6 Fun Marriage Lessons From A Road Trip

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Two weeks ago, my husband and I embarked on 4-day, 1,600 miles road trip from Maryland to Texas.

My rock star man drove 98% of the way!

In my last post, I promised to share lessons and pictures from  our adventure.

Here they are; 6 fun marriage lessons from our move!

6 things i learned about marriage from a 1600 miles road trip13

1. We like each other

We sent some pictures to a friend who jokingly said she was happy with our smiles because it meant we hadn’t killed each other!

She was right! Not that we didn’t have opportunity to get on each others nerves (see #2) but we just enjoyed each others company.

It’s nice to remember how much you like your spouse!

6 things i learned about marriage from a 1600 miles road trip
It was rainy, cool and cloudy for most of the trip. Perfect weather for travel…not so great for photos 🙁

2. Disagreements are natural. Moreover, it is okay not to “feel good” after it’s over.

Being on the road and planning ahead for a new life in a new state created opportunity for misunderstanding as internal pressures and anxieties bubbled over.

Sometimes you do not know how worried you are until a small thing zips up the temperature in the car! We had a  big blow up on the road, and my man was first to apologize.

I, on the other hand, was more concerned about piercing together the pieces of the misunderstanding; if we are going to make-up, at least let us dissect the disagreement first!

Unfortunately, the approach misfired. Talk of wasting time in blues-ville, trying to untangle emotions while husband moved on!

Eventually, it occurred to me that I was the only person in that car in need of a mental dissection, of the issue. Hubby was all right, that is why he moved on!

Sometimes I want everything to feel right after we’ve smoothed out an issue.  However, I need to remember that disagreements will not always leave a good taste in my mouth, even after they are resolved.

"Tiny-house" on the move!
Saw this “tiny-house” on the move. So cute!

3. Fun marriage lessons – the desire for hearth is real

After many days of drinking from paper cups, I was done. I wanted a mug! My mug. Not a Denny’s restaurant cup or a cup from a hotel.

We were almost in San Antonio before I realized my longing was not for a mug, but for a home. The desire for hearth is real. At least for this girl.

6 things i learned about marriage from a 1600 miles road trip4
Got to see why Nashville is called music city – there was live music everywhere, including the streets.
6 things i learned about marriage from a 1600 miles road trip6
One of our many selfies!

4. I do not thank him enough

I know, not fun. We finally got to San Antonio and began house hunting. My wish list was the size of Texas, but so were my concerns, primarily because of our budget.

We found a great apartment home and though it beautiful, it was a little out of our budget. We talked it out till we were dry-mouthed!

Finally Tommy turned and asked, “Do you like this house?”

My “yes” ended the house hunt.

Sometimes I forget how awesome my husband! Until I am in the middle of a storm, and he calms it with  decisiveness.

As wives we can be so caught up and forget the ways our husbands love us. I need to remember to notice what he does and how he does it and thank him more often.

This was our view as we drove into Dallas, Texas! (The city is about 4 hours from San Antonio) See that halo-like cloud above the city? Breathtaking!
This was our view as we drove into Dallas, Texas. (Dallas is about 4 hours from San Antonio) See how the clouds part to create a halo over the city? Breathtaking!

5. We are a team

We were out shopping for household things when my husband dropped down and began studying kitchen items.

This guy, who rarely cooks, was talking about colors and choosing the design of cutlery and kitchenware!

For a split second I wanted to remind him of the small matter of his absence in the kitchen but then remembered we are a team; he has as much say, even in areas I consider my domain.

Being an acts of service girl, his kitchen engagements were rather appealing 😉

The River Walk in San Antonio
The River Walk in San Antonio
6 things i learned about marriage from a 1600 miles road trip
A street in downtown San Antonio. It’s a beautiful historical city, made famous by The Alamo.

6. He is a dude aka he is different

We had a long laugh when I asked him to unpack a box of new water glasses and he left the empty box container on the counter top, next to the glasses, instead of discarding it in the trash.

I asked him why he left the carton instead of throwing it out and he forwarded the following image to my phone.

6 things i learned about marriage from a 1600 miles road trip10

I read it twice and still didn’t get it. Maybe you’ll get it the first time. 

The convention center
The convention center

Fun marriage lessons and our new life in San Antonio

Texas in general, with its wide open spaces, rugged vegetation and stone-facade buildings reminds me of my nation of birth, Kenya; it’s beautiful.

We love the warmth and sunshine (cannot tell you how quickly our naturally dark African skin has darkened even further!) We are almost all settled in, and we are loving it.

Last Sunday, we attended our first church service and goodness, the church campuses are huge!  They don’t build them that big in the East Coast (MD).

People have been warning us to brace for the heat of summer; but we do not mind heat! Given us long hot summers instead of long frozen winters, any day!

Fun marriage lessons from a 4 day road trip! Here's what I learned about my relationship with my husband when we drove 1,600 miles

Meet ups.

I had a few people reach out from Texas the last time I announced meet-ups when we lived in Maryland. I would love to meet you!

If you live near or around San Antonio/Austin area and would like to meet with me (one-on-one) or couple-to-couple (my husband and I, you and your spouse), email me here and let me know!

If you live further out but would like to meet when I am in your area, let me know too, and I’ll put that on my calendar.

If you are wondering what meetups are all about, click here to find out!

If you have a group or church event and would like to invite me to speak, click here for my speaking details.

Your turn! Have you been on a road trip before? What was the highlight of your trip? Any fun marriage lessons from the trip? Lets chat in Comments!

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11 Comments

  1. J. Parker says:

    Loved seeing this! I’m really excited about your move. You’re now spitting distance from me (well, spitting distance in Texas terms). I love San Antonio, and I really hope you enjoy your new home. Welcome to the Lone Star State, Ngina!

    P.S. The Alamo is cool, but the other missions are really worth seeing.

    1. Thank you, Julie! Ha, Texas-speaking indeed! 🙂 But it’s definitely nearer than Maryland. Still find it surprising that the state is the size of my country, Kenya!

      We are all settled in and loving San Antonio! It’s beautiful! I’ll Google the other missions. (Right now we are quite taken by the River walk!)

  2. That was so fun to read about your trip and I LOVED the pictures! Loved Tommy’s hat in the last picture – didn’t take long to get “Texified.” 🙂

  3. Awwwww! Nice pictures! From the way you write, you have a solid level of friendship with your husband and that’s what holds it all together.

  4. Hi Ngina, I stopped over from Wedded Wednesday and I’m so glad that I did. I really like your website! What a great job you’re doing of encouraging women in Christ. I love this post! I love the pictures and hearing about how much you and your husband enjoy each other’s company. To be honest, you remind me of myself. I also love hearing about little bits and pieces of Africa (and how your African skin has already darkened). I’m not used to hearing much about that in my corner or the blogosphere. I wrote a post about my travels with my husband. Please stop over and read it when you can: http://welcomehomeministry.com/just-for-laughs/how-to-survive-long-distance-travel-with-your-spouse/

    1. Hey Tiffiney, thanks for dropping in and your kind words! I’ll check out your link!

  5. I’m soooooooo happy for you and your move! We lived in Texas (Plano/Dallas area) for five years and it was my most favorite place yet! The people in TX are wonderful. Enjoy! I’m looking forward to hearing about your new Texas life. 🙂

    1. Thank you, Lori! we are loving it! The weather is fabulous and so are people here. We love the greenery too…glad we came in spring!

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