Run like the wind. ROFLMAO. I actually say that when I am asked - tee hee. Then I wait for their panic to subside and I tell them: 1. It is 200% harder than you think your worst day will be. That is not a bad thing, just a surprise thing. We all expect it to be so easy. 2. Take a good long look at his parents/childhood. He will either want to recreate that or do the complete opposite. Make sure you understand which he wants, and how that fits into what you want. And read between the lines - he may say he never wants to be like his parents and we like to say we aren't our moms, but guess what? And another thing. If you dislike his family now, then don't get married. It will never get better, you will never like them more, and they will NOT learn to like you. It will always be you against them. Always. 3. You must share, but really share. Make sure you know what is going on financially, where and how the bills are paid, where the important papers are, your name should be on everything from the bank accounts to the mortgage (unless there are legal reasons not to, such as if you have a horrible credit record or amazing debt). Make sure you have access to money that is NOT shared as well. This is in case - you leave/he leaves/he dies/something else equally horrible happens. I have seen it too often, a man trades his wife in for a younger model and she doesn't even know how to write a check. "DH always took care of that". Or the other way around, which is my case. I'm expected to take care of everything and know what to do. When we did have an event that kept me from doing it, he let things get behind because "he didn't know where to go to pay the gas bill". Now for sure he knows how and where to pay the bills! 4. Make sure this is what you REALLY want. I think if people have second thoughts they should address them NOW instead of stuck in a life they don't want, or end up divorced later. Trust me on this one.

How did I miss this thread five years ago? I see names of those that I miss seeing here 🙁 My mom and my grandmother were great cooks. I learned from both and we have always eaten well. I grew up eating food cooked from scratch and my grandparents and parents always had gardens. My grandmother loved to can and freeze. She made the most wonderful veggie soup that she canned every year. What I would give to have a bowl of that soup!! I have always cooked the same. In our early years, my grandmother would can green beans and other items for me and we would get together and prepare/freeze corn. The Mr. and I don't always have a garden, and when we do it is usually small but I still buy certain things from the produce store and put up. We do grow tomatoes and I love making pasta sauce and freezing for the coming year. I learned to bake from scratch too. Now that I am retired, I enjoy finding new recipes to try. I really do enjoy cooking!

Mom worked and made our meals but to this day she never liked to cook. Sunday dinner was always at grandma's. we watched Lawrence Welk, Wild Kingdom and Disney after dinner. I miss my grandfather saying grace. Grandma was a great cook and Sunday dinner was a special time. When I started college I was sad not to go with them. I did make a few and always holidays with them. When I started 10 th grade, mom worked and also was in school for her master's degree. I could already make pancakes, eggs, cold salads, pasta, anything baked like pies, cakes, pastry. She bought frozen lasagne or battered fish for me to make with vegetables and rice or potatoes for us. I started trying recipes out of the better homes and gardens cookbook grandma bought me for Christmas or birthday. I read it over and over. Then I started collecting recipes out of magazines from the thrift store. I still have those recipes from fancy cooking magazines. Many times we couldn't afford the gourmet ingredients so I substituted. Dad was a champ, he tried it all. He liked fried shrimp and steak and potatoes the best. He still does. In college, I became vegetarian so mom took over cooking again. At this time I finally got mom to stop using canned vegetables and switch to fresh because of the salt content and dads health. She loves fresh veggies but I think she used canned because it's fast to heat on the stove and you can buy a large quantity and it won't spoil. Back in the 60s 70s, we didn't have money to waste on food going bad in the fridge. It was canned or frozen or something like cereal or pasta that you could keep on a shelf. Mom was so happy with her first microwave. she could thaw meat in a hurry instead of overnight in the fridge. My dear mother, she worked so hard and was exhausted after work but she made dinner every night so we could eat together. Dad never helped. I would help clean up and started helping in the kitchen. My sister did not and mom never asked her to. Sister does not like cooking but when her son needed a special diet, she learned. The only time we ate in front of the TV was Super bowl Sunday or Breakfast watching Rose Parade. My high school/ college boyfriend ate dinner with his parents at the same time every night and the TV was in the dining room. They watched PBS and nature shows and rarely news if something big happened. They didn't have cable tv. I remember taping National geographic specials on a VCR so I could see them later after dinner. I knew friends who watched certain television comedys with family at dinner and it became a tradition. If I go out to eat and there's a tv on, my guy will get sucked into watching it and stop talking. We do like sports bars for game days or tilted kilt restaurant/ sports bar but the point of going there is watching the game. These days I'm mostly vegetarian. I don't eat mammals or dairy and eat chicken, eggs and fish lightly. Mom does not want to do Sunday dinner, they do not want to drive here. My sister has her hands full with her son's special diet and eats what she makes for him. Dad does not like either of our health cooking and prefers what mom has always made. I started taking mom out for lunch once a week. She loves it. The only time I get to do the big family dinner is the holidays. I go over and help mom or they come here or to my aunt's 1920s Tudor in Pasadena which is large enough for the extended family. I was in a vintage shop looking at linens. Someone said to me young people don't want linens, china, sterling and so forth for the table because they didn't have family dinners and mostly eat out anyway. What they inherit, they give away. Ok I just read the whole newlywed thread. Maybe canned veggies were popular in the 60s 70s. I thought it was because mom shopped once a week on Saturday. She made many of the ' newlywed meals ' for us. She also served the iceberg lettuce, carrot, tomato, salad with dinner. Our meatballs were always Swedish meatballs.

Complete removal of the stone is up to you. I would, and have. It's tough to trim around, moves and settles, and can look junky and inconsistent with its surroundings. Nevertheless, if the stone border is only 2.5 feet from your house in front, it's waaaaay too close. Anything you might plant should be no closer than 3 feet to the house. So if you keep that border, I would move it out to AT LEAST four feet from the house. The sample bed that Doug did above is probably 5 feet or more wide. And that little island of grass between the driveway, sidewalk and bed should definitely be part of the bed, like Doug showed. Cute little house, by the way.