5 Things Week 6 - Catch Up Edition

I'm still working on getting back "into the swing of things" since I've gotten sick, had surgery, all that extra crappy stuff. Sorry for the delay. I'm hoping to return to "regular blogging" soon (within the next week or so) but for now this is the best I can do.

1: A Nice Break: This past week we decided to take a spur of the moment trip (I love those!) to South Carolina. Not only do I totally love South Carolina, but it was great to get away for a bit, distract my brain from thinking about the pain (both physically and emotionally) and just relax! We had a great time. I don't know what it is about seeing palm trees that always makes me so excited. It really, really helped. 

2: A Challenge Update!: The challenge is still going strong. I'm about to hit month 3 on October 10th! My husband and I were just talking yesterday about the reward for the third month and I have to say, I'm definitely excited. I'm also excited about how many people are taking the challenge with me! It's awesome to be able to get, and give, encouragement. 

3: Writing Lines: Thankfully I haven't had to do this in awhile (although I got threatened this past week!) but I'm telling you that writing lines has got to be one of the worst DD punishments there is (aside from spanking, of course). Anyone agree? Seriously. So. Boring.

4: My husband is back to blogging! : So, I know I said I wouldn't link his blog every week (and I haven't been!) but lately I haven't read any DD blogs (aside from his!) so I don't have any to link. Plus, I think his new entry is great, and gives a lot of updates as far as our new site, and more! You can check it out here: http://learningdd.blogspot.com/2012/10/it-feels-good-to-be-back.html

5: These are SO good. Probably not the healthiest, but I'm telling you, they're awesome. They're called S'mores Cookies (or S'mores bars) and I think they're one of my husbands new favorite desserts (and super easy to make!)

For the recipe, click here.

 A couple of quick notes:

1. The malware issue that some of you were reporting on my husbands blog has been fixed!!
2. I know I'm way behind on emails (yet again). Please be patient. Honestly, at this rate, it could be months before I get to yours. :(

I hope you all have a great week. I'm looking forward to getting back to blogging like normal again! For now though, these weekly 5 Things updates will have to do.

xoxo
-Chelsea   

 

Coming Out About DD At Playgroup

As many of you know, I'm a mother (seriously whenever I type, or say that, I get instantly happy). Our son is 14 months old and I'm not even kidding when I say that he is the most amazing person, in addition to my husband. I could go on and on about him, but I will save you guys all the "can she be done talking about her son now?" statements and get to the point of this.

Back when I was pregnant with our son I knew I wanted to find a playgroup not only for him, but for me to make "mommy friends", especially those with kids around the same age as our son. When we moved out to the east coast (when our son was just a few months old) that need became even more important. So, I searched around and found a playgroup that meets once a week and all the kids are really close to his age (only a few months difference, max). The moms are pretty cool too, and it's been a great way for me to make friends.

Back in Utah almost all our friends knew about DD, or practiced it themselves. When we moved out east, we had to make all new friends and since we've done that, very few know about DD. Not because we're necessarily shy about it (well, ok, maybe we I am a little bit) but because it isn't really a topic that ever comes up or the window of opportunity just isn't there. That is, until playgroup last week.

I was finally feeling up to going to playgroup. Since my recent hospitalization, and surgeries, I have been trying to ease back into our normal lives. I was excited to go to playgroup, and so was our son. So, we went. It was great to see all our friends again. While our son and his playgroup friends were running around digging up plastic dinosaur bones at the new dinosaur exhibit at a nearby children's museum, the moms and I sat around talking about random things, one of those being marriage.

The opportunity was definitely there. One of the moms was struggling a little with an incident in her marriage. Another was suggesting the perfect solution was to just "go to the bar with the other girls tonight, forget your husband for a few hours and just let loose". They then invited me to that not so fun event. Politely, I declined. The "what? why?" statements came flying. Sure, I could have used the "I really don't feel good, just got out of the hospital" excuse. But I decided to use this opportunity to "come out" to a group of 8 women who I've gotten to know over the past few months about domestic discipline.

Was I nervous? Totally. Was my heart beating 1,000 times a minute? Probably. But do I believe it was the right thing to do? Absolutely.

I started by just saying "honestly, I don't feel comfortable going to bars without my husband." Which, by the way, is totally true. Then, the conversation grew, and grew, and eventually we got on the topic of why it's a "guideline" that I "don't drink without my husband present". Since I literally only drink maybe once a year anyway this is more of just a respect thing that my husband and I have and not necessarily a rule, but nonetheless I told them about it.

I'll save ya'll the long, drawn out, conversational details, but let's just say that after 20-30 minutes I had a group of 8 women stunned. They'd never heard of domestic discipline before. They were shocked and blown away. But, as one of them put it "so now we know why Chelsea has such an awesome marriage". 

DD isn't the only reason I have a great marriage. But does it play a part? Absolutely. And I was happy others could see that. But then, once the initial shock wore off came the slew of questions. And, by slew, I mean like dozens upon dozens. Everything under the sun. The most common question was "Oh, is this like 50 Shades of Grey!?" Yeah. No. 

This playgroup had suddenly turned from a 1 hour social gathering into a almost 3 hour question and answer session. My nerves eased away once everyone "backed off" a little bit, but I felt like my heart was still racing by time it was over. 

I walked away from that playgroup feeling so relieved. I was still a little shocked, like "I can't even believe I just did that" feeling, but I was relieved that now, for future playgroups, I didn't have to hide anything. Sure, I might be the "talk of the playgroup" for like the next year (and I hate excessive amounts of attention, so trust me, that's really going to suck) but it will be worth it.  

Within the week or so following playgroup I feel like my phone was blowing up with text messages. More questions, texts like "I actually talked this over with my husband" and even some people agreeing to try it! I was stunned. Happy, but stunned. 

Playgroup in the future sure will be interesting. But, I'm well on the road to having all our friends here in our new state know about DD, just like in our previous state. :-)

To all my playgroup mommy friends who I'm sure will be reading this: thanks for your support, for your understanding, and to those of you who are giving it a try, know you have a whole DD community to back you up, support you, encourage you, and cheer you on. 

-Chelsea

5 Things- Week 5 - Back to Blogging!

Hi everyone!

It's been forever since I wrote a blog. I have to admit, being back to blogging feels really good. I've missed everyone!! I figured I'd start back with a 5 Things entry, just to fill everyone in a little, then get back to regular blogging next week. 

1: Thank you for your thoughts and prayers! One day when I'm a little stronger (both emotionally, and physically) I may write about what happened. For now though, I just want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support given by our family, friends, Blogland, and more. My husband and I both greatly appreciate everyones support. To make a long story short (without a lot of details), I was hospitalized for 5 days, and had 2 surgeries during that time. Needless to say, the recovery process has been long, but I'm excited and really looking forward to getting back to normal. :) 

2: Month 2 is DONE! Last week the second month of my challenge was completed! My husband had an awesome day planned as a reward, and we had a lot of fun. It was just what I needed. :) As some of you may remember, I had a setback last month so getting month 2 done was like a weight off my shoulders. Here's to month 3 of the No Spanking Challenge! Want to take the challenge with me? You should! You don't have to go a full year (although that would be awesome), you can start with smaller goals like 1 month, 3 months, etc. Trust me, it's fun. 

3: We've got big website changes in the works! Have you checked out our new site yet? If not, click here! As you'll see, right now it's under construction but at least we now have a target date of when it will be completed! It's going to be really exciting when it's all done. Way more organized, more like a website vs. a blog, networks, forums, chat, personals, and so much more. But for now go check out the progress we've made. :) We're really excited about the new site launch and hope you are as well.  

4: Blondie's Blog: This past week, one of my blogging friends Blondie put up this post about a new book series that she says is better than 50 Shades of Grey. I haven't read the new series yet (called The Sweet Series) but maybe I'll give it a try. Thanks for the recommendation, Blondie! 

5: I'm totally making this! Hopefully this week, and then I will take pictures for the blog.What is it,you ask?

  

That. It's an "I Love You Because..." dry erase board. Since I feel like I'm always leaving "I love you" notes all around the house for my husband, this board will make things much more organized, and cute! The tutorial for it is here, if you want to make one too! 

In other news..

I've got an awesome story to tell ya'll. It'll be posted up on the blog early this week. 

And for everyone who wrote into a popular talk show about us, let's just say it worked! We're in the very early stages, but something big is in the works!

Have an awesome Sunday, everyone. And, thank you for your prayers. It really means a lot.

-Chelsea 

Missed the previous weeks? 

Check out 5 Things Week 1 here

Week 2 is here

Week 3 is here

Week 4 is here

 

The Spirit of Chelsea

  Hello everyone.  This is Clint, Chelsea's husband.  She asked that I write a quick entry on her blog this morning.

  As you may or may not know, my wife has been hospitalized since Wednesday with some pretty serious health issues.  I don't feel comfortable disclosing everything going on regarding her health, but it certainly isn't anything life threatening or anything TOO major.  She can be treated and she'll fully recover, but it's going to take a few weeks for her to be completely back to "normal."

  The outpour of support through my blog, her blog, emails, Twitter, the network - you name it - has been overwhelming.   Words cannot express how thankful we are to have such a large amount of support from our friends in the DD community, and from those close to us.  Times like this make me realize just how many truly genuine, caring, and supportive people there are in this world, and that's always refreshing to see/hear.  So thank you all so very much for your overwhelming support.  We'll get past this soon.

  My wife also wanted me to make it clear that she has not "disappeared."  Lol.  She wants to continue blogging and continue being involved in the DD community.  Once her pain and comfort levels are tolerable, she'll get back to doing what she does so well.

  Once again, on behalf of my entire family, I'd like to thank you all for your support as we go through this difficult time.  I'm doing everything I can to get my wife back to normal health, and there's no doubt in my mind that she will come out of this experience a stronger, healthier person.  She has a knack for taking a negative experience and turning it into something positive.  That's just the spirit of Chelsea.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend everyone.  Until next time.

5 Things - Week 4

Sorry I've been kind of slow on blogging this week. It's been one of those weeks where things have been so busy, I haven't been feeling great, and life is just hectic. I appreciate ya'll being patient. :-) 

 

1: We bought a house! And it's a super awesome house, too. We're so excited. Some of you may remember, on week 2 of the 5 things post, I was explaining how we decided to buy a house for a few years while our new home is being built. Well, finally, we picked one out (we had it narrowed down to 2, and it was a hard choice) and it all became official this past week- now we just have to wait for closing, and start the super fun process of moving. We're really excited. 

2: The 24th came and went. For most people, the 24th of each month probably means nothing. But, for me, it means a lot. Well, it used to at least. The 24th of each month used to symbolize the day that I was able to cross another month off my 1 year no spanking challenge. But, ever since last months setback, now the 10th is the magical day. I'd be lying though if I said that I wasn't majorly disappointed yesterday. I tried not to let it show, but finally broke down at like 3 AM. I really think that I put too much pressure on myself. :( I just want to complete this challenge so bad. 

3: Diapers and DD?? Does anyone understand what this is all about? For some reason, the past few weeks, the number of emails I've gotten, comments I've read, and blog posts I've seen have focused on this crazy "DD trend" about diapering your wife if she acts like a toddler. I don't understand it at all although I will say that I haven't really tried to because it just seems so odd to me. Has anyone else noticed this new "trend"? What do you think- anyone else think it's really....out there...or is it just me?

4: My Bottom Smarts- If you haven't checked out Bonnie's blog, My Bottom Smarts, I'll fill you in. She does this thing called Sunday Brunch every weekend with a new question, and it's pretty interesting. I linked her this week because the question is an age old DD question about spanking over or under the clothes. The responses should be pretty interesting, I think.  

5: This isn't a website link, but I still wanted to share. It fits with DD perfectly. 

..and here's something to think about.. 

Have an awesome rest of your weekend, everybody!

-Chelsea   

I've been dreading writing this entry...

*Super deep breath* 

I've been dreading writing this blog entry for a couple of days (actually, like a week). I actually really want to share some good news with everyone, but I'll have to wait, because this entry is going to suck.

My 1-year no spanking challenge has hit a slightly minor major roadblock, and I have to start over. 

Now, the minor piece of good news here is the way we have it structured is I'm starting the month over, not the entire challenge over. So, eventually I'll still get 12 months of no spanking (hopefully), which is the goal, but still, this sucks. I really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really was looking forward to celebrating my "2 month no spanking challenge" here in about a week, and now it is a month behind. To say I'm frustrated is an understatement. 

I'm hurt, sad, frustrated, and extremely disappointed. I don't think ya'll have any idea how bad I wanted this. :-( 

So, for everyone asking how my challenge is going- there's your answer. I'm like a month behind schedule. Sooooo frustrating. 

The challenge has started over (by a month) for several reasons. But that's the bottom line. I made it a whole freakin' month. 

Frustrated is an understatement. 

But, I'm still determined. I'm going to make it a year. I'm determined to make this the only set back, but I can't lie and say I'm not extremely disappointed because, as the what would have been 2 month date approaches, it just makes me want to cry. I think I'm way too hard on myself.

Ok, vent over.  

Have an awesome Monday, everyone!

5 Things - Week 3

I can't believe it's Sunday already, that this year is over halfway done, or that it's almost fall. This year is just going by way too fast.

I hope everyone has had an awesome weekend. We spent a bunch of time together as a family, watched some preseason football, did a little shopping, and just relaxed! It felt so good, seeing as how we've been so busy lately.

 

 1: It's FINALLY football season: (Almost). I know most of you probably are like "ugh, football season means I'm going to lose my husband to ESPN and the NFL Network for the next few months" . But, for us it's super exciting. We LOVE football. I'm not a huge fan of preseason football (because the talented, and good players are usually out of the game by like the first 30 minutes...) If you're a football fan, who are your favorite teams? We're giant Texas Longhorn fans (because that's where I went to college, and grad school..and thankfully my husband loved them before we even met!) and for NFL we like the Denver Broncos. :-) 

2: We heard another couple talking about DD at a restaurant! It was the weirdest thing. Clint and I went out to dinner with a group of people the other night. Since we had a pretty large party, they sat us in this special area of the restaurant where there was another really large party (like 20 people..). So, we sat down, ordered our food, were talking to the people we went with, etc. when all the sudden we here this lady at the other table talking (extremely loud....) to the group she was with saying "remember that time you spanked mom..." and then her voice got quieter, and we didn't hear the rest, but Clint and I immediately looked at each other like "what the hell". A few minutes later, the ladies husband said "well that last time I spanked you for..." and then his voice got quieter too. Everyone in our group was like "what the heck is going on at that table" and Clint and I were just thinking to ourselves wow, another potential DD couple! It was crazy!

3: Implement Guide Part 2 is up! Finally. Sorry for the delay, everyone. So, that completes the implement guide. :-) I might do another guide in the future (once I find another topic...I'm all open to ideas!). I'm also just about caught up on comments- yippee!!

4: Love, Honor, and Obey Him : I didn't link this post to a specific entry, like I've done in weeks past, but this blog is definitely one to follow as Becky develops it in the weeks, months, and years to come. I've been fortunate enough to get to know Becky (and her adorable family!) over the past few weeks, and she's a lot like me. I encourage everyone to read her blog, comment, and make her feel welcome in Blogland! 

5: This is a genius idea, everyone. I can't take the credit for it (I found it on Pinterest) but I think it's a great idea, and something almost everyone could benefit from. So, here's how it works.

On your wedding day (if you aren't married), your anniversary, or another special day, you and your loved one write letters to each other (explaining why you fell in love with the person, whatever else you want to say...you get the idea) and then take a bottle of wine, a gift card to somewhere you love...something that you guys enjoy, and put the letters and the object in a box, and seal it up (then, place the box somewhere out of sight, like underneath your bed). Then, on your first big fight (or, really any heated argument), take time to yourselves and calm down, then open the box together and read the letters, drink the wine, make the dessert, watch the movie (whatever you put in there) and it will help you remember why the two of you fell in love in the first place. 

See, genius idea. :-) 

Also: Happy Wedding Day to Ash!! She is getting married in just a few days (Wednesday) and Clint and I are so happy for her. Congratulations and best wishes, Ash! We hope your day is perfect.