It doesn’t have to be a rocky road

You’ll understand the photo in a minute. Read on…

A while ago I read a book titled “Strangling Your Husband Is NOT an Option,” by Merrilee Browne Boyack. Now before you freak out about the title let me qualify it with this: It really should be titled “How to be the Awesomest Wife", or “How to be the kind of wife your husband will brag to all his friends about!”  The book cover describes it as “A Practical Guide to Dramatically Improving Your Marriage.”

It is an awesome, helpful, enlightening and smart book. There are so many good points, I pretty much highlighted every page. I think I need to share more about what I learned/realized/was inspired by and what I’ve changed/started doing in my own marriage to make it a better one (not that it was bad before.) So, I may be mentioning this book again in future posts—hope you don’t mind.

On the back cover it describes, “This fun and conversational book will help women everywhere take the first steps toward a better marriage and happier relationships.”

Some of my favorite chapters include five do’s and don’ts of wifehood, chapters about understanding men, and chapters about being and becoming a smart, fun-living wife.

One of the nuggets I took away from this nugget filled book was a recommendation to do something special for your spouse every day. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or time consuming. But it needs to be something that will make your husband feel loved, appreciated, thought of, or happy. The author says, “Special little things can make a world of difference.” She suggest giving him treats. I can do treats! Who doesn’t love treats? They can be edible or not. Treats can mean a lot of things (wink).

I’ve tried to incorporate this little “treat” idea into my marriage. Looking for special, little things or acts that I know my husband would like, and that I feel good doing or making for him.

And now we come to the point (and picture portion) of this post…

Well, my husband LOVES munchies and snacks. I had noticed he would snack on a handful of almonds almost immediately after coming home from work and then he would grab a few mini marshmallows too.  (He enjoys cupboard time—especially at his mom’s house.)

So, I decided to make him a trail mix of sorts by combining the almonds, marshmallows, and of course chocolate chips because what’s a trail mix without chocolate.

I layer the marshmallows, chocolate chips, and almonds in a large (easy access) container.

Then I stir them all up. And pop a few of the fly away pieces in my mouth.

A perfect balance of flavors and textures in one handful.

Then I lovingly place the container on the cupboard shelf, next to more of his (and the boys’) favorite snacks—awaiting his return home from a hard days work.

Sure enough, what was the first thing he grabbed (other then a kiss from me) when he walked into the kitchen after getting home? The freshly mixed trail mix. He loves it, as I’m sure you can tell.

Once while collecting a handful of this mix he said, “It’s like Rocky Road ice cream without the ice cream.” Rocky Road ice cream is his favorite :)

In light of the inspiration to making this “treat” for my husband, and the description he gave it, I am calling it my “It doesn’t have to be a Rocky Road Trail Mix.”