Where to start..where to start...
I guess I should start in explaining why I am starting a blog and what the blog is going to be about. Well, I was sitting on my couch with my husband as he is playing worship songs on the guitar, after a wonderful dinner that consisted of Tilapia and sweet potato fries, there are yummy chocolate chip cookies in the oven that are making our tiny little house smell delicious, and I am just thinking about our day today. Before we got married we went through the marriage counseling program through our church, we were paired up with a "mentor couple" we took a few personality tests to see our compatibly and were mentored on different topics that can come up through married life such as, finances, conflict resolution, in-laws, the usual marriage issues. We met with them again today and they went over our test results with us. They told us we were the best matched couple they had ever seen. And I'm not saying that to brag I'm just explaining what led me to start this blog. They then started to explain to us that God had brought us together to have a blessed wonderful marriage and since he did this for us we should use this blessing to bless others. So this sparked a discussion between Taylor and I, how could we bless others with our amazing marriage? Seems like a silly thought to say 'hey my marriage is so stinking awesome let me show you how awesome my marriage is.' I felt like it would come across as bragging, but then realized that if its coming from a place to show God's glory and that marriage can be amazing because of God not because of just our efforts then it hopefully won't come across as bragging. Anyway, Taylor and I talked about maybe leading a marriage counseling group at our church or different ways we could help others with their marriage. My sister writes a blog about her life and raising kids and it hit me, that's what I should do. I do not know if anyone will read it or take the advice given but if it helps save one marriage from divorce it will all be worth it. Anyway let me explain who I am and the amazing, beautiful Godly man I was so blessed to marry.
Hi, I'm Erin Kellogg, formerly known as Erin Riley. I am the middle daughter of Debbie and Robert Riley. I have a wonderful older sister who I admire very much her name is Caitlyn Balderas she is married and has a 5 year old son Tucker, a 2 year old daughter Ava and a new baby on the way. I also have a younger sister who is amazing in everything she does, her name is Megan Riley. I grew up in a Christian home always shown God's love through my parents. I met my husband when I was 16. His name is Taylor Kellogg, is an only child and is the best thing that ever happened to me. He took me on our first date on my 17th birthday. We were only dating for a month when he told me he loved me and from that moment on we were inseparable. High school dances,graduating high school, going to college, graduating college, gaining family members, vacations, job losses, new jobs, new church, we have experienced pretty much everything in the last 5 years, which was a great foundation to start our marriage. Taylor asked me to marry him May 17th 2010 and we got married July 15th 2011. I am sure if you are reading this (and you don't know me) you are probably thinking 'you have only been married 45 days how can you help me?' But let me assure you I have prayed, listened to many women who have been married many years, read many, many books about marriage so hopefully I can offer some advice that might help. This is plenty for a first post but I am going to finish every post with a bible verse. This is the Bible verse we used in our vows at our wedding. "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. True love never fails" 1 cor 13:7-8 This is a great verse to remember throughout your marriage.
Stay tunned, love Erin
Topics for the next few blogs include.
1. 3 stand rope is stronger than a 2 strand rope
2. a little smile goes a long way
3. God wants us to have 'happily ever after'
4. we need to be a mirror for each other
5. giving 50/50 is not as good as it sounds
6. books that give good, real life marriage advice
