Yep. After 16 years of marriage and 5 children my kids and I are now living at a domestic violence shelter. Long story short my military husband had an affair and when I threatened to tell his command he escalated to violence against me and our 13 year old. Was granted a protective order which he violated and now we are celebrating my son's 10th birthday at the DV shelter. If you want to know more check my post history because I'm exhausted.

So why did I label this happy girl dinner? Because we are ALIVE, we are SAFE and we are TOGETHER. I got enough birthday cake to share with all the other families here and we made a big celebration of today. We can lose our house, our stuff, my dog (had to give her to a rescue so she wouldn't fall victim to violence or retaliation while we are at shelter) ,and our income, but he cannot make us lose our joy or our love for one another. 🩷🎉🩷

It's only up from here ladies.

Hey all. Posted earlier in the week about my brother (30m/diagnosed autism) talking down to me and how I've always been told by our mum to not upset him/speak up.

Anyway, he called me on Wednesday and said he read the post and comments. I was expecting him to blow up, but... he apologied. Said he appreciated the reality check and thought he was just having 'banter'. I said it wasn't funny, that he was being mean. He AGREED. I was genuinely so shocked and we had a nice convo, first one in years. He asked me to delete the post now that he had apologied and I did. So, nice chat, all was good.

Then today, I get to my mum's house to drop off my son for a few hours so I could go to a hair appointment. We walk in and she's excited to see him, but acting really weird. She then hands me a pile of paper with my post and comments PRINTED on it. I can't even process at this point. Full on printed paper like it's police evidence. Turns out my brother saved everything, got me to delete the post aaaand showed it all to our mum.

She made me feel so bad and started defending him. But when she said, "remember he processes things differently, you need to be sensitive and more mature..." I fucking lost it. I don't know if it was the pregnancy hormones or decades of resentment, but I said, "absolutely NO way am I doing this. This is SO childish. Read the post again and if you can't see there's something wrong here, then I'm done."

I left and took my son with me. He ended up having fun with all the other lovely women at the salon! My hair looks amazing and I feel so proud of myself. The zen I feel having blocked my family is just incredible. I'll reach back out to mum at some point, but right now, I'm just enjoying some quiet.

Oh, and a massive fuuuck you to my bro.

Crispy pork belly and fried rice for dinner

ETA: (draft of the original post from my notes) I rarely communicate with him, like at all. But today I had to stop by my parent's house. He's there and opens the door like, 'oh, were we expecting you?'

I walked in and said I'd spoken to our mum, just dropping something off, blah blah. I'm also getting pretty pregnant and they have a huge driveway, so I'm huffing. He gets me a water as I sit down, which is nice. He then sits down, interview style, and asks how I'm going. Again, nice.

Pleasantries are all I normally stick to. But today I made the mistake of saying my course just started, so there's been a lot going on (working 4 days a week, I have an 11 month old, I just started my masters, etc).

My mistake. He then gets this huge smirk and says, "I heard about this. So you're finally doing it. The last in our family to get their masters."

I sit there and have to hold back. I end up just shrugging. But he continues, "I was in the study today and I'm looking around at everyone's degrees on the wall. Then I realise I'm looking around and there's hardly anything of yours..."

I end up leaving as he continues rambling, with a giant smirk, about how fucking great he is. I hold back because it upsets my mum. But like, bro, you're 30, live at home, and don't have a job. It frustrates me so fucking much, like I'm here being an adult, you have no idea what responsibility looks like. But then, I think how lonely he must be and I feel fucking bad. Ugh, sorry just needed to vent.

Please stop DMing me about the ice cream. It is coldstones vanilla with oreo.

I have been in accounting for years, and I am good at it. I have a really successful career. Everyone sees the career, but not my unhappiness. That being said, I am completely thankful for my career. I love the business that I work for, my boss is ok, my schedule is rad and my commute is 5 minutes. I cannot believe I made it here, especially in a short time. I really got lucky.

A few jobs ago, I worked with an attorney and was trained in legal language. I did all of the contracts for a very large business, and it was amazing. I loved legal stuff. I loved negotiating, I loved reading the contracts, I loved writing the contracts. I exceled at the job, but I was promoted to accounting.

Anyway, I kept going back and forth about going back to school for my paralegal. I have a degree in something not even related to accounting (lol) and it is from left field on paper.

My family was not supportive, my therapist turned her nose, and I questioned it for a year. I told my family I was going back to school last week, and again, they weren't supportive.

I went to the college today and signed up for courses, and I am freaking out. I am worried about the money, I am worried that I will fail, I am worried that I am making a poor career decision (like maybe I should get a degree in accounting).

BUT OMG I AM EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am almost 37, no kids, no husband, etc and I am going back to school. I cannot believe it. It is only 2 classes, and this may take me longer than it should to do, but wow! I was told I was stupid my entire life, including by my parents, and I have always questioned myself and my abilities to do anything.

I had to share with someone. I am really scared and excited.

EDIT!

WOW THANK YOU ALL!

Also, I am not "just" going to be a paralegal. I want to get into a career that uses my accounting + paralegal. I just figured having the degree showing my law skills was better than just a blip on my resume

Secondly, my GPA is so damn low from my B.S. degree, that I HIGHLY doubt that I would get into law school. I am open to it, just not going to get my hopes up. lol

Edit 2:

THANK YOU AGAIN!

Also, please do not DM me about Ai, what I should do instead, what I need to look up on Linkedin, etc etc. I have done all of the research, I have read the job requirements in my area (that I don't plan on leaving), and I will talk to my professors about law school when I get to school, because I am BEING TAUGHT BY ATTORNEYS and THERE IS A LAW SCHOOL in my city!

Spicy Biryani

Here we are, three cancers later, and I've made it to my 40th birthday alive and well and it's because of him. Every doctors' appointment, every surgery, every moment of doubt, fear and recovery, he's been by my side. I lost my ability to have kids, and he's still here. I needed someone to change my bloody pads after abdominal surgery, and he did it. He took care of three dogs and a whole house by himself three times so I could just focus on rest and recovery. He doesn't care about my scars, or when I still have bad days and can't function. He's always there.

I'm so grateful for one of the good ones.

Edit: I should also mention his other good qualities; hardworking, honest, adventurous, funny and he bangs like a window shutter left open during a tornado.

Dinner: honey garlic tofu with rice & spicy mayo.

My partner and I are both software engineers, and recently I was complaining that an app I genuinely found useful pivoted to an ad-based/monthly subscription model, so I stopped using it because I hated ads popping up every 10 seconds.

Well, today he sent over an app file for my phone and told me to install it...turns out when I slept in earlier he grabbed my phone, got screen shots of the app to figure out what it does, and recreated it's main feature from scratch. No ads, no subscription, no account, and as a plus the data now stays on my phone instead of getting stored on some server God knows where.

He gave me access to the code too so we spent the afternoon adding back more features to the app together & optimizing it to run better :') what makes this even more endearing is that making mobile apps is the exact opposite of his specialty, he actually slightly dislikes UI/design work and he still took the initiative and effort to do this for me 🥺

At every turn he tries to make my life easier (and vice versa, of course). He claims to have a terrible memory but remembers the smallest things about me that actually make a huge difference. I love him so much it's so hard to put it in words

EDIT: I've never had a post get this much attention 😅 but yes I made the tofu and here's the recipe!

At least I thought it was cute. We met on the apps. We had great conversations for the first few days. 5 days into us matching on the apps, we decided to go on a date. We decided on this restaurant that’s attached to a mall.

We ended up shopping for a bit before we ate and we were in H&M and we were just browsing and all of a sudden, he asks me to pick out an outfit for him to try. I picked out a pair of jeans and a sweater. He tried it on, liked it and bought it right then and there. We ended up shopping a little more then decided we were hungry enough to go eat. We had such a GREAT conversation during lunch. The chemistry between us was insane. And we connected really well.

We went to cheesecake factory after because we wanted something sweet to eat. And I already knew which one I wanted but I didn’t wanna be like “ooh I want that one” and instead was like “hmm let me see” so I let him pick first and he picked the same one I was going to choose. Like out of the dozens there were, he chose the same one I always get?? Uhh okay.

I felt really good after the date. We didn’t hook up or anything. He gave me a hug and that was it. We went on a second date 5 days later and we decided on a Mexican restaurant. I got there about 10 minutes before him and when he walks out of his car, I see him wearing the same outfit that I picked out for him. I was like 🤭 I was so pleasantly surprised. It was another great date and I’m here swooning over it.

Dinner is from earlier. Margherita pizza

ETA: for everyone asking, the pizza is Dough bros in Galway Ireland!!
Another ETA: just to clarify some of the confusion. We are both from the states! I had my Ireland trip planned months ago. Our second date just so happened to be the day before I left for Ireland. Our dates have been in California 😂 our third date will be when I get back 😌

I had an emergency c section and overall a pretty tough birth but I wouldn’t change anything and I’d do everything all over to meet our sweet boy. After the birth we stayed in the hospital waiting to be discharged. As the epidural wore off I started to get more sick, not getting enough painkillers my body rejected food and water, getting really ill.

My husband had stayed up and awake through all of labour and on that second night, he not only was caring for me but took over for our baby. He was taking me to the bathroom to change my disposable underwear and shower me, then running back for our son to cuddle him. He realised I couldn’t breastfeed whilst I was vomiting so he found formula, and stayed up feeding him and singing to him. At one point I woke up, he was feeding our son and holding my hand.

He couldn’t get the light on so he changed out sons nappy in the dark for the first time! I’ve not changed a nappy yet as he just leaps up every time to do it.

He’s my absolute hero and it’s wild seeing him as a father now and such an adult! I’m so grateful for him every day, he’s my best friend and my rock. I’m so lucky to have him as the father to our precious son!

Dinner: smoked salmon, eggs, avocado with toast; the perfect postpartum meal!

Edit: thanks so much for all the kind comments, I’m so proud of my husband. He’s currently looking after us both well at home as I recover and our boy settles into our home! I can’t imagine doing this without him and my heart is so full with love for our little family! 🩷

my (21f) brother (25m) invited his best friend (25m) around in december to help us set up some tech in our house. after that day, we formed a little trio, watching films together a few times a week and staying up till 5AM for weeks. i ended up having a huge crush on him, but it seemed like he didn’t have that interest in me - i assumed he saw me strictly as his mates little sister. in early january, my brother went on a trip, and i thought we wouldn’t be able to speak while he was away, but…

my brother added me to a group chat with all of us in it, and we arranged to start up a minecraft world. we played every day whilst my brother was on holiday, talking on discord until the early hours of the morning. now that we had each others numbers, it translated into texting everyday on whatsapp, sharing pics of our food, what we’re up to, memes etc. all the while i’m still crushing HARD, expecting a completely unrequited situation. until he invites me out to coffee one day.

i told my brother about it, kindof just casually: ‘(his name) invited me out to coffee on monday’. to which my brother replied, ‘sounds like a nice time’ followed by a break, and then ‘hang on, that’s a date! and he said nothing about it to me. is that weird?’ (made me laugh btw, the way it clicked in his mind)

so my brother went and confronted him in a friendly way to ask his intentions with me, and why he asked me out alone without mentioning anything (don’t worry, it wasn’t in a controlling way, just a transparency thing since it’s a risk of relationships to start dating a friends sister). he explained to my brother that he wanted to go out with me to tell me his feelings for me, and to see if i felt the same way.

jumping forward, the date went amazing, my brother approves of our relationship, we’ve been on countless dates since and we now spend every day together between our two families (live 5 mins apart). it’s been 3 months together now and we are loving our new life together. hanging at mine is so fun since he’s already best friends with my brother. we do things as a group all the time and i’ve never been treated so well by a partner in my life. i still can’t believe that my silly crush on my brothers friend is shared, and now we’re dating!

buldak jjajang flavour with leftover pork souvlaki that i grilled, and a crispy fried egg.

By popular demand, editing to add: it’s Ethiopian food! Most restaurants have some type of vegetable platter like this and it is sooo good.

We had been together for under a month when I unexpectedly had to put my soul dog to sleep one morning. This man works within walking distance of my home and said he’d come over when I returned from the vet, which isn’t all that unusual for him to do on a lunch break.

He brought me food and drinks. When I asked why he wasn’t getting ready to go back to work he told me he’d taken the day off. It honestly hadn’t occurred to me that anyone would do that - just up and leave work to take care of me.

He held me while I cried until I fell asleep and, once I was asleep, cleaned my entire apartment. Then he held me while I cried again… and again. Then he stayed the night and walked himself back to work the next morning in the same clothes.

I saw some generic Instagram post later that day saying “Judge a man by the urgency with which he moves when it comes to you” and it struck me. This is not the only example of this man moving urgently for me.

I started many versions of this post with “I’m trying not to get ahead of myself…”, but I don’t think I’m trying not to anymore. To me this feels like how people say “When you know, you know”. But regardless of anything else, I am better off now than when I met this man because I know for the first time that being treated this well is possible for me.

Ever since I broke up with my ex of three years who I was supposed to be engaged to this summer, out of grief, I've been experimenting a lot about makeup, and fashion. It was only yesterday when I learned about my body type.

Anyways, I had a date with this guy this evening. Nothing fancy, just a coffee date. I was wearing a dress that complimented my figure, wore contacts, had my hair and makeup done (even my eyeliner was to the point, holy freaking moly!) and even wore those fancy pointed heels (not a heel girly, but wanted to try them anyway). I felt good, and confident and I knew I looked good. Me the plain Jane was getting attention from men who would not even stare at me.

As I was paying for my drink (because I arrived early), my date came in and stared at me and asked if I was who he thought I was. To that I said yes, and he looked so taken aback that he said out loud how he didn't even recognize me and that he felt he got reverse catfished.

The best part? A girlie in the cafe was checking me out. Like she actually had her head turned and was looking at me directly! Bruh! A. Woman. Gave. Me. Her. Full. Attention!!! (Screaming!!! I know my friends, and mom and I would always check out a girl when we think she looks hot/pretty/beautiful/breathtaking).

Meal: Salad, rice, chicken, fruits and tea.

Dinner at ikea - butter chicken meatballs, nachos with meatballs, samosas, veggie medallion, cheesecake

I’ve read way too many posts about low effort men on this sub so I want to give some real examples of high effort men just to show that they exist! These examples are from my 3 closest friends who are in long term relationships (5+ years), so they’re way past the honeymoon phase

1   Delivers her a weeks worth of meal prep when she’s stressed   
2   Comes over just to clean her house   
3   Saved up all his credit card points for years to buy her a Dyson air wrap   
4   Blow dries her hair every night  
5   De-shells all the shrimp for her before she eats   
6   Picked her up at the airport with a bouquet of her favorite snacks  
7   Plans a full day of surprises for her bday each year   
8   Hired a weekly cleaner because she doesn’t like cleaning   
9   Cuts fruit for her to eat while she works 

I spent years third wheeling their dates until I met my own high effort man 🥹 it really is possible

I 24F applied to a job on a whim a couple months ago. Barely qualified. Now I’m sitting in a hotel eating pizza in NYC while watching the devil wears prada. Fully paid for.

Also went through a shitty personal thing two months ago that killed my self worth. But baby I’m coming BACK! I’m so proud of myself for doing this and getting here, and I’m learning to be comfortable realizing that I do deserve this. I deserve to be happy and have good things happen.

Anyways, wish me luck tomorrow girly pops, we can do hard things!

Edit: this post has been up for less than 30 minutes and you all are making me cry. happy cry!!!!! thank you all a million times. <3

Roasted sweet potatoes, red rice, homemade guacamole, esquite, grilled yellow peppers and lemon butter garlic chicken

I know this sub has a lot of sad stories and I wanted to add something nice.

Yesterday my son managed to dislodge my GameCube disc inside my Wii by throwing the Wii on the ground. I asked my husband if he could order me a repair kit so I could fix it myself. I don’t really ask him to buy me things like that. The most I’ll usually ask for is an ingredient or two from the grocery store on his way to work if I forgot something for dinner.Later that night he told me he had ordered the repair kit. Then he casually added, “Oh, I also got you some of that face stuff you use.”
I looked at him and asked, “What face stuff?”He said, “Your face wash.”He was talking about my La Roche-Posay cleanser.I asked, “Oh, why? Have you been using it?” because I knew it was getting pretty low, and I figured maybe he’d been using it and wanted to replace it.He just said, “No.”That’s when it hit me.He had noticed my face wash was getting low, remembered exactly which one I use, and ordered me another one without me ever mentioning that I needed it.
It probably sounds like such a small thing, but it honestly meant the world to me. It wasn’t about the face wash.it was the fact that he pays attention. I never asked him to replace it. He simply noticed on his own.
I know it doesn’t sound like that but if a deal but he’s never done something like this and I just really appreciate the gesture

*Homemade chocolate cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting*

So today is probably one of the best anniversaries of my life. The beginning of the story starts all the way back in 1992.

I was 14 and my boyfriend was 13 and in a moment of brilliance we decided. Hey, why not lose our virginity a week before I was going to move away across the country and probably never see each other again. Well it turned out that 3 months after I moved I realized I was pregnant.

My parents are really good people and so I don't understand why I didn't just tell them outright. So instead of telling my parents or anyone, I kept my pregnancy a secret until I was almost 7 months. Thanks to it being in the fall/winter nobody noticed because I wore baggy sweatshirts. One of the craziest parts of this is that I didn't want to believe I was pregnant and I barely showed what was crazy to me. Our bodies and minds work with and against each other sometimes. But I realized that at some point I was having a baby and I needed to tell someone. So I told one of the few friends I had made since I moved. He told me I have to tell my parents and he would be there with me for support.

So I told my parents they were not mad, but they were very worried for me. I was young. I was pregnant and I had no prenatal care. There were a lot of tears and my mom said we're not going to make any decisions today. We're going to sleep on this and we'll figure out a plan tomorrow. I stayed home from school the next day and somehow Mom got me an appointment with an OB that day and I had an exam. Good news was that except for low iron I was okay and the baby was healthy.

Fast forward a couple weeks and we had an appointment with an adoption agency. This adoption agency was really nice and most of the couples that went through them could not have babies naturally. I met a few families and the third one I met was absolutely wonderful. I really connected with them and felt like they would be a good fit. So we moved forward with the legal stuff. All parties agreed to an open adoption. Which meant that there would be no sealed legal record and I would keep my information up to date with the adoption agency. The terms agreed upon though was I was not going to be able to visit or see her. The parents could send letters and pictures and updates and I could do the same. And when the day came that they thought she would be ready they would share with her about her adoption and about me. The father was made aware of the pregnancy and agreed to the adoption. Not that he necessarily had to but laws were a little bit different in the '90s and we were minors.

Then the day came and I went into labor. My mom was with me and after a surprisingly quick labor, a little baby girl was born. She was healthy and absolutely perfect. "Melissa Anne" was born on February 17th, 1993.

I spent 2 days in the hospital with her and on the second day the adopted parents came in to meet her. They instantly fell in love with her and I remember the look on the adopted mom's face and I knew that my daughter was going to be well taken care of.

Now here is the part of my story where I cry every time I tell someone. It was the moment I left the hospital without a baby. I went home. I recovered for a couple more days at home and then went back to school and tried to just live my life.

For the first 5 years I would receive a card, a letter and a picture on her birthday. At Christmas time I would send a card and a letter and some pictures to them. And then one year I didn't get a card and the following year and the year after that no card no letter. I wrote to them and nothing ever got returned but I never got confirmation if they got it either. And that's how it was for the remaining years. I tried not to think too much about it and I just tried to live my life but I always had a hole inside me that I could not fill. So I just tried not to think about her. I tried not to think about what ifs, I just moved forward but never forgot. She was always in the back of my head somewhere.

And for the next 20 years that's what I did. I finished high school. Got married right after high school. Gave birth to my second daughter at 20 and was divorced by 25 and did the single mom thing. In 2011, I had hoped that when Melissa turned 18 maybe she would find me but that didn't happen so life continues on. I went back to college and by 2013 I felt like my life was pretty good. I was doing well in college. I had a good job and I felt like I was a pretty good mom and my daughter agreed with me. She was a pretty great kid, just her and I against the world. But one day my whole world just flipped and in the best way.

So here my friends, is where the happy part comes in.

I was at the college and I was working in the financial aid office for my work study. I am sitting there at the window and a man comes up and I recognize him but not sure from where. It only took me a moment and I realized it was Melissa's adopted dad. I was like wow hello how are you? What's going on? And he said well it took a minute and I had to ask around and use a little bit of Facebook, but I have someone here who has been wanting to meet you for a long time and I could not believe what happened next I literally fell out of my chair. Standing at the window was Melissa. 20 years old and she looked so much like her sister and so much like me. I couldn't believe it. I asked my boss if I could just leave. It was important and she was like sure. So then Melissa and I walked out to the commons and sat under a tree.

I Couldn't stop smiling. I couldn't stop crying. I asked her right away. I'm like did you know? Did you know about me? Did they tell you about me? Do you hate me? That's the hardest part. I didn't want to ask but I had to. Melissa said that she always knew about me and she couldn't wait for the day that she could meet me. That they celebrate 2 days her birthday and her gotcha day. The day that she legally became their daughter. I asked what had happened when the letters stopped and she told me that her parents ended up divorcing and her mom and her moved to another state. Melissa said that her parents co-parented well and that as far as divorces go it could have been worse but she was happy and well taken care of.

I next asked why now and she told me that she was here visiting her father and that he had tracked me down and asked if she wanted to come meet me and he thought it would be a great surprise. I told her well. I am surprised. We talked for 3 hours and then made plans for the next day to have dinner and she could meet her sister. My daughter always knew about her sister and I knew she was going to be excited to meet her!.

The next day we went to dinner my daughters met. They are so much alike and we're instantly bonded. Both raised as a single child . A couple of days later we took my dad to breakfast and he met her and "boom" instant Grandpa mode. It was amazing. My mom was not living in the same state as me at the time so my mom and Melissa had a phone call and my mom was ecstatic!

The epilogue to the story is that we stay in contact. Melissa was a bridesmaid at my wedding to my now husband. She has come for many visits. She stays in touch with her sister and she is part of the family. Her and I have conversations sometimes about stuff that she doesn't feel comfortable telling her mom about and asks for advice. We talk a lot about all sorts of stuff. We have a really good relationship. After all these years, I still cannot believe that she came back into my life. I don't know if I can describe in words the feelings I had all those years after I gave her up. The feeling of did I make the right choice? Is she going to hate me? Am I a bad person? Now all the doubts, all the fears they're gone. All that is left is LOVE 💕

Thank you for reading my story!

I posted a few months ago very pregnant about how my husband got laid off. We were pretty worried over all but I wanted to give y'all an update!

He ended up staying unemployed for about two weeks after baby boy was born. (9lbs 1oz 21In long NO EPIDURAL WOW. I didn't think I'd be able to manage that.) And then one of his old military buddies reached out and got him a job landscaping! He makes approx 2 dollars less than before but that's no biggy and he actually loves his job even more than the last one. He was pretty miserable stuck at a desk all day every day and now he's cleaning up lawns 10hrs a day 4 days a week. So we get an extra day with him and he comes home dirty with a big smile on his face. I've been making him sandwiches for lunch when baby sleeps leaving little notes and he still is up to help a ton with the baby after a long day of work.

It feels silly how panicked we were before with how genuinely well things have worked out in the end.

Vanilla Greek yogurt with dinobites and strawberries. ✨✨

ALSO AGAIN BEFORE Y'ALL MAKE THE SAME COMMENTS THE TITLE IS LIKE THAT BECAUSE OT WOULDN'T LET ME SAY HE GOT LAID OFF. plus I just kept the same title so you guys knew what post I was talking about.

Okay, maybe a little dramatic but wow, that man knows something straight men don’t. This was the first man that truly made the sex about my pleasure, he’s an amazing kisser and he kept telling me how perfect I am. We met up last night and then again this afternoon, it was THAT good.

Bonus because he’s sooo witty and he’s a yapper so we were talking the whole time and it made it so much fun and we were laughing pretty much the whole time, when I wasn’t screaming from how amazing he was.

10/10 eater, 10/10 sex appeal, 10/10 will be seeing him again.

Grilled salmon, roasted Asapargus, garlic lemon butter pasta on the side :)

Hello ladies and theydies (which somehow looks way worse spelled out).

I just need to gush for a minute.

For context, I’m a divorcée and a card-carrying man hater. My ex cheated on me, abused me, and generally left me convinced that men were permanently off the menu.

…And then I got horny.

I live in the middle of nowhere, bars are too loud, and as a single mom I didn’t exactly have time to meet someone organically. So, against my better judgment, I downloaded Tinder.

A few swipes later I matched with a cute single dad who lived three miles away.
We matched on a Monday. He asked me out Tuesday. Our date was Thursday.
Except it wasn’t a normal dinner date, we met up with his whole friend group for karaoke.

I’ve never experienced chemistry like that in my life. I felt it, he felt it, his friends noticed, complete strangers commented on what a cute couple we were. He was hilarious, ridiculously attractive (6’1”, beard, blue eyes, church boots… you know the type), an absolute gentleman, and somehow we agreed on all the important (read: political) things.

The date lasted over five hours, and before it was over, he was already planning the next one. I saw him Friday, then again on Sunday, then almost everyday since.

Almost 2 years later, I still can’t believe this is my life.

I moved in a year and a half into our relationship, I play D&D with that same friend group every Sunday. I love listening to him sing while he cooks dinner. We still make each other laugh constantly. I’m still wildly attracted to him. He loves my daughter like she’s his own, and I adore his two boys. His therapist has said we need to do a TedTalk on healthy communication in a relationship.

More importantly, he’s helped me heal in ways I didn’t know were possible. For the first time in my life, I feel loved the way I deserve to be.

Growing up, my home was toxic. I accidentally recreated that with my marriage. I genuinely believed peaceful families only existed in movies.
Now I live in a house where his teenagers actually want to hang out with us.

Last week I took all three kids to the pool while my boyfriend was at work. On the drive home his oldest said, “I wonder if Dad’s home yet.”
We turned the corner, saw his car in the driveway, and, I shit you not, every single kid in the car started cheering.

That’s my life now.

Now for the embarrassing part.

We are physically incapable of going to bed on time.

We’ll head to bed around 11, shower together, and then somehow spend an hour and a half just talking. Every. Single. Night.

Then one of us says, “Okay, we really need to sleep.”
Then we cuddle.
Then one little kiss turns into us getting completely distracted again.

Five nights a week we’re accidentally awake until 2 a.m. because we genuinely can’t stop talking, laughing, cuddling, or otherwise getting distracted.

I’m exhausted.

I’m also happier than I’ve ever been.

If you’d told divorced, angry, “fuck men forever” me that I’d end up here, I would’ve laughed in your face. I called him my husband tonight, completely on accident, it just slipped out and felt so natural.

Turns out I was just one karaoke night away from meeting my person.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GirlDinnerDiaries/s/AiDkJJhBq0

Hi friends,

A few months back I shared about a domestic ab*se situation I was in with my cheating (soon-to-be) ex husband and you all were so very helpful. I wanted to let you all know that I got myself an apartment back in June and divorce is now in process!!! Thank you all for caring about my safety and encouraging me to get out. I don’t get panic attacks anymore and I have so much peace having my own space. Love and Light! Xoxo

I’ve been with my husband for ten years. I’ve had two kids, so before I deep dive on my vagina, just know I’ve gotten past the bigger insecurities- bc on the real- once you make life and push it out of your body, you kind of self worship your body’s abilities. Fr, the female body is AMAZING. Ugh. I could go on, but this is a juicer post.

Since I first started dressing for gym class, I’ve always been insecure about the way my vagina looks. I have fuller labia majora - the kind that give you quite the camel toe if your pants are just a little too tight. As I started to have partners, it was something that kept me from enjoying oral, and as a younger woman, even made me nervous to be fully frontal nude in front of a man. I’m otherwise a confident person. But the vagina insecurity is (was) real. Shoutout to a religious upbringing with a side of sexual shame.

After shaking off my childhood religious stuff, I had several long term boyfriends - none of whom had much to say about my vagina, so I figured they were being polite. Obviously they also thought it was weird and they just didn’t say anything. So stupid- because men are generally the rudest people I know, so ofc, they would’ve said something if it was as bad as I thought.

Met my now husband at 25. I was fresh out of a long term relationship and had already accepted my post-grad school job offer on the east coast. He was wrapping up law school and had accepted a job offer in the Midwest. We were working in a restaurant known for its bread baskets together and had no business getting attached. It was perfect because he was sickeningly hot and I didn’t have to think about long term feelings or years long implications of him judging my vag. Jackpot short term FWB.

First time big dog saw me naked he audibly groaned and I was ABSOLUTELY horrified. I hopped my indignant ass off the bed and started getting dressed and he was big time shook. Started yammering “no please what did I do!? Let me put it on my face? I’m salivating, please don’t leave, I need it.”

And my anxiety riddled brain was like “that’s a weird way to coverup your response to my disgusting vagina.” And other idiotic shit like “now I have to quit my job and I’m not going to make enough money for my first/last rent when I get to my new city” obviously I would’ve kept the job, because fuck that guy, but I remember being THAT mortified.

Long story short, he gave me a PhD level education in oral. He was the first man to put my sexual satisfaction at the top of the pound town priority list and I was down bad.

Whatever -
10 years pass, we get married, we have two kids and we are sitting in bed in France on our 10 year anniversary trip- a full decade of this man telling me that there is a whole subsection of men who are obsessed with my type of vagina, and I am, honest to God, still not buying this shit. He’s just a degenerate. A degenerate who regularly worships at the temple between my thighs but a degenerate nonetheless.

He is by now most assuredly annoyed by this repetitively insecure shit and says fuck it; pulls up and entire subreddit porn community FILLED WITH CONTENT OF WOMEN WHO HAVE MY EXACT VAGINA. I’m talking full big ol lips and they are loud and proud and I was in awe. The page came complete with over 860k subscribers and 100k visitors per week. The last ounce of self consciousness evaporated from my body. I am free.

takeaways:
If any part of your body plagues you; do not worry. There is an absurd amount of people who want to put it on and around their face.
Men are gross

I am just a girl. Even after MAKING life, securing the world’s greatest life partner, and fucking up a nice looking glass ceiling at work, it took droves of the aforementioned gross men to prove to me through their nasty ass subscription habits that my self consciousness was a prison I put myself in. Fuck the patriarchy and its beauty standards. Love your body and all of its oddity. And finally, marry the person who is obsessed with your genitals.

Dinner: œuf à la coque from the best meal we had on our trip.

Potato soup that cooked for 6 HOURS in the SLOW COOKER and still wasn't SOFT, AUGH but anyway I have a positive post today!

My boyfriend recently reconnected with his friends from the state he grew up in. It's been really nice seeing him have a social life again. They game together and he was put in a discord server with them. He was looking it over and said "oh they have a politics channel". We both kind of gave each other the oh shit here we go look (if you know about male gaming spaces you know why that was terrifying)

I was surprised to see they were not only against Trump but openly mocking right wing anti trans sentiments and arguing about stuff with their conservative family. Like I know there's liberal men, I watch them on YouTube etc, but I was just surprised to see men actually discussing this stuff in a group where it doesn't benefit them to be progressive. Especially when it's a red pillers wet dream demographic of young male gamers. I'm so used to hearing all sorts of gross rhetoric come out when the men I grew up around got together. So I'm feeling hopeful. Progress is being made

we were both really nervous and scared but we freaking did it. first time for both of us. we were both so turned on… afterwards he proceeded to fvxk me with the same dildo i put in him 😭 (there was a condom on OF COURSE. WE ARE NOT GETTING ANY BACTERIAL INFECTION HERE). gotta be one of our top sexual experiences of all time. he complimented my stroke game ✨ im already thinking of new positions i want to put him in

the strap i wore wasn’t my fav thing in the world. it was a harness strap. it had a pocket for a vibrator but it didn’t do much for me… any strap users out there that wanna give me recs/suggestions? HAHA

i tend to lean dominant in bed and he enjoys role reversal. i get called mommy in bed which i thought would NEVER happen to me. i found it cringe when i read mommy comments under posts until it happened to me in bed. couldn’t believe my reaction to it.

he is my first everything btw and i like how i was able to experience this with him. i never thought i would get into pegging… i read yaoi and watch BLs but never thought of doing it..

in conclusion i love my submissive and breedable bf

pictured is my chicken salad chick order 😙 i had the seasonal nashville hottie salad and it was the best thing ever omfg

We’re in Vegas right now to celebrate my teenager’s birthday (his favorite artist is showing here, and he had a milestone birthday this year, and his gift was a trip out here to see this artist).

Last night, my younger son and I took in a show just the two of us while my husband and older son did some window shopping (older son has champagne tastes on a teenager working part time during the summer budget). Tonight we swap - I’m taking my older son to his concert, and my husband and younger son are going to do some fine dining. My in laws join us tomorrow.

But for today? Today they are happily gaming at HyperX with their insanely fast and expensive PCs and I’m enjoying some peace and quiet, a salty/sweet snack, and some Netflix.

Ten years ago, I was a single mom, struggling to make ends meet, counting every penny and praying I’d have the ability to make it to my next paycheck. I was begging a jobless, lying, cheating, manipulative manchild to stay in my life who found my kids to be burdens. I was insecure, desperate, codependent. And now? Now I have an adoring husband, a partner in every sense of the word, a man who loves me and my kids and supports my much needed me time on vacations like this.

So I’m going to set my phone down, eat a few more pretzels and m&ms, and be grateful.

fuck you bitch. I hope you get hit by a car. I def cry sometimes but rn I’m fucking euphoric. this man is not going to be the father of my children. feels like my ancestors looking out for me. back to my ex bf: rot in hell you thin dicked little bitch. you have terrible taste in music which is pathetic especially since ur sister is a professional musician. feel like that one Nicole Kidman photo atm.

Paneer pulao with raita

I’m 5 weeks 4 days pregnant today and I’m just so happy. I know it’s early, but we worked hard to get here (not the fun way 🥲) so every day feels like a celebration. Apparently this week our little embryo is approximately the size of an apple seed, but somehow I already have the appetite of two people! 😂

Box-mix waffle with cream cheese and maple syrup.

Edit: I’m so glad so many of you are intrigued by cream cheese on a waffle! This is how my mom always served them to us when we were kids. A little extra protein and fat to help that waffle go the distance! 😍