I've finally come to realize that there are some aspects of life that work a season ahead.  We've barely been above freezing for the last couple of weeks, and there's been a little layer of snow making things magical.  While most people are staying warm, knitting, and enjoying winter, I'm already thinking about spring.  I know, I know, you gotta be wondering how, why I'd be thinking of spring!?

A part of it is most certainly because I am a very excited dreamer.  I love dreaming about the future and how I would like things to turn out.  The other reason is because, quite honestly, now is the time.  To start onion seeds indoors they need to be started by the end of this month.  If we want to get some chickens butchered by no later than the middle of April, we have to get chicks mid February.  From now until about April is when most farmers plan on their goats freshening and having their kids.  I wish I could pretend it was a pain, planning my garden and other adventures, but I can't.  I love it.

So that is how these first few days of 2013 have been spent.  Looking over heirloom seed catalogs, trying to figure out if I really will be able to manage goats, and if I really can find a better way to raise chickens.  Of course as spring approaches, I start thinking about the decorating I'd like to get done, and how to best get things spring cleaned around here.

I'm getting close to making final decisions on what I'm planting in the garden, along with some goat and poultry decisions.  I hope, hope, hope to share those with you soon, if I can just hurry up and decide!

So what about you?  Are you planning for spring yet, or are you just enjoying these magic winter days?  Share in the comments below!

Raise your hand if you have a lengthy goal and resolution list for this year?  I had formulated quite the list as well, with things on it like losing weight, growing a good garden, reading books, decorating my home, eating more wholesome foods to name a few.  I knew I had overdone it, and knew my list wasn't realistic, but what was wrong with it? What should I cut out?  I got distracted by a busy week and completely forgot to look back at my lists.  I woke up on the first day of 2013 with it being no different than any other day.  I have to admit I was a little disappointed  I hoped to have a list, to have a new plan written and ready to follow.  Then I realized it, I realized that I had a goal and resolution.  Just one, single thing.

Do better.

I want to do better in 2013 than I did in 2012.  I want to do better at blogging, at eating, at loving, at everything.  If I fail, I want to do better at accepting myself and the mistakes I've made.  I want to do better at working hard, and at putting myself out there.  I want to do better at being vulnerable, and do better at living life.

That's it, I just want to do better.

What are your new years resolutions and goals? Feel free to share in the comment section!

The ending of a year and a beginning of a new one is always so special to me.  The year 2012 is complete, and cataloged away in memories.  It was a year of unexpected adventures, a lot of moving vans, chickens, and more laughs than I can count.  My only hope and wish is that 2013 is a year even half as good as 2012.

I am determined for 2013 to be a special year.  A  year that is full of life, love, adventure and fun.  I am determined to be more fearless, vulnerable, and passionate.  I hope everyone who reads my blog notices these changes, starting with the most obvious one as you came and visited here today!  I wanted this new year to include a fresh start here on The Atypical Housewife.  As all my readers know I have struggled writing here the last year.  I've been unsure as to who I've been as a blogger and where I was going.  Thankfully I have finally figured it all out.  I've come to the conclusion that I am not a Christian homemaking blog.  I don't fit there.  I am, however, a lifestyle blogger.  Quite frankly, I'm recording my life here.  I hope what I write not only documents my life, my adventures, but can also teach and encourage other women.  I am determined to make my blog an expression of myself and my life.  So be prepared for posts that may be a little...atypical.

I don't know about you, but my best thinking happens when I cook alone in the kitchen.  Quiet and alone with my thoughts, things tend to come together better and more easily.  Tonight, while in the kitchen together whipping up baked ziti for dinner, I started thinking.  There's a whole string of thoughts that have been on my mind for quite some time and I just wasn't sure how to make them fit into a blog post.  While stirring my sauce it hit me, some women just have their priorities wrong.

Our modern day society tells us so many trivial things are important.  Big houses, multiple cars, name brand food and clothing to name a few.  Not even going into the desire for technology to be omnipresent.  Society is wrong, leading us like a cow to slaughter.  It's caused us to tame our husbands, neglect our children, and mock the ideas of homemaking.  Where has it gotten us?  We are training up a generation that is unintelligent, materialistic, and lazy.  We are forsaking the passing down of traditions, and our young women can't bake pies, much less care for a home.

I believe a huge reason this has happened, is because we have forgotten what our priorities are.  We've forgotten and lost sight of what is important.  Here is an example on how I feel many women view their priorities...

Children.
Husband.
Career.
Church.
Home.

This creates a very unbalanced life, a life in which nothing is where it should be.  Children are being shuffled around and put into so many activities they are constantly busy.  Husbands are neglected, disrespected, and snapped at.  Career is so important it overwhelms and overtakes time and energy that is limited.  Church becomes more of an idol and popularity contest than it is about serving the Lord and reaching out to those in need.  Lastly, our homes are thrust to the bottom of the pile.  An empty, stressed environment that is no longer sacred and inviting.  I believe having such priorities sets women up to be unfulfilled, sour, and unhappy.  So here is how I think our priorities should look...

God.  Jesus said that our greatest commandment above all others was to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind. (Matthew 22:35-38)  Our relationship with God is the foundation of our life.  He is our rock on which we build our lives.  We want to be like the wise man and build our lives on the rock, not in the sand where it will be washed away.  (Matthew 7:24-27)

Husband.  It is so important to always remember your husband as your best friend.  Constantly cultivating your marriage, helping him, respecting him is so important.  I also believe if you have children this makes a lasting impression on them.

Children.  Today's society almost always tries to put children as a priority over our husbands, but that is not how God meant it to be.  A strong marriage is one of the best things and examples you could ever give your child.

Home.  Today most people scoff even at the idea of homemaking, much less having it as a top priority in their lives.  The fact of the matter is making a house a home is more than just paint and furniture.  It's about children knowing where there mom is.  Knowing when they get home, she'll be there to listen to what happened at school.  Husbands will know when they come home from work food will be ready.  It's creating a haven, a safe, comfy place for everyone to rest in.  It's about making memories, and keeping the peace.

Church.  Church is low on this list of priorities which probably makes some women wonder if it's right.  I believe that it's in the right place though.  Church is a gathering together of believers to grow in Christ.  I think all to often church becomes an idol, and women can become too involved.

Whether we like to admit it or not, we all have priorities.  The way we live our lives, treat our families, and care for our homes all speak volumes into what we find important.  It's never to late to take a stand, and pull our lives back from the rat race they've become.  I chose to live simply, love fully, and have no regrets, how about you?

I've been a housewife and homemaker for about 3 years now.  Most people who read my blog know my plan wasn't to become a housewife, so I was a little lost at first.  I did a lot of things that were really unnecessary, and lacked on a lot of things that were more important!  I've recently revamped my daily routine once again, and I thought I may as well share what I've learned.  So, here we go, the top 5 tips for a new housewife...

1.  Ask your husband what is important to him.  This is such a simple thing, that is so important!  I would suggest and advise all keepers of the home to do this.  Our husbands are all different, they all have expectations on what clean is.  Often bloggers say doing x, y, or z is what will make us successful homemakers, when our husbands really care about a, b, and c being done!  What my husband wants and prefers done is the backbone of how I run things.  My husband personally cares about his work uniforms being clean, dinner to be done, our home to be picked up of clutter, and a generally clean home before the weekend.  My list is more detailed, like washing windows, checking baseboards, mopping, dusting, and all other fun stuffs like that.

2.  Get your cleaning done as early as you can.  This is something I struggle with.  I am not a morning person, so hopping out of bed and getting my chores done is not easy.  I need some time to wake up and be pleasant.  I spent a lot of my early marriage waiting until the latter part of the day to get my cleaning done.  This meant I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off before my husband was due to arrive home.  It made me flustered and more easily annoyed when my husband got home, and also meant some things were neglected due to lack of time.  My goal is to always get the house tidy as soon as I can, and then do a whole house check at the end of the day.

3.  Pick up after yourself.  Oh boy do I hate this one!  It makes a difference though.  After the home is clean, any time you do something that makes a mess, don't wait to clean it up.  Go ahead and wash the dish, or pick up what you dropped, it just makes things easy for you later.  I also encourage this same thing if you have children or a husband.  I wish I would have had this mindset ingrained in me as I grew up so it wouldn't be such a chore now!  I do not expect my husband to do any housework at all, especially the days he works.  However, I do ask him to at least pick up after himself on the weekends.

4.  It's OK if you do things differently.  As a young, impressionable housewife I really thought I wasn't as good of a housewife if I didn't do what other housewives did.  I spent a lot of time on homemaking journals, and schedules that were really useless to me.  I am a free spirit, I don't do schedules.  I do however do lists, which is an entirely different beast.  Make your own rules to keeping house.  Find out what works for you and do it.

5.  Accept that you will never be done.  This is a hard, hard truth of being a housewife and homemaker.  Your job will never end, and you will never retire.  Just accept it.  You will always be needed to mend socks, wash dishes, and do laundry.  You will always be needed to make your house feel like home.  It seems so exhausting and overwhelming, but really, where else would you rather be?  Although you may always be buried under laundry, you'll also be making a house a home which is priceless.

What do you think?  If you are an experienced homemaker what are your tips to new homemakers?  Share in the comments below!

Though I've never talked about it, it wasn't very easy to pick out my blog name.  In fact, when I first started out I just went by Mrs. Tillery.  It wasn't until I had been around awhile, and realized I wanted more than just a basic blog that I invented The Atypical Housewife.  So, how did I pick The Atypical Housewife...and...why?

The easiest part was knowing I wanted housewife to be in the name of my blog.  I wanted people to know that if they came to my blog, they'd be reading about the domestic arts.  So I kept saying to myself, The _____ Housewife?  What would fit there?  I tried so many different words, but nothing seemed right.  The Different Housewife? The Intriguing Housewife?  The Vintage Housewife?  The Bored Housewife?  None of it was sounding right, or expressing what I wanted to express.  I wanted people to get the hint that I wasn't a normal housewife, I wasn't a retro housewife, not a crazy one, and definitely not a desperate housewife.  I didn't want people to think I had it all together, or was Martha Stewart-esque.  I just wasn't typical.  So what was I?  Atypical.

I am not typical, especially when compared to a lot of other housewives in today's culture.  I'm nothing more than a girl turned housewife.  I'm not rich or well off, I know more about being poor and sticking to budgets than those ladies on TV.  I do not party, and I do not sass my husband.  I'm not on the other end of the spectrum either.  I'm not quiet and meek, I'm (usually) not wearing an apron, and you will probably never find my closet organized.  Not to mention I am a housewife, without children.  I am 25 years old, but my goal is my home, it's my husband, not a career.  I don't want people reading my blog and thinking, "Oh geez, she's just so perfect, she has everything together and is so typical of all the other bloggers I read."  Because I'm not that housewife.  I haven't had a manicure since I got married, and if I'm lucky I can wear fingernail polish for a day before it chips off.  Oh, and I bite my nails.  I cut my own hair, and have no high lights.  I like ranch dressing with my pizza and only own one pair of high heels.  I let my dogs share my pillow, and I serve as supreme heating blanket for my cats.  I'm pretty sarcastic, and I do not adore the Victorian era.  As I grow, and work towards my dream of being a little more self sufficient, I just get more atypical.  It's not typical to grow your own food, to butcher your own animals, and to make your own cheese.

So that's it, that's why I'm The Atypical Housewife.  But now I'm dying to know, what's the meaning behind your blogs name?

Last month my husband and I shared our 3rd wedding anniversary.  It’s hard to believe it’s already been 3 years.  At the same time I'm glad, because it means we have many more years to go.  I thought today I would share some of the truths I've learned over the course of our relationship and marriage.

-God is important.  It is important, and vital to keep God in the middle of your relationship and marriage.  You won’t succeed all the time, you will fail, but it’s an important thing to strive for.

-Ain’t no such thing as perfection.  You are going to fail as a wife, a partner, and as a best friend.  You will fail your husband, and you will hurt him.  You will burn dinner, break something, or fall below his expectations.  You are human, and this is ok.  Learn to be humble, and apologize for your shortcomings.  Don’t ignore your imperfections, face them, and fight against them.  Everyone makes mistakes, but if you are not learning and growing from yours you have a problem.

-You are going to get hurt.  Your husband is going to say something to you in a harsh tone.  He’s going to fail to provide something to you, whether this is physical, emotional, mentally, or elsewise.  This is natural, and normal.

-Don’t harden your heart.  When you get hurt, don’t put the walls around your heart up.  Don’t harbor it, don’t let it fester.  If you get hurt, if you get disappointed, if you have a problem, pray.  Then talk to your husband about it.  You will feel better, and you will be taking steps is solving the problem.

-You gotta grow up.  Once you are married you have to grow up.  You don’t get to lean on your parents anymore; you don’t get to live your life for yourself.  You are bonded to another person now.  You won’t get your way, and you’ll have to be a woman and be ok with it.  You’ll have to get your hands dirty, and clean up a lot of dirty socks.  You will have to do things you don’t want to do, DO THEM.  Don’t pout, don’t complain, just do it.

-Life’s not fair.  This is a hard truth!  You are not going to get your way.  You are not going to be able to control your husband and your marriage.  Unexpected things will happen and you will just have to go with it.

-You will fight.  When you meet your guy, fall in love and get married you will feel perfect for each other.  No serious fights, no annoyances.  It’ll be roses and sunshine.  Unfortunately you will get your share of rainclouds.  You’ll wonder if you made a mistake, if he really is the one.  Should you have married him?  You’ll wonder how on earth someone could be so annoying!  This is normal; you can’t spend forever with someone and always feel great about it.  People get cranky…it’s ok!  Try to stay positive!  If some alone time, a nap, or a hot bath would improve the situation, do it!

-Don’t talk to others about your husband.  Don’t.  Don’t even think about it.  If your husband has gotten on your nerves, don’t go gossiping, and chattering to your parents about it.  Don’t talk to your friends about it.  If you have a problem, you talk to one person, your husband.  If you have a serious problem, talk to a pastor, or counselor.  Don’t tease your husband in front of others unless you know, 110% he is ok with what you are saying.

-Laugh.  When your husband messes up, laugh instead of getting angry.  When he breaks something, scuffs something, or leaves a dirty handprint on the wall, laugh.  The first time we moved I told my husband to be careful with one, fragile item.  A pair of salt and pepper shaker snowmen.  He broke them.  I thought I was going to burst into tears, but I laughed instead.  If you can laugh, please do.

-Communication.  This is probably one of the single most important truths in marriage.  Communication makes or breaks.  You need to talk about life, love, hurt, religion, food, everything.  Ask questions, ask what he’s thinking, and tell him your honest thoughts.  Don’t talk too much, but know your husband as well as you can.  And remember, as much as you know him, as much as you know his likes and dislikes, you don’t know all of him.  There will be fleeting thoughts, memories, and much more you will never know.  As much as you know him, there is a vast portion you don’t know.  Also, it is so important to remember the most important communication is when it’s hard.  It’s when you’re hurting, and when you’re angry.  You need to tell him how you feel and why.

Reading all this may be discouraging.  You may see a lot of negatives here, but don’t let that fool you.  You will love your husband in a way you can’t even imagine.  He will become your other half.  You will realize you don’t know how you would function without him.  The thought of losing him will take your breath away.  He will be your voice when you can’t speak, the strength you need to stand, and the friend all your secrets are safe with.

What are your marriage truths?  Feel free to share!

Have you ever been reading through your bible and read a verse that made you stop and wonder, “Is that me? Am I doing this in my marriage?”  You get a little twinge of fear and conviction, and savor the words you read.  I know I have.  This is the verse I read that really stuck with me.

“It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.”  Proverbs 25:24
That description is so vivid.  It would be better for a husband to live on the corner of a roof than to live in a mansion that houses a brawling wife.  In case you were wondering the definition of brawling is “a noisy quarrel, squabble, or fight”.  Worse of all, this verse is mentioned TWICE in Proverbs, and for good measure there is the following verse as well.

“A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.” Proverbs 27:15
We all know how annoying the sound of dripping water can be, or any small, repetitive sound.  Just think, we may be that kind of annoying to our husbands.  Are you being a brawling, contentious wife?

No one out there should answer that with a no by the way!  None of us are perfect, and we are all guilty of nagging, and complaining.  It is in our nature to be sinful.  It would be more unfortunate, in my opinion, if we denied such faults.  We make mistakes, it’s ok, we need to apologize and move forward.  We, as wives, as Christians, need to step up to the plate and make the conscious decision to be better.  If you read those scriptures and thought, “Gee, this is something I need to work on.” Then don’t ignore it, make changes to make it better!

In my marriage I do my very best to be laid back about things.  It is a natural personality trait of mine, but it doesn’t always come easy.  When I have asked my husband to do something, and he hasn’t done it, it is HARD to hold my tongue.  The same applies when my husband makes a mistake, I want to say I told you so, and lecture him, but that is not a way to make him feel respected.  Here are a few tips to consider, to keep from being a leaky faucet.

Communicate.  This is so, so, so, so, so important.  Really, it is.  The bible says not to be nagging, not to be quarrelsome, but it doesn’t say you should hold in all the frustration you feel.  If there is something causing a problem don’t nag and pick fights, grow up and talk to him about it.  Don’t try to be strong, and hard and keep it all in.  When you do that you are letting Satan grab hold of your heart.  You are letting tiny problems fester and infect your marriage. Keep composure when talking, and if you feel things getting heated, it’s ok to take a mini break.

Gentle Reminders.  Send him a text, or write a little note as a reminder.  Be loving, funny, and yourself though!  Compliment him, tell him a joke, and at the end add a little, P.S. don’t forget the milk! or even more effective, P.S. if you remember to grab milk on the way home I’ll have a batch of fresh, warm cookies waiting for you!

It Doesn't Work.  Has anyone actually ever nagged someone and gotten what they wanted?  If you nag your husband every time he has the common courtesy to be honest with you, he may stop telling you things.  That is not what you want in a marriage.

Do you have any tips to keep from being a Nagging Nancy?  Feel free to share in the comments!

Hello!  I'm Jaimie from Living in the Light, and I'm so happy to be guest-posting for Monica today.  She's given me the privilege of sharing my story--mine and my husband's--and I can't wait to tell you how God has worked in our lives.

Monica calls herself "The Atypical Housewife."  One reason I connected with her so much is that I'm pretty "atypical" myself--I like to call it "counter-cultural."  I am a believer in the Triune God and a follower of Jesus Christ.  I was homeschooled.  I plan on homeschooling my future children.  My greatest desire is to be an at-home wife and mother.  All those things make me pretty different from the general population. 

Something else that makes me atypical or counter-cultural is that I am almost 21 years old...married...and still a college student.

Yes, you read that right.

I was definitely an atypical teenager.  Being homeschooled put me in a minority as it was, and besides that, I didn't date.  At all.  Not for lack of wanting to, but because I hadn't met a guy who fulfilled the (very high) standard I was looking for in a man.  You see, I didn't want to date unless it would lead to marriage.  Otherwise I would just be dating to eventually break up, and that didn't sound like fun at all.

The summer before my freshman year of college I finally told God, "OK.  I'm good with being single for now.  I get it.  I have two amazing men in my life: You and my dad.  That's enough for me for right now.  I'm going to focus on my college classes, make new friends, and keep You as my highest priority."

The very first weekend I was on campus my freshman year, I met Joshua.  We hit it off immediately.  We started talking, and I found the first guy who I felt really comfortable just chatting with, and who I felt was genuinely interested in what I had to say.  Plus, he was incredibly good- looking.  And a Christian.  And a Lutheran.  (On our tiny, Christian, Lutheran campus, it's not hard to find fellow Lutherans.)  But besides that, he was planning on being a pastor and/or a teacher, he had been homeschooled, he was from a bigger family (five kids)... the more we talked, the more I realized--this guy was special.  Less than two weeks into our friendship, my mom mailed me the list I'd made of qualities I was looking for in a man.  Reading over it, I realized something: Joshua fulfilled every single thing on that list.

We started dating two weeks after we met.

We got engaged six months later.

We were married less than two years after our first meeting.

Yes, I realize this makes us unusual.  And young.  I was not-quite- twenty when we married; he was 21.
No, we didn't really know what we were getting ourselves in for.  Even while we were dating and engaged, balancing all the different aspects of our life (significant other, classes, jobs, other friends) was a challenge.

When we got married, it only got harder...but at the same time, so much better.

He's in the secondary education program majoring in history and theology.  I'm majoring in English and theology.  So a lot of our classes overlap, and we intentionally work our schedules now so that we have at least one or two classes together.
We schedule in time for lunch together.
We adjust our work schedules so that we are home most evenings together.
We make a priority of getting up at the same time, going to bed at the same time, and eating our meals together if at all possible.
The main thing is, we're together.  That's the best part of this married life: belonging completely to each other.

Life is really busy.  It's much more relaxed in the summer, without homework, but we're both working (me just part-time so I have time to do things at home) and that takes up most of our days.  But we wouldn't trade this time in our lives for anything.

Maybe we sound like we're crazy...maybe we are.  But let me tell you, this life works.  And it works because of one thing: We keep our priorities straight (at least as straight as possible!).

God comes first.  Always.  Period.
Our spouse comes second.  No matter what.
Then come family, friends, classes, and work.

Keeping God at the center of our marriage and our whole lives is what holds us together.  An atom has to have a nucleus, or it will just fall apart.  So too, our lives and our marriage have to have a nucleus--God.  And it's He that keeps us together.

We wouldn't be able to do this without Him.  I wouldn't be able to do life without Him.  God placed us where we are right now for a reason.  He is preparing us for our future lives and ministry.  He's shaping us to continue to become who He has created us to be.  He is placing people in our lives so that we can bless them and they can bless us. 

We've learned a lot from this last year of marriage.  It's not always been easy...but God is constantly gracious.  He has blessed us immeasurably.  And we're so excited for whatever else He has planned for us.

So know this:
No matter where you are in life...
young, in the middle, or full of years
a student, a full-time worker, or retired
a mommy, a daddy, a husband or wife

God's got you.  He's got a fantastic plan for your life.  He loves you more than you can imagine.  And nothing in this world can come between you and Him.

Jaimie Ramsey is a wife, homemaker, writer, and college student.  She loves being married, hanging out with her husband and their friends, cooking, taking care of their home, and blogging.  She is a follower of Jesus Christ and a believer in the God of the Bible.  You can find her on Facebook and at her blog, Living in the Light.

There is a lot of talk among youngsters these days about kiss saving.  A lot of young ladies, and young men, are saving their first kiss for their wedding day.  I cannot say that it’s a wrong practice, but I thought I would share with you my experience.  See, my husband was not my first kiss.  And it’s not something I regret.  So, here is my story.

I met and fell in love with a boy when I was about 16.  It was with this boy that was supposed to be a good Christian boy, but in a lot of ways was more of a monster.  There was a lot of turmoil in our relationship, but being as we were Christians, and I “loved” him I thought things would get better.  I thought if we really worked at it, we could make things work.  This is how our relationship was, it was a struggle, and it wasn’t easy.  This was the same boy I “lost” my first kiss too.  At the time the kiss happened, I tried to convince myself it was perfect.  I remember that moment flawlessly.  We kissed, and just moments later I was alone in the bathroom.  I remember smiling, but realizing somewhere inside myself that it wasn’t a real smile.  I realized it was just lips on lips, plain, boring, and anything but spectacular.  This should have been a HUGE red flag, but honestly I didn’t know any better.  Months later the relationship ended, and it was hard.  It took a lot out of me, it left me broken and hurting.  Then, just a month after that relationship ended, Rob stumbled into my life.  When I met him, I never expected him to be the one.  He was young, immature, and lost in a lot of ways.  I was broken, resentful, moody, and depressed.  However the moment we met, the moment we started talking it was like fire and gasoline.  We ignited, I poured out all the poison, all the lies I believed, and he was sharing his heart too.  Months after knowing Rob, we kissed.  It’s funny because he had asked me several times if I would let him kiss me and I said no.  I didn’t know where we were going, and I didn’t want to make a mistake.  Then one night, we were in a parking lot getting something from a car, and without saying a word we looked at each other and kissed.  It didn’t last very long, there were no fireworks, but there was something else.  An inexplicable feeling as though at that moment in time we were exactly where we were meant to be.  It was perfect.  It was the beginning of everything we’ve become.

Some people would be led to believe that Rob and I’s first kiss wasn’t special because it wasn’t the first time for either of us.  They would say it took something away from our purity or the excitement of our wedding day.  The fact is though, I’m so thankful for kissing my first boyfriend, I’m so thankful I had that horrible relationship.  I’m thankful I gave away pieces of myself and got hurt because I know how lucky I am to be with my husband.  I have a challenging, but effortless relationship with my husband that I never would have had with my first boyfriend.  I know the type of relationship I could have, and it makes me so incredibly thankful for my best friend and husband.  My husband wasn’t my first kiss, but he’ll be my last, and that means more to me than any first kiss ever could.