In which my name appears in lights… I mean Redbook.

In the March issue of Redbook magazine, page 22… you will see a familiar name beneath about 250 words on marriage.

I’ll give you 2 guesses as to WHO it might be…

*drums fingers*

*avoids eye contact*

If you didn’t guess ME on your first guess, then I understand why you are not a detective. And that’s OK! We all have our own special skills and strengths!

!!!!!

JENNY!

THAT’S MY NAME!!!

In a real-life, breathing (?) magazine!

Is it OK if I carry that magazine around for the next month and show it everybody?

Have Sharpie, will autograph…

I try not to get too OBVIOUSLY excited about stuff… because there is usually much bigger and more important stuff beyond just about anything I do, write, say, think and so on and so forth.

The same applies here.

OH BUT EXCEPT I AM REALLY TICKLED BECAUSE THAT’S MY NAME! IN A MAGAZINE!

Funny little aside… I bought TWO of the magazines. You know. BECAUSE. And went to grab a coffee at the little in-store coffee shop (HOLLAH to mah ladies in the Central Market coffee shop *pumps arms*)… And I showed them my name in lights the magazine and of course they were all supportive and we took pictures together and I autographed their copies… As it were, my article was opposite a page with a beautiful blonde haired woman. The man customer ahead of me got a glimpse and was all, “I WANNA SEE!”

And I was all, “Oh. I am not the beautiful blonde. I am just words. IN A REAL-LIFE MAGAZINE!!!”

Then I tossed my hair as if papparazzi were to my left.

Dudes. COULD YOU IMAGINE IF MY PICTURE WAS IN A MAGGIE?! ?!

Yeah me either…

So my bubble was only slightly burst than my representation in a REAL LIFE MAGAZINE was words as opposed to an image of a sultry, just washed-golden-haired beauty.

Note: No money exchanged hands.

You probably want to know WHAT the 250ish words were about, ehh?

Marriage. But I won’t share the article here. You know where to find it.

But I’d like to expand a bit. 250 words is not much space to share the depth of anything about marriage. If there was one thing I’d like to add it’s that though I feel the bond of the act of marriage adds an extra stitch to a delicate seam… it doesn’t mean I think it is a stitching of SUPER-INVINCIBILITY. But for me… due to how I work, and also… something I didn’t weave into the article  was my religious convictions… because 250 words + hot topic of marriage + religious perspective = not enough room for proper depth.

And to be honest, if others do not share my religious values… then that side of the coin does not apply. So, in addition to the non-religious based reasons I embrace marriage, I also have my mixed-bag of religious beliefs that are the soil to all the rest. When I say mixed bag… I mean MIXED. All rooted in the Christian belief system.

MIXED.

And I believe. In Jesus. And the minute I write all that… I assume each individual has a rush of judgement. Positive, negative, eye-roll, whatever… Which is fine. But I feel pretty confident when I share the relationship I am currently working on with that Jesus guy I just mentioned… it does not easily fit presumption.

BUT BACK TO THE ARTICLE…

A big thanks and squeeze to Chookooloonks for passing on my name to the people at Redbook. I just want to pinch her cheeks! But I won’t. I promise, Karen *wink* *squeeze*

Aaaaand  props to the opposite perspective given by Maranda of momicon.com. I especially appreciate her wrap-up sentence. Props to you, Maranda…

The thing is, friends… I rarely, if ever, chime in on topics that lead to potential controversy.

It’s not my bag.

But I do want to add, about marriage… It would be a lot harder to be a supporter of it – regardless of belief system – if I didn’t have the husband I have.

I see who friends and acquaintances are married to/divorcing.

My guy is not perfect. I’m not perfect (no really). He makes me crazy and angry and all kinds of negative emotions that husbands/partners evoke. But it would not be right for me to hash-out the negative here. That’s our bidness.

But despite the struggles a life-long relationship bring… is easy to hold a positive and supportive perspective on marriage when one’s husband is a hard-working, responsible, honorable man.

And handsome.

Ya know, it is not like I have a great history of men and choosing. I had very few relationships before him and all were… well… embarrassing, really. So the fact that I chose to marry who I did is one part credit to me (learned a few hard lessons it seems) and 3 parts the grace of God.

And one part cute college guy with the cute butt I saw running through The Cafe in a rush to change for intra-mural football practice.

I think his team won that year.

*rawr*

I could totally go off on another tangent about self-esteem and worth, but I think we’ve all had enough…

So. Redbook. March issue. Page 22. I have a Sharpie and I’m not afraid to use it. *tosses hair off shoulder*

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