Traditions

Someone told me that your first year of marriage you should start your own traditions. Not just holidays (but yes, holidays), but the little things--know what you value and form the habits that prove it--and call them traditions. Because I like that word.

Here are some of our regular traditions:
1. Praying together every night
2. Me making his lunch (unless I forget and he buys Subway)
3. Kissing goodbye before either of us leaves
4. Special prayer time on Sunday mornings
5. Work out together multiple times a week
6. Read aloud together
7. Hold hands while driving
8. Date night multiple times a month
9. Talk it out, no stonewalling or leaving
10. Sleep skin to skin to get our Oxytocin (http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/oxytocin)
11. Caid takes care of the car
12. Rachel cleans really well once a week


Before we got married (or was it on our honeymoon?) we put together our values:
1. FOCUS on what really matters: God and love
2. Work together and find BALANCE alone and together
3. Have true INTIMACY--physically, emotionally, and spiritually
4. Have a godly HOME that we can bring others into, with lots of traditions and celebrations
5. Be CREATIVE--Life full of music, arts, communication, and sports
6. Have MINISTRY outlets for what we are passionate about
7. Stay HEALTHY, pure, fit, and disciplined--clean and limited media to make room for outside life/exercise, natural and simple food/surrounding
8. Laugh, have FUN, and stay forever young

Here are some traditions we want to work on some more:

1. Weekly worship and music time

2. Having more people over to our home for meals regularly

3. Weekly "create something" time

Holiday traditions:

1. News years toasts with family and then go watch a movie together, just us two

2. Valentine's day: ? 

3. Celebrate Lent in some way

4. Easter tree, baskets/eggs hidden, door taped up. 

5. Birthdays: take the birthday person out to someplace they have never been before

6. Mother's day: ? 

7. Basic holiday rule: spend quality time with others and seek to share the day 

8. Halloween: dress up, no matter what else

9. Thanksgiving: weekend with the Coombs family

10. Celebrate Advent in some way

11. Christmas: Connecticut trip! Dinner at Uncle Roy's house. Cooking with all the nieces/nephews--make your own pizza and tacos and random desserts