Scarlett-Stephen-Rhett

With my favorite boys, my husband, Stephen, and my poodle child, Rhett, sharing ice cream from a food truck.

My husband and I have started a new tradition called “S” days.  It kind of got started b/c we’ve always called ourselves “S&S” for Scarlett & Stephen. It usually consists of a lot of “sun, surf, & sand” here in Florida, but it also becomes a game of figuring out what else begins with “S” through out the day.  Like, when we went to the zoo, and our favorite part of the day was petting “stingrays”.  Or when we went to M Shack and got “shakes”. Or when we “strolled” around the St. Johns Town Center going “shopping” for new “sunglasses.”

In previous years of our marriage, we were business partners, and pretty much worked ourselves to death.  It got to a point where we realized, our business was running us more than we were running our business. While we enjoyed the season working together, as time went on, we simply craved to try the whole normal thing of simply being a married couple. Stephen now works a full time job doing tech stuff he loves where he is gone most of the day, and I’m starting this new chapter in interior decorating which has me up late at night in my creative zones.  We went from being around each other 24/7 to now only getting 2 days a week to truly spend quality time together, so we’ve made it our mission to use those 2 days he has off to squeeze in as much time together as we can.  Away from computers.  Away from checking in constantly on our phone.  We force ourselves to get out in the sunshine and explore new things.

“Sometimes the doing nothing together is accomplishing something.  And that something is fighting for our marriage, not letting the world’s distractions and busyness consume us and take over what we cherish most… each other.”

One reason we moved to Nashville last year was because we felt like Jacksonville didn’t have a lot to do. And when we made the decision to move back to Jacksonville, we said we were going to start finding new things to do outside our usual comfort zones and neighborhood.  And that we have done, and been pleasantly surprised how much this city truly has to offer!

Everyone has different love languages, and one that we have in common is Quality Time. It doesn’t always mean being busy together, sometimes it just simply means doing nothing together, side by side, hand in hand. Whether it’s doing nothing laying on the beach not saying a word. Or doing nothing laying on a blanket in a park reading books. Or doing nothing laying on the couch snuggled up watching a good movie. Sometimes the doing nothing together is accomplishing something.  And that something is fighting for our marriage, not letting the world’s distractions and busyness consume us and take over what we cherish most… each other.  We’re determined to not stop dating just because we are married.

And as seen above, “S” days are even better when my precious Rhett can join us!

Another way we fight for our marriage is praying together. I keep a book on my desk called “A Book of Prayers For Couples” that I open throughout the day and pray for Stephen while he’s away at work. And each night he covers us in prayer as we drift off to sleep. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with him, hearing how he prayed, and his genuine love for Jesus. While God instructs taking Sundays as a day of rest, we now appreciate it more than ever and we’ve enjoyed turning our days of rest into “S” days.

Do you have traditions with your loved ones? Leave me a comment below and share with me what you love doing together!  And if you are in the North Florida area, what’s something fun you love to do? We’re always searching for new ideas to explore!

Sig

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