Misadventures in the Kitchen

Hi guys! 

Dawn here. I know it's been awhile since I last posted and for that I apologize. I haven't had a ton of energy lately and I might know the reason why, but we'll get to that later. Today's post will be a rundown of what you missed in the past week or so and my latest misadventure in the kitchen! 

Let's start with Monday. I didn't know until he came home and told me, but my husband was late for work because the car wouldn't start! It turns out the battery was completely dead and could not be recharged when my husband took it to autozone. He got a ride from his brother, but ended up being twelve minutes late, which resulted in 3 points! They are only allowed 16 points before being fired and in almost a year, this is the first time he's been late, and for good reason. It was so frustrating. It's a good thing he didn't have work Tuesday (the 4th) because my mother-in-law took him to autozone to get a new battery. She cooked for us at her house and we had a lovely time with her and my brother-in-law. 

Wednesday was my favorite day of this week. My friend Bonnie texted me and asked me if I wanted to hang out. She is a stay-at-home mom to an adorable eight year old girl that she homeschools. :) I went over to her house and talked to her while she was cleaning her kitchen, with lots of interruptions from the ball of energy that is her daughter! We ended up ordering pizza and watching The Boss Baby which is a really funny children's movie (with some jokes thrown in for the parents). I tucked the little one in for the night and Bonnie and I ended up talking for about two more hours. Having friends, especially other housewives, is essential to help reduce some of the boredom. I've been having a few symptoms that have been troubling me lately, such as my hair falling out way more than what's normal, unexplained fatigue, sensitivity to the cold and random mood swings. Bonnie thinks that I may have an underactive thyroid like she does. I am going to set up an appointment with the doctor and see what's going on, I will keep you guys updated. I ended up walking home that night, with an amazing night breeze that helped take the edge off of the Texas heat. 

As for last night, well...in terms of housework, I busted my butt and got a lot of stuff done. I cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed the study, hung up all the clean clothes, cooked some chicken for my husband and washed the bed. My mother-in-law gave me some chicken thighs when we were at her house for the 4th and I've never cooked chicken thighs before, only boneless and skinless chicken breasts, so I had to look up how to cook it online. The recipe SAID to put the thighs in the oven at 375 for 35 minutes. In fact, several recipes did so I assumed that must be the appropriate time. When 35 minutes hit, I took them out of the oven. I don't actually know how to tell when chicken thighs are done, but the skin on the outside was properly crisp, so I thought I could pull them out of the oven. 

I was so excited for my husband to come home and eat some and tell me how they were! I was mortified when he took a bite and said that they weren't done, and that they could go in for another 30 minutes. I frantically looked up more recipes for chicken thighs and lo and behold, found that some of them call for an HOUR at 375. I tucked my tail in between my legs and put them back in. Lesson learned! 

That's really all that's happened this week. I find that I am still incredibly tired today. I didn't even know if I was going to be able to make a post. Hopefully I'll find out what the Doc has to say next week. 

Thanks for listening. 

-D. 

The Empowered Wife by Laura Doyle: An Honest Review

Hi Guys! 

Dawn here. :) For today's blog, I am going to be giving an honest review of the book The Empowered Wife by Laura Doyle. I saw an interview that Red Ice Radio did with the author and I was intrigued enough to buy two of her books. The other book that I bought is titled The Surrendered Wife. I have just started reading it and if there is enough interest, I will review that one next! 

On to the review. 

First of all, I would like to say that most of her advice on having a good marriage is common sense. Don't nag your husband, don't criticize him, and respect him were three main points that I took away from the book. Most women know not to nag or criticize already, but sometimes it's really good to have a reminder because we may not know that we are doing them! 

I really love the enthusiasm in the writing, and I believe that she is truly passionate about ending world divorce. In the book, she outlines 6 skills that women can adopt in order to have a 'playful, peaceful, and intimiate' relationship with their husbands. I don't think all of these skills will necessarily work for every single couple, but I also don't think that any of them have the ability to hurt, either. I would encourage every woman who reads my blog to read this book and play with the ideas within in order to see if they work for them. Another thing I enjoyed about the book was that she used examples from many women who had put the 6 skills into practice and shared the results that they got with their husbands. This helped drive the message home on how to apply the skills and how effective they are. 

She is a big advocate for self-care and she asserts that it would be a good idea for wives to make time for themselves three times a day to make themselves happy. This piece of advice definitely makes sense, because if you are so busy taking care of everyone else that you neglect yourself, you can get frazzled and short-tempered. If you are in a good mood from having relaxed with a book or a hot bath, you are less likely to enter into avoidable arguments with your spouse. 

There is one really good exercise that she includes in the very end of the book that I personally loved. She said to write down all of the reasons that you love your husband. At first, I struggled to think of anything besides the fact that he's funny, smart and caring but when I really started to think about it, things just kept pouring out. At the end, I came up with 25 unique reasons why I love my husband and my feelings were so strong in that moment that I started crying. Tears of happiness, of course. I am going to let him read the list when he gets home, but I am keeping it as a daily reminder of why I married him. 

I do have one criticism of the book, and that is the fact that she claims that men love women more than women love men. I certainly can't know how she feels, but I know that I love my husband a great deal, so I take...issue with the fact that she would say the he loves me more than I love him. 

Other than that one little claim, I absolutely enjoyed the book and I think that every woman aspiring to be a traditional wife should read it. 


Thanks for listening to my ramblings. 

-D. 

Let's Make Something Clear

Hi Guys. 

Notice there is no exclamation point at the end of that sentence like there usually is. Today I want to talk to you about something important and it is definitely more of a serious topic. 

I have had a few conversations with girls that were a little disturbing. We are here today to talk about a hot topic: the relationship dynamic between a husband and a wife. Whoo. This is big. Do I pretend to be an expert on this? No, I am not. I just know from experience what works for me and my husband, that has brought us four years of extreme happiness. 

Here's what I think: A man and a woman who decide to join their lives together in the union of marriage enter the relationship as partners. They each bring something to the table; the man promises to do what he can to provide for his wife, and in return she promises to birth and raise their children and manage the home. I do not think that one is more important than the other, I think they are equal. 

If my husband tells me to do something, I don't blindly follow his orders. I think about it, and if it seems like a reasonable request, I do it. I do NOT think think a woman should be a slave to her husband. I don't think she should just meekly accept whatever he tells her to do, even if she disagrees. 

I love and respect my husband. He is a smart man, and that's part of why I married him. I know him well enough to know that he will never ask me to do something he feels will harm me in any way. He will never ask me to do something that he knows is against my morals. So while I trust him to take care of me, that doesn't mean I am never going to question his decisions. I do not think that women are just cattle to be bred. We have emotions and we have opinions. If your partner loves and respects you as much as you do him, he will listen to what you have to say, think on it, and then either argue or agree. 

There are certain types of relationships *cough* (kinky) where the woman willingly submits to being a male's slave. The key word there is WILLINGLY. We should never be forced to do a man's bidding. 

As partners, both the man and the woman should have an equal say in the relationship. There should be mutual respect, trust, and love. That is how my relationship with Mr. Dawn has survived. Usually, I do let him take the lead, but I will not be a doormat. I won't lie down and accept something if I strongly disagree with it. My husband doesn't want a 'yes' woman, he wants someone he can have interesting conversations with. 

All that being said, I do things for him because I love him. I make him coffee in the morning because I want to. I keep the house clean because I don't want him to have to worry about anything when he gets home. I cook his food, knowing that he is tired from work. Marriage should be a compromise, not a prison. You should be trying to show your spouse that you love them every day. 


There is a book that encapsulates what I think the ideal relationship between a man and a woman should be, which I will link below. 

Thanks for listening. 


-D. 

https://www.amazon.com/Donts-Wives-Blanche-Ebbutt/dp/0713687908/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497685526&sr=8-1&keywords=don%27t+for+wives

Oh the Laziness

Hi Guys! 

Dawn here. As you can tell from the title of this post, I am here today to talk about laziness and suggest ways to combat it. 

When you are staying at home, it can be easy-trust me-REALLY easy to slip into a pattern where you don't get anything done. Where you don't change out of your pajamas, you sit around all day and play on your laptop or you binge on Netflix. I have definitely been guilty of this! Even now, I write this post in my nightgown, hair unwashed and the clean clothes just sitting there in the hamper waiting to be put away. 
Here are some ways that I can think of to break away from this pattern, and these are things that I do to keep me from being lazy. 

1. At the very beginning of the day, make a to-do list. Write down all the things that need to be done around the house, such as do the dishes, wipe down the counters, exercise. I have found personally that this helps a bunch, as I feel obligated to scratch things off of the list. It can also feel exciting to physically scratch something off of a list! 

2. Put on some high-energy music or videos. If I'm having a tough time getting through the housework, I blast some music that really gets me moving and dancing around. This will make doing the mundane tasks fun. 

3. Think about your husband. Ladies, they go out and they work their butts off for us. Staying at home is a privilege and NOT a right. In exchange for getting to stay home, we must keep our houses a clean, relaxing haven for our husbands to come home to when they get off of work. So if you are struggling to get up off of the couch or out of your bed, just remember what your husband has to do in order for you to be able to do that. 

4. Give yourself a day of rest throughout the week, or at least make it a really light cleaning day. If you are exhausted from all of the housework that you did throughout the week, don't be afraid to give yourself one day a week where you get to veg out on the couch. If this helps you to get it all out of your system or acts as a refresher, feel free! But only allow yourself that one day to get nothing done. 

These are things that I do that really help me stay on top of all of the housework. I make a to-do list every single day and I feel extremely satisfied when I get to cross things off the list. Of course, there are other things you can do to combat laziness, do whatever works for you! 

Thanks for listening. 

-D. 

Appreciating your loved ones

Hey guys! 

Dawn here. Like my housework, I have neglected to blog the past couple of days. It's not that I forgot, I just didn't feel inspired. That happens sometimes. I really didn't know what to say. 

I've been doing the bare necessities every day to make sure the house is straightened, like the dishes, the laundry, etc. but I haven't really done any detail work until today. Today I actually picked myself up and scrubbed the things that needed scrubbing and I made my husband's lunches for the rest of the week. 

I find myself..a little empty without having a tiny mouth to feed. This has been one of the days where I really wanted to have a little kid around to keep me company, but then I remind myself that the reason I'm staying home is so that I can get de-stressed before we try to get pregnant. I also have a personal fitness goal that I want to achieve before we start trying. 

I feel like my marriage is better than ever. It definitely helps that one of us is always well-rested so that if he has a hard day and he's a bit snappy with me, I can give him all of my patience and understanding. When I was working, I'd be just as exhausted and liable to snap back at him, which is never a good thing. 

We went to see Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 in theaters on Saturday night! It was so fun. We hid some snacks in my purse, I got all dolled up in a dress and some makeup, and my husband took so long to get ready that we were a few minutes late! Luckily the previews were still playing so we didn't miss any of the movie. 

I can't stress this enough, ladies, if you are staying at home, make sure that you still have date night with the husband. It doesn't have to be a movie or even anything too expensive. Maybe you could make a meal that you both really enjoy, stay in, rent a movie from redbox (only $1-$3) and just enjoy each other's company. 

For the first few anniversaries that my husband and I celebrated, all we did was get a bottle of wine, a pie, and watched a movie. That was perfectly fine with us. I am reminded every day of why I married my husband. Maybe it's something he says...or the way that he looks at me. Maybe it's the cute facial expression that he makes when he's frustrated or thinking deeply about something. 

Of course there have been arguments. Hurt feelings. But when you really love someone, you don't give up. You do everything that you can to make it work. I would like nothing more than to bring my husband's children into the world. I can't wait for the moment that I get to place our little miracle into my husband's arms and see the look on his face. I know he is going to be a wonderful father. 

I am going to sign off before I get too emotional, but please. If you are reading this, hug your spouse today. Give them an extra kiss. Appreciate them while you can. This life is fleeting. 

As always, thanks for listening. 


-D. 

Why I decided Not to Go to Medical School

Hi Guys! 

I decided to dive into a deeper topic that I just briefly touched on in the introduction. In the past year, I decided that I was not going to go to medical school. At least, not yet, and I wanted to explain why. 

I first decided to go to medical school when I was in community college and my husband (who was just my boyfriend at the time) and I had planned on becoming DINKs. My interest in medicine started when I was taking Psychology and learning about how complex the human brain is. From the moment I started reading about the structures of synapses, I was hooked. 

I even went to a 6 week pre-med program where I attended lectures on physics, biology, microbiology and got CPR certified. I shadowed a vascular surgeon and saw how much her patients respected her, and I wanted that. 

But when I got home from the program after being away from my husband for six weeks, he and I started talking about the possibility of having kids. Slowly, ever so slowly, we were changing our minds about wanting them. It was "Oh, maybe we'll have one or two" to the current position of wanting 4-5! 

That is when the war started in my head, and I really had to think deeply about my decision to go to medical school. I knew that having a child while going through medical school would be difficult, especially since my husband and I don't really have  many reliable family members to help us in times of need.  There would be no great support system, and with the both of us going to school, how would we afford it? 

The second question was: Did I really want my kids to be raised by someone else? Some nanny I was paying X amount of dollars an hour? Medical school is a huge time commitment and I would not have a lot of time to spend with my children. Even when I did spend time with them, I would probably be exhausted or stressed and I wouldn't be able to give them my full attention. 

As I stated before, I know that there are women out there who have children while going through medical school. They obviously make it work. But for me, I just didn't want to take that kind of time away from my kids. I'm too selfish. 

I also think that part of the reason I wanted to go to medical school in the first place is because I wanted to prove that I could. That I was smart enough. I haven't always had the best self-esteem or believed in myself and I felt like if I could make it through medical school, it would prove to everyone that I was worth something. I have grown in the course of my relationship with my husband, and honestly, I no longer need that validation. As long as he and I are happy, I don't need to prove my worth to anyone. And what would make me happy is having a few children that I could really devote all my time to. 

Society as a whole spreads the message that women should be strong and independent, able to take care of themselves. They should be able to do anything a man can do. Have we ever asked ourselves...why? Women and men are different biologically. We are programmed for different things. We have less muscle mass, we have boobs for breastfeeding, and we have wombs for babies to grow in. Why should we try to prove that we can do everything a man can do, when what we are able to do is so amazing? 

What I'm trying to say is, I think that having and raising children to be upstanding members of the community is just as important as being a doctor. Just as important as being a lawyer. Since we have not yet discovered the formula for immortality, having and raising the next generation of our species is crucial. 

I don't need to go to medical school in order to be a useful human being. It took me a long time and a lot of soul-searching to realize that. 


Thanks for listening. 

-D. 

A day in the life of Dawn

Hi guys! 

Dawn here. I thought I would let you guys know what my day's been like so far. 

I woke up 30 minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off and HOLY HECK-my right leg was hurting pretty bad. I had been on the treadmill for two hours the day before and the muscle in my right hip was sore. 

Important lesson: ALWAYS STRETCH. I could not find a comfortable position, either lying down or sitting. Thankfully, as I'm writing this, it's gone away but it did bug me for more than a few hours. 

My husband, (for the purposes of this blog, we'll call him Mr. Dawn) always thinks that he can get ready for work in ten minutes. In reality, it takes him around thirty. So when he started getting ready for work twenty minutes before he was supposed to be there, I was worried he was going to be late. I did everything for him that I could possibly do, such as getting his lunch ready and putting his keys and wallet on the counter in the kitchen. The rest he had to do for himself. 

He hasn't gotten home yet, so I still don't know if he was actually late or not. 

As for the housework, that took me about an hour. Since I cleaned the apartment really good last week over the course of several days, all I've had to do this week is maintenance clean. That means wiping down the counters in the kitchen, doing what little dishes have been dirtied, and putting in a load of laundry. 

This is my third week as a housewife, and I have already settled into a pattern. Since I want to be completely honest in the blog, there are some pros and cons that I've noticed so far. 

Pros: I don't think I can say just how relaxing it is getting to stay at home. My former job was incredibly stressful physically and I would always be sore and tired. Since I quit my job, I've gotten plenty of sleep and the only soreness I get now is from exercise. 

Another big pro for me is that I get to devote time to making sure everything is taken care of for Mr. Dawn. Nothing makes me happier than to make sure that Mr. Dawn has his coffee when he wakes up, his lunch packed for work and his dinner made. I love him very much and I want nothing more than to make his life as easy as possible. 

On the flip side of the coin, there have been two cons that I have noticed. 

The first is the BOREDOM. Ladies, if you become a housewife, you will need to pick up a hobby or have plenty of books to read. I often find myself with nothing to do, which I know will disappear once we have a child. Right now, this is a good opportunity for self-improvement. I can study subjects that I'm interested in and spend time trying to increase my level of fitness. 

The second con is money. Mr. Dawn and I really have to make sure that the things we are buying are absolutely necessary. I had to create a budget that we have to stick to. We don't have as much excess income as we used to, but this way, we are not wasting our money on things we don't need. 

As for right now, I am writing this blog as a way to pass the time until Mr. Dawn gets home so we can spend some time together. This is the beginning of his three day weekend, so hopefully we can plan some fun outing for the two of us. 

Thanks for listening. 

-D. 

Hello there

Hi guys! 

This is my first official post for the Domestic Dawn blog. :) 

I wanted to start by introducing myself and talking about why I decided to make this blog. So, here goes. 

Hello there, my name is Dawn. I am a 22 year old housewife to an incredible man. I met him when I was 18 and we got married when I was 20. We've been married for a year and a half now and I couldn't be happier. 

I didn't always want to be a housewife. Right up until the age of 18, I thought I was going to be a massage therapist. From 18-19, I thought I was going to be a social worker. And then from 19-21, I was convinced I was going to be a doctor. I didn't know what kind yet, but I was determined to go to medical school. You see, my husband and I had decided early on that we weren't going to have kids. We were going to be DINKS (dual-income no kids) and our goal was to get as rich as possible, while still doing what we loved. 

I have always wanted to help people. I started out giving my mother back massages because she had kidney stones, and it progressed to me giving out herbal tea to my entire neighborhood when they were sick. People from my small cul-de-sac would knock on my door when they had the sniffles and I would always be delighted to make them my special tea (it was just rosemary, crushed mint, and a bit of honey.) 

So medical school it was. That is, until my husband and I changed our minds about having kids. I had always been on the fence about it. If my husband wanted them, then we would have them and if he didn't, then I was just content to have him. As time went on and the more we talked about it, the more I wanted them. 

That's when the war started in my mind. Should I pursue medical school and have kids at the same time? When would be the best time to have them? As most people know, the process to becoming a doctor is not an easy one. There's the four years of undergrad, four years of medical school, and then depending on what specialty you choose, two to seven years of residency. By the time I got out of school, I would be 32. 

If I were to have children, what kind of time could I dedicate to them? Especially with my husband working as an engineer. I couldn't stand the idea of someone else raising my kids. As selfish as it is, I couldn't imagine someone else seeing my child's first smile, first laugh, first steps...while I was away studying or doing my clinic hours. 

I'm not saying that you can't go to medical school and have children at the same time. I know that if I put in the effort, I could do it. The thing is, I don't want to. I feel that having children that I can spend a lot of time with is more important to me right now. 

My husband and I have both decided that I am going to stay home and relax for a few months before we start trying to have children. I really want to provide the best environment for my baby, so I am going to be focusing on eating healthy and exercising. The purpose of this blog was to give me a space to talk about what I love about staying home, what I don't like, and everything in between. I also wanted to talk about any tips that I learn about cooking, cleaning and DIY projects that I happen to pick up along the way, so if that is of interest to you, stick around. The best has yet to come. 

Thanks for listening. 

-D