An Ode To Us

We married with a plan; we continued with none. It was easy to tell ourselves that the next step was to have a baby, to grow a family, to show that indeed we were moving along a perfectly calculated timeline. But that didn't happen, of course. Things don't always go our way, of course.

And looking back at the almost two years we had to just you and me, I'm ever so grateful that life brought us somewhere else.

If I squint, I can find ourselves on our wedding day and remember exactly who we were in the folds and creases of our bodies and our souls: such wide-eyed, ecstatic newlyweds with a perfect image of each other, hoping and expecting nothing but the best. It was adorable; we were immaculate. And then life happened and hit us like a truck...

MarriageDeanne BanaresMay 6, 2017Love, Marriage, Parenthood, Couple, HusbandComment

The Illusion of Superwoman

What now?, I ask myself. I haven't even given birth yet and there's already that nagging voice in my head demanding an answer. What else are you going to do besides being a wife and mother?

There are so many articles floating around the ether that always seem to end up on my screen. Do you know the ones I'm talking about? The ones applauding and praising the superwomen, the supermoms, the superwives? I stand in awe of them, thinking how on earth they can do it all while I struggle to carve out time for myself (and I don't even have kids yet. Ha). Are they unicorns? Mystical beings? Am I just too ordinary? Too lazy? I click X on the tab because these articles just give more energy to that nagging voice...

ConversationsDeanne BanaresApril 18, 2017Superwoman, Marriage, Motherhood, Simplicity, Cape Comments

A Married Kind of Date

How Married People Plan Valentine's Day:

Do you want flowers? Too expensive on this day.

How about a special dinner? In the city? Along with every other couple?

Oh yeah, remember our second Valentine's? When that restaurant looked like a scene out of a chick flick?

A getaway? I'm pregnant.

Well, what else? Hmm, didn't I just clean the condo for you today? And didn't I just do the grocery?

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I'm not going to sugarcoat it. It's harder to plan Valentine's Day when you're married. Suddenly, the apparently romantic ways just won't do anymore. Maybe it's because you have every day to show your love, other more appropriate ways to express it...

MarriageDeanne BanaresFebruary 23, 2017Valentine's Day, Letters, Marriage, Antonio's, Romance Comment

Marriage Bytes: For Better or For Worse

Slammed doors, raised voices, silent treatments. Morning cuddles, sweet nothings, date nights.

Pesky habits, heavy sobs, unsolved resentments. Planned surprises, silly laughter, unending conversations.

Images of love and sounds of pain - the cacophony of marriage.

Remember the vow 'for better or for worse'?

It's lived every day, in the flesh, in the ordinariness and the humdrum. There are days when it's better. There are nights when it's worse...

MarriageDeanne BanaresJanuary 12, 2017Marriage, Husband, Wife, Spouse, Promises, VoewComment

Surprise, Surprise!

This is a story of God's goodness.

No one had any idea. While I was writing Part 2 of my miscarriage experience, I was also waiting for the results of my pregnancy test. What an afternoon that was for me - I felt like I was split in half. There I was recalling the painful details of the miscarriage and at the same time, being enveloped by anxiety and wonder. No one had any idea. Not even my husband.

It was exactly a month after the surgical procedure. I had an inkling that we had conceived again. But, after what we went through, I didn't want to bank on my womanly intuition just yet...

MotherhoodDeanne BanaresJanuary 10, 2017Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Marriage, Motherhood, Positive, God, Life Comments