8 days

In celebration of day 8 in the countdown, I give you:

8 Goals to be a More Excellent Wife

1. Cooking skills

OK, I can cook. I can follow a recipe like it's no body's business. It's the art of throwing things together that I can't handle. I know it takes years of practice, but where do I start?! I'm slightly overwhelmed at the thought of having to think up a week's worth of recipe's and buy food within a budget and keep my husband happy and full :) I think I can handle it though. I'm only overwhelmed because I have never had to do it before. I think I'll catch on. Grandma the Crane will totally help me though I'm sure :)

2. Rising and Shining

Since I won't have anywhere to be till 1pm when I'm in dental hygiene school, I'm sure it will be VERY tempting to sleep in. I won't. Why? Because my wonderful husband will need a well balanced breakfast before he goes off to work for the day, and a packed lunch so he won't spend our money on Micky D's. I also want to make sure that we have family scripture study and family prayer before I send him out into the world :)

3. Craftiness

I'm not very crafty. My lack of skills in the art of craft has always been a dissapointment to me. I know lots of married women who have the cutest decor in their homes and who can turn any rag-tag item at a garage sale into an awesome new addition to their decor. I can do math, but I can't decorate a room for the life of me. BUT, my goal is to make our new pad at casa de la Crane absolutely fabulous! Nick is going to need a pretty place to come home to and so will I. I will learn and hopefully be inspired by people who are a lot craftier than me, but I'm excited to get in touch with my creaftive side and see what comes out!

4. Support

I am setting the goal of being 100% supportive of my husband. No matter what calling and no matter what time he has to work or go to school. Support is HUGE. I know that Nick will support me, because he already does. I want him to know that I always have his back and will help him through anything because I love him :)

5. Temple Attendance

The temple needs to be attended more regularly (period). Our single's ward bishop told us that we should make sure we go often and that we can make it our "date night" since it's cheap :) haha. I'm changing often to every week. It shouldn't be that hard for us to go since we don't have that much to worry about, especially not in the summer. Side note: I go through the temple TOMORROW! yay :)

6. Random skills

I'm going to learn how to sew and crochet and learn how to fix sinks and cars and clothes. Random things that I think should be cultivated right from the beginnging so that by the time we have little Nick Jr's and Kristin Jr's running around I'll be quite the skilled homemaker. I want to crochet a blanket for all of my babies. It will give me something to do while I'm preggo and they'll be able to keep it and cherish it. I can't wait to be a mom... in a while :)

7. Budget

Ok, keeping a budget and learning how to take care of all of your bills is SOOO important. 70% of divorces are caused because of financial issues. also, 90% of statistics are made up on the spot...but I know that I've heard that somewhere before, I promise. I am going to STICK TO THE BUDGET. No extra shopping trips or random purchases for me. Nick and I are going to only spend what we have to so that we can save as much money as we can. This will be a challenge for me, because I've never really needed to keep a budget, but I don't think it will be hard. The important thing is to remember to ALWAYS pay tithing no matter what. I have no need to fear :)

8. Staying Cute

I have heard Nick voice before that he hates it when women dress down for their husbands and become sloppy. At that point I made a mental note to ALWAYS be cute for Nick. It will be very tempting to stay in my PJ's in the morning, but I will make sure I get dressed before I make him breakfast. It will also be tempting to dress down when I get home. I want him to feel like I think he is worth the effort I put in to making myself look cute, and that I did it for him.

so there you have it

8 Goals to be a More Excellent Wife

I hope these goals stay some place where I can constantly be reminded and not slack off. I'm sure if I start to slack, my dear friends and family will give me a good shake and set me straight :)

-N&K