Did someone ask me to marry them?

Every girl dreams of the perfect fairytale romantic proposal. Mine is certainly one I’ll never forget!

It all starts back in December or maybe it was November 2008, anyway about a year ago. I was in Sydney with 2 of my gorgeous girlfriends for a day of shopping and then more importantly the Kylie Concert!

John (other half) was having a day out on the yachts with the cricket boys. So of course beers + cricket boys = drunken boys having a good time at the yacht club after a day’s sailing!

It was approaching late afternoon on the Saturday, the girls and I were hanging out in Sydney and I think it was safe to say the boys back in Newcastle were more than merry. Out of nowhere I started getting some text messages and then phone calls from people offering me congratulations on my engagement. Uh? I thought, what engagement, no one had asked me to marry them.

Are you a good wife?!

If someone were to ask my husband ‘is Ami a good wife’ I honestly have no idea what he would say! While I can’t wait to be a mum, and essentially a ‘housewife’ I don’t think I fit the description of what would be perceived as a good wife.

Yesterday a friend of mine alerted me to an article: How to be a good wife. After the reading the title my first reaction Pfft, this is going to be interesting. Then all of a sudden I thought I was back in the 1950s. Here’s some of what the article had to say:

Still, in an age in which women are remaining single later and later into their lives, it seems many women who I come across who are in their mid-30s, are now suddenly thinking that there’s an urgency to marry. Yet they fear they have no idea how to conduct themselves as “good wife material”.

“He’ll never want to marry someone like me … not if I don’t change,” one recently said to me. When I told her that a man should like her for all her quirks and foibles, she was quick to dismiss my opinion.

“Are you kidding? With so many younger, hotter women available, the person who possesses the most ‘wife material’ will win.”

While I’m not entirely sure I agree with her, my mother agrees wholeheartedly. After I recently cancelled an arrangement with her (it was due to a media commitment, not my dating schedule), she said that my flightiness proved I was “selfish and spoilt”, adding that “no man will want to marry a person like that”. Hmph.

Maybe I’d better listen to Watson’s suggestions of what “good wife material” consists of, which includes doing the following:

* Make him a priority. Not the kids. Not your exercise routine. Him.
* Have sex. Often and regularly, despite how tired you are, how late you had to stay at work or how much more appealing a Pilates class or glass of wine with a girlfriend sounds instead.
* Beware of resentment. You chose to marry the dude. You should be able to live with that decision.
* Be kind and supportive. That includes actually admitting when you’re wrong.

You can read the whole article HERE.

I mean seriously, make him a priority, not the kids. Yadda, yadda, yadda, give me a break! I didn’t sign up for a 1950s marriage, I signed up for a partnership. A partnership that requires give and take from BOTH partners. I rarely cook. Ok, I’ve cooked 3 dinners in 2 years. So really ok, I don’t cook. I do keep on top of the washing, and most of the time I keep the kitchen clean, but the rest of it is about working together to have a happy home and a happy life. And if hubby thinks for one minute that he isn’t going to have to change a stinky nappy, then he’s for a rude shock!

What also bothers me about this article, is the modern day woman who still believes that no one will want to marry her if she doesn’t fit the description or stereotype as a good wife. You can easily be yourself and have lovely quirks such as, ahem, not cooking, and still make a wonderful wife.

So let’s get personal! Do you think you’re a good wife?! Whatever that means!

Say cheese!

So I brain dumped a while back on some wedding words of wisdom. And while I thought I was probably done, it turns out I’m not! So today my friends I’m going to impart some more wonderful words of wedding wisdom on you. Or more like just my opinion!

I’ve always loved photos. Always had lots of pics around the house and always taken 500 happy snaps when 50 probably could’ve done it. So when we got engaged at the beginning of the year there was absolutely NO question that I would happily pay good money for a photographer.

This attitude was met with mixed reactions, ranging from ‘yes, definitely fork out for a good photographer’, and ‘why waste that much money, that’s crazy’. But my mind was made up. If we were presented with crap wedding photos, I would be DEVASTATED. Actually devastated would have been an understatement.

So, a friend of ours mentioned a photographer that they had tried to get for their wedding but he wasn’t available at the time. We quickly jumped onto his website, fell in love with his pics, rang, secured our date, all before we had even met him. A quick meet and greet and a flick through his albums and I was convinced we’d made the right decision.