, and I’ve always felt that the decisions that are made are what is best for our family. Men who think that submission means they can lord over their wives, control them, or abuse them are distorting the Bible. I also want to add that there is a misconception that women are somehow called to submit to all men. That is simply not biblical. Wives are called to submit to their husbands, but they are not called to submit to other men, whether that be in the workplace, other family relationships, etc. I think people read Ephesians 5 and somehow get the idea that women are “less than” men and that they play second fiddle. That is simply not the case. Both have equal value.
I hope that response answers your question. God intends for the marriage relationship to be one of love and joy, for both the husband and the wife. If either the wife or the husbands feels like they are being pushed around by their spouse and not being both loved and respected, something is wrong.