Well, y’all, fire season is officially upon us. Wildland Man just got home from a long detail away and I’ve been hearing from other fire wives out there seeking encouragement in the trenches.
So, I thought this would be a good time to gather up all the wildland fire resources here on the blog into one neat and tidy, little blog post. That way any new wildland fire wives seeking connection and support for this fire life we live will have everything in one spot.
We are quickly winding down our blogiversary series here at CWC. The month of March will kickoff a whole new series for y’all, but I’ll be getting to that a little later on.
I’ve been having so much fun with this series; I hope y’all are enjoying it as much as I am! I have thoroughly appreciated taking a look back at the history behind CWC, the story of our launch, and sharing some lessons learned over the past year, as well as a few of my favorite blogs to boot.
I still can’t believe it’s been one year. The time has gone by so fast. I feel like we’ve covered much ground over the past year, yet I feel like I have even more to share!
Country Wife Chronicles celebrates country roads, less is more, and a wildfire marriage.
I hope that you have found a connection here at CWC. That you have been able to find your likeness in the Country Wife.
Maybe we share the same joys and simple pleasures of living the country life. Perhaps you are a fellow fire wife seeking out another soul who just “gets it.” Maybe you relish the quiet solitude of a still country morning. Or maybe you just follow along because you have a personal relationship to me and you don’t mind getting a new recipe now and again.
As I’ve shared with you before, there are many ups and downs to living this wildfire life. These ups and downs tend to land in a particular season of this lifestyle…the downer season is usually fire season, although there are perks to this time of the year as well. But, oh the off-season…Wildland Man makes it home in time for dinner (most nights), we can plan trips and time alone, projects and to-do lists get crossed off and completed, life returns to some sense of normalcy.
Wow, I mean, is it just me, or did the past four weeks just fly by? I can’t believe we are here at Week 4 of the Wife on Fire Challenge.
How have you been doing? Are you surprised by the reality of an intentional marriage? Would you claim to be a Wife on Fire by now?
Regardless of whether or not you’ve breezed through the past four weeks or if you’ve struggled to get each week’s task accomplished, you made it. You have reached the final week of the Wife on Fire Challenge. Which, I think, is cause for celebration!
Woot! Woot! If you started with the Wife on Fire Challenge two weeks ago, you have officially made it to the halfway point!
If you are just reading this post and you’re new to Country Wife Chronicles or you have just missed a few weeks of updates, please check out the first two posts of this series here:
In Week 1, I took some time to explain this idea that I hatched about bonding together to be better wives and encouraging one another in the process. It’s all about choosing intentional marriage and making the effort.
What does it mean to be a Wife on Fire?
At face value, directly from Google, here’s what you get:
Ok, that’s good, there’s our English lesson for the day.
But what does that mean in the context of marriage?
Do me a favor. Stop for a moment and think about the vows you said on your wedding day. Were they traditional vows? Did you write your own vows? Do you remember them?
What did you promise?
Do you still mean it? Do you still practice it? Do you live out these promises in your marriage today?
Let me take it a step further…
…hold up, I know what you are thinking.
“Well, it’s not like my husband lives them out either.”
“This is just how marriage looks after awhile.”
These past few weeks here at Country Wife Chronicles have been all about marriage. Strengthening Your Marriage, specifically.
Today, I’m super excited to be able to share a little resource with you that I’ve created. I’m sharing a template for a DIY Marriage Retreat designed to allow you to get away for a weekend and strengthen your marriage with intentionality.
But first, let me give you an idea as to what exactly a Marriage Retreat is.
One thing I know for sure. Our marriage is nothing, if not intentional. Day in and day out, we choose to make it a priority.
Even on the days I really don’t want to.
Even on the days I’d rather just be lazy about it.
Wildland Man and I decided early on in our relationship that marriage would take work and that it would require effort to keep the flame burning bright.
I’m a believer that a marriage in a not-so-great place can be turned around with a single act of kindness by one person. It has to start somewhere, somehow. What is there to lose by trying?