Starting A New Chapter

A lot as happened since I've blogged last. 

 To make a really long story shorter, I will just tell you that a string of events occurred that threw me into a whirlwind of panic. 

My son would be getting involved in a church activity that would put me in a room with the other woman and her family in an intimate/party like setting ONCE A MONTH for at least the next 3 years. 

To remind you, I had started to try to accept the fact that neither us nor them were able to move and I would just continue to do everything I could to avoid seeing her.  And it worked for a while.  I was never completely happy because I was keeping myself from things that made me who I am, but I thought it was worth the sacrifice if it could help me keep it together for my family, especially my kids.  So, I went on with my life, until the above mentioned occurred. 

I decided that I just CAN NOT DO THIS ANYMORE. 

 I told my husband we MUST find a way to get out of here or I might just not make it. 

What that meant, I can't be sure, except that I knew I felt like running away from my life...I was suffocating and I needed to get out. 

Right away he started looking into our options and surprisingly, we had many more options than we did last year and it actually looked like a possibility for us to move. Sooooo, drumroll please.....

 

WE ARE MOVING!!!!!!

 

The day has come

 almost two years later, but at least it has come. 

I am getting out of here!! 

As happy as I am, it is a very hard thing to do. 

I LOVE this house. 

 I LOVE the friends my kids have made. 

I LOVE the schools. 

I LOVE the area, the neighborhood and we have put SO much into this home. 

If I let myself start to think about it to much I am so sad. 

But it has to be done. 

I often see this quote going around:

And someone might tell me..."So, just STOP re-reading the last chapter so you can move on!!!" 

 And I say to them :  "How do you stop reading the last chapter when the pages are sealed open and staring you in the face!!!! " 

I can't even turn the freaking page when they live right behind us and I see HER at every turn. 

There are so many that will not understand this. 

Will not understand why I can't just get over it and move on. 

I'm sorry that you don't understand. 

 Honestly, I hope that you never do.

My world shattered

Well, I can now say it's been ONE YEAR since my world shattered.

One year since I found out my husband had fallen in love with one of my friends.

One year since my heart was broken into so many pieces that I'm not sure I've gotten them all back yet. 

One year since I felt like I didn't want to live anymore.

 

I don't have the full story of that dreadful day anywhere on here and as it is on my mind, maybe writing it down will help to purge it from my thoughts: 

The affair started with a harmless text.  My husband knew HER because she was in our ward.  Over the few years that we lived here, our families became friends and would often do activities together.  I enjoyed time with just HER for girls nights and my husband was also good friends with her husband.  Our kids got along and would often play together.  My husband and HER both enjoyed running, and so that one thing in common got the talking started.  The only problem is that they both kept their conversations secret from their spouses.  Over a month's time, there were over 4000 texts shared, 8 long phone conversations (40-100 min each), 6 meetings in person, 2 kisses, and they decided that they fell in love. 

During the month that the affair went on, SHE was always contacting me, setting up playdates or inviting my husband and I to do things.  SHE even had the audacity to start planning a couples trip for us.  I thought that SHE just really considered me a good friend.  Boy was I stupid.  I was also noticing that my husband kept picking small fights with me over small things, which gave him an excuse to go for a walk or bike ride or drive.  When it neared the end, I wrote in my journal about how uneasy I was feeling about how he was acting.  I told myself I'd have to follow him the next time he went out.  I even asked him if something else was going on and he would just say no and even hug me and tell me he was sorry to have worried me.  On a separate note, I started getting bugged by HER and all the time we were spending together, but never did it cross my mind that SHE and my husband were sneaking around together.

They knew that things were going too far.  I was noticing something was wrong, and so did HER husband.  SHE said her husband was discovering the truth.  She needed to tell him everything and asked my husband what she should tell him (basically a question of are they leaving their spouses or not) and my husband said "I can't do that to 6 kids".  And so they said goodbye and had no more contact there after.

The day he told me, it was just like any other day.  Did some gardening, ran to the store, etc  I was so happy and excited that day, as we were having people over for a barbeque.

 At 12:40, I got a text from him saying "check your email and then call me".  I checked the computer and there was an email from him with the title "Email seems to be our best form of communication.".  But the email was BLANK.  That was weird.  For some reason I started to get a knot in my stomach. I called him and told him the email was blank.  He said, "What? Are you sure? That's weird.  Well, I'm going to have to just read it to you then".  I FROZE, although I was confused, I knew this couldn't be good.  He began to read:

Elizabeth,

I know I'm a coward for emailing instead of talking to you.  This seems to be our best way to communicate.  But still...you have to know this.

I know why you've been feeling weird about ***.  It's because of me. You were right when you said we were getting too attached.  Over the last month, I've been having deep conversations with *** over text, and a few phone calls. We fell in love and I know that sucks and it's not right...

[PAUSE STORY: At this point, I started screaming "nooooooooo!!!!! no! no! no!" Into the phone]

...This is the reason I've been going for walks and bike rides at weird times... 

[PAUSE STORY: yelling, "no! no! no! I KNEW IT! I KNEW something was wrong! nooooo!!!" (histerical sobbing)]

...to get away to think and to communicate with ***.  I'm so sorry for betraying you like this.  Nothing happened physically between *** and me. 

[PAUSE STORY: I found out later that that was not completely true. They had met up at least 6 times and kissed twice]

It was Monday when we shut it down, and it is over.  She told her husband Monday night.  And I haven't dared to talk to you about it.  I don't have any contact with *** any more.  Part of me wants to keep this from you to keep you from hurting.  Maybe I shouldn't tell you.  But I can't not tell you.  I'm tired of hurting you.  That's all I do, continually throughout our whole marriage.  I'm not a good person. My truth is what hurts you because my truth is crappy.

I love you "Elizabeth", and that will never change.  But I have to stop hurting you.  You're better off without me "Elizabeth".  Nobody is better off with me.  I just can't face hurting you anymore.  I don't know what to do.  You deserve so much more and better than the kind of person I am.

I'm so sorry.  I love you.

 

When he finished, the only sounds were of me sobbing and yelling.  I don't even think I heard the last half of the letter.  All I knew is that my life as I knew it was over.  I couldn't believe that this was happening.  I canceled our barbeque and anything else that I could.

I wrote a long email to HER.  It was a very spur of the moment rant about how could she do this, I thought she was my friend, someone has to move now, this can't work living in the same neighborhood, our kids will never play together again, I'm upset, hurt, angry, etc....I just wanted to punch her and yell at her.

Anyway, when my husband got home, I couldn't even look at him.  I had stopped crying by then and just walked around the house aimlessly, putting things away, just trying to keep my hands busy.  Every now and then I would ask a question like "What day did it start?", "So it was going on during our date with so and so?", etc.  I felt the need to put the pieces of my life together during the month that the affair was going on.

I stated that we have to go to counseling, and he agreed to go.  So I called to make an appointment, hoping for one right that second.  But the soonest we could get in was in a week.  I was so upset by this.  I know we needed guidance through this mess and a week felt like a year.

I remember blurting out things like "what do you MEAN you fell in love?  You can't fall in love in a matter of FOUR weeks.  It can't really be love.  It had to have just been an infatuation, right? " and he responded "maybe" and I would continue..."WHAT in the world did you talk about all that time that led to you falling in love? What did you talk about????".  He couldn't really answer....religion, politics, etc.   I was dumbfounded.

At this point, my husband was very responsive to me.  He seemed sincerely sorry and that he wanted to be there for me.  He let me ask my questions, even though he appeared frustrated having to answer them.  Especially since he didn't really know how to answer some of them.  He didn't remember EXACTLY which day it started, etc.  And the more questions I asked the more frustrated he got until he blurted out, "I don't know, Elizabeth.  This is really hard, ok!  I know I did a terrible thing.  Do we really have to hash out every detail?"

When he shut me down, I recoiled like a wounded creature.  Looking back, I should have stood my ground and asked him whatever questions I darn well pleased.  But I felt like I couldn't.  And it made me angrier. 

We went around the house like zombies the rest of the day...taking care of the kids/house, etc.  I took a bath and he put the kids to bed.    He suggested I take some IB Profin PMs to sleep and I did.  But I woke up early and just started to cry.  He rubbed my back and said he's sorry. 

I got up and said it might help to just get some things done and keep my mind off of everything.  So he hopped right on that and proceeded to help whip the house into shape and clean out the garage, etc.  Late afternoon he suggested he go pick up some take out Chinese and maybe we can watch a movie later.  I felt good that he wanted to do these things for me and spend time with me. 

But all day I had just been feeling like something doesn't make sense.  How can two people fall in love and not have ANY physical contact, which is what he led me to believe.  I texted HER and asked her to tell me what they did.  She claimed that she cared about my marriage and thinks any details should come from my husband, but she felt for me and because she knew I was probably assuming the worst,  she assured me that it did not even come close to that. 

So right away I called him and said that I KNEW there was something he wasn't telling me and I needed him to tell me or I was going to go to HER and get the answers.  He was quiet for a long time until he finally said, "We kissed twice."  I FREAKED out.  And this new information makes things WAY deeper than it was.  Right away I said that he needs to go in to see our bishop. 

And that is when HE freaked out.  Saying he'll do whatever he feels the need to do and basically it is not my place to say whether he needs to go in to talk to the bishop.  I got so mad I hung up on him. 

He came home and went into a guest room and BROKE DOWN.  He was screaming and crying about how SHE changed his life and how now he knows what love really is and about how horrible I've been and how he stayed with us 95% because of the kids.  This went on for some time. MANY very hurtful things were said and I realized that I did not know this person anymore.  I was so scared.  Scared he was going to leave me. Scared that I didn't want to live without him.  And so I kept my mouth shut from then on out.  He was in an "affair fog" for quite some time...and so I just kept quiet, but kept the house clean and running as normal.  Maybe better than normal.  Until finally, over the next several months, he slowly came out of it and as we work on our marriage, we have come leaps and bounds.  But boy, did that feel like I went through Hell.

In talking about it recently, my husband feels like the whole thing was completely stupid and that I am the person he wants to be with and he is so grateful for the 2nd chance I've given him and that he loves that I'm his wife.  He tells me he doesn't want anyone else and that he is in this to help me heal and to help us get through this.  And so we also continue our counseling.

I've had a lot of trauma, not only from the affair actually happening, but from the way SHE was with me for that month during the affair, AND then on top of it all, having to hear my husband mourn his loss of HER until he came to his senses.  It has been a long road, but things are MUCH better than they were a year ago.  But I am still navigating through the pain, hurt and anger from it all, as you can tell from my most recent posts. :(

Almost took her cookies....

One year ago today was the day that SHE and my husband ended their affair.  Of course, I didn't know anything about that until 4 days later.  And it ended because HER husband found some of their texts.  And so they knew it had to end.  As far as I knew, my husband went to work that day.  It was a Monday.  And he did.  But he drove all the way back, close to home, around lunchtime to meet with HER to say goodbye.  Apparently they felt they needed to do that in person.  SHE moved in for a goodbye kiss (which totally pisses me off.  You were ending it for F-ing sakes! She just couldn't help herself).  And off they went.  They still communicated throughout the day, staying updated on what HER husband knew, etc. 

 

Meanwhile, in my own little bubble,  I was also communicating with HER because she was supposed to come to our house that night for short meeting, as we were planning for an event coming up.  WHAT????!!!!!!! So there she was....just kissed my husband and proclaimed her love and sadness for ending their affair hours earlier....and she shows up on my door step for this meeting.  Smiling, laughing, and chatting with me and the other ladies that were there in my family room.  My husband even walked in for a bit to say hello.  This whole thing just makes me sick to my stomach.  How could they be so insensitive??  How could they be so stupid!?  They must have just needed to see each other one last time.  Because that WAS the last time they saw each other.  Hope it was worth the trauma I now have of the memories of that night.  

 

The next day, SHE sent an email out, canceling the event that we had just had a meeting for and everyone was shocked! It was happening so soon and so something big must have happened for her to feel like she had to cancel!  I was feeling so bad! I couldn't stop talking about it to my husband, that I was going to make her cookies and take them over.  Or that I was sure it might be that her husband had an affair and I felt so bad for her!! I couldn't stop thinking about it or talking about it.  Little did I know, it got canceled because her husband found everything out that night after the meeting.  And little did I know it was HER that had an affair.  With MY husband!!!!!!!!!!???????????????   WHAT?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

To this day, it is just so hard for me to understand WHY??!!!!  Why did this happen?  HOW???!!!! How could my husband hurt me this way? How could my good friend of 3 years do this to me???!!!!  She was in the relief society presidency for crying out loud!!!! They are supposed to look after the other women in the ward!! Not sneak around with their husbands!!!!

 

Anyway, of course my worrying for her went on for days until finally I think it just added to my husband's guilt.  I can still see his face when I told him I thought her husband had an affair.  A face that I can't really describe, but that is engrained in my memory.  I don't know for sure that he would have ever told me about the affair if the end hadn't unraveled in this way, but I think the guilt was too much and he couldn't keep it in.  As much as I wish I never knew about any of this, I'm SO glad he stopped me before I took her the damn cookies.

A freaky journal entry....

A year ago today my husband picked a fight with me about how I schedule activities.  He was upset that we would be missing the annual ward barbeque to go to the lake with my family.  He claimed he was more upset that I didn't talk to him about it first, because most likely he would also agree that family is more important than the ward barbeque, but he was so upset that he stated he needed to "get out of here" and proceeded to hook his bike up to the back of the van.  I confronted him and asked "Is there something else going on?" I knew that this behavior was not usual for him.  But he told me, "No, there's nothing going on" and I watched him drive away to go on a bike ride. 

Several alarms went off in my body.

#1 He had never picked a fight with me about something so trivial before, and it has been happening a lot the last few weeks
#2 He had never left the family at home and gone on a bike ride on a Sunday
#3 He was gone for longer than his usual bike ride. 

This is the last time I wrote in my journal before finding out about the affair 5 days later and this is what I wrote while he was out on his ride:

"He has been doing things out of the ordinary.  Like just taking off on a walk by himself. One night, with the kids in bed, I suggested I go with, but he insisted it wouldn't be good to leave the kids home alone (even though we have done that several times before to watch a movie with our friends in their basement). Or just today, Sunday, he took off on a bike ride after church.  He stopped to sit at a park he says and was gone almost 2 hours!! Another night he ran to the store to grab some Ibprofin PMs and it took longer than it should have and he explained that he stopped at a park for a bit.

Well, I'm sorry, but past experiences do not help my questioning if he is being honest.  I just have thoughts cross my mind that he is meeting up with someone.  It makes me sick to my stomach and when he takes off like that, all I can think about are these things. 

I think he is stressed out about work, and I hope that is all it is, but seriously I feel like I have to follow him next time he goes out! Blah!!!!! I hate having these feelings!!!!!"

Well, needless to say, I wouldn't have a chance to follow him because they ended it the next day, but I didn't find out until later in the week.  Now I know he was meeting HER that day and found an excuse to get out of the house.  And that he was probably upset about my planning because it meant that he wouldn't have a chance to see HER at the ward barbeque.

Again, I am haunted by those feelings, WISHING so bad that I had followed him on that bike ride and caught him in the act!!! I kick myself over and over for being so SO stupid.  To not see what was really going on.  And despite all those feelings I was having, I never ONCE suspected it was my friend that he might be meeting up with.   I feel so stupid that I tried so hard to push my feelings aside and give him the benefit of the doubt.  That I was trying so hard to TRUST him. Trust that he would never do such a thing. That it most likely was just stress.  

I feel like a fool

And now it is a trigger whenever he says he is going on a bike ride, or on a run.  And I HATE that those are triggers because he feels better all around when he is active and feeling healthy.  So I want him to be able to go and get his exercise. But I HATE that he used that to get away to see HER. 

Haunted

 A year ago today, the other woman watched my kids for me while I went to work.  I wouldn't really call it work, it's more like my hobby.  But I had to leave and she was so nice (sarcasm) to watch my kids for me.  I would be able to come and get them and have a 2 hour break before I had to go back and she was so nice (sarcasm) to invite our family over to dinner because "she wanted me to be able to relax and not stress about cooking for my family".  How NICE (sarcasm) of her! 

 

Well, we get there, and lo and behold, her husband happened to get called out to work.  So there she was sitting at the kitchen table smack in between my husband and I while all our kids played and laughed outside.  We talked about what we might do on our couples trip to St. George in a few weeks and talked and laughed.  The time came that I had to go back to work.  I felt bad pulling the kids away and felt bad that I was leaving my husband alone to take care of the kids and so I let him stay there, but told him to leave in 30 minutes and was very firm about that, as I had uneasy feelings about leaving him there alone with her.  But I was confident he would leave asap.

 

As I drove home from my job, I called to say I was on my way home and found out instead of staying 30 more minutes, he stayed TWO HOURS!  I had a pit in my stomach.  I was angry at first, but it quickly subsided because DUH! Of course nothing happened between them! Why would I even think such a thing.  She was my friend. Why was I being so weird!! 

 

Now that I know what was going on at that time, I feel sick to my stomach about that day.  It was towards the end of their time together, so by that time, they had shared almost 4000 texts, met up over 6 times, shared hundreds of minutes together on the phone, kissed and told each other that they loved each other.

 

I am haunted by our smiles and conversations at that dinner table and for a long while I could not work any more.  Because if I were to be away doing that same kind of work, all I could think about was that night.  And how I felt so happy and content doing something I love, while the husband that I loved was supporting me while I did it. I am haunted by the feelings I had when I found out her husband was not going to be there.  Everything inside me screamed to GET OUT!  But the nice person in me gave them both the trust that nothing would happen. Little did I know, something already WAS happening.

 

 Looking back, I remember feeling like her house was a dirty mess and that the dinner (gross, cheap hot dogs) was sickening, but of course I looked past that because friends don't judge friends.  But no more of those cheap and gross rubbery hot dogs for me.  I'm only going beef hot dogs from here on out!

Forgive me.....

I feel the need to apologize because the next few posts will probably be quite depressing. 

 

As I get closer to the year mark of "finding out", I am haunted by things that were happening a year ago.  The dates are engrained in my mind and I feel the need to tell someone about them. 

 

 But I am afraid my friends are probably tired of me ranting on and on about it and even though my husband would say that he wants to be there for me and wants me to be able to talk about it with him.  Why would he want to hear every detail about his big fat mistake? And why would I want to put him through that when things have been going so well for us in our relationship? 

 

So I just needed to explain that the next few posts will most likely be more of a venting for me. Not caring who reads it or not caring what anyone has to say about it. I just need to get it out.

 

The Power of Validation : Part 1

 (quick disclaimer: For the betrayed spouse, an affair is NEVER your fault! But it doesn't hurt to try to get to the root of what things might have contributed to the affair happening.  It seems only logical to do this in attempt to prevent something like this from happening ever again)

The Power of Validation : Part 1 : WHAT IS VALIDATION?

Because of the affair, I've learned of one concept that has not been seen often in our marriage.  It's the concept of VALIDATION.  But I'm learning more and more how INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT this concept is and how different our marriage would have ended up, had it been practiced regularly.

I'm embarrassed to admit that before the affair happened and before any therapy, I did NOT know what validation was.  At least in an emotional way.  And all of this information is not only helpful in your marriage but with your children as well!! Our therapist gave us a handout that stated the following:

"Validation occurs when we confirm, mostly through our words, that other people can have their own emotional experiences.  It is NOT agreeing with their emotional experience, but it is reassuring them that it is OKAY FOR THEM TO FEEL THE WAY THAT THEY DO.  This brings about feelings of being understood, which is the beginning for emotional safety. When people feel emotionally safe, they share more.  As they share more, we learn more, and are more likely to help them in a supportive non-threatening way."
 

Some examples of validating statements:

-"I can't even begin to imagine what you are going through"

"If must be difficult to feel so sad"
"It makes sense that you would be feeling that way."
"That must have been frustrating"
"Let me make sure I understand, so you are feeling..."
More validating statement examples

 

 

The important thing is to remember that in that moment, you need to focus on what the person is FEELING and not necessarily the situation or whatever might have happened.  And try not to make it about yourself!  (Things you should not say)

 

Before the affair happened, my husband would not have been able to articulate that he was not being validated.  That's the hard part.  We didn't realize what was happening under the surface.  By not being validated, my husband would pretty much shove his feelings aside and try and forget them.

 

He would never have said he was unhappy in our marriage, but he just thought that's "the way things are" when you are married and you just deal with it. He just wanted me to be happy and apparently I didn't appear too happy when he shared his feelings, so he decided not to do so as often. We do NOT want this to happen because emotional validation is a basic human need.  We all need and crave it more than we realize.

 

In my situation, not only did the other woman show interest in my husband's life, which made him feel good, he was also able to share his deepest and darkest feelings and she, having been to therapy for several years already, knew how to validate his feelings and made him feel valued and accepted no matter what. When he felt valued and accepted by this woman, he thought that only this woman could do that for him and that she must be his soul mate and THOUGHT he was in love. When really, it was a simple concept that anyone could implement in their relationship if practiced.  

 

Since then, my husband has come around and has realized that there are things we both need to work on in this marriage and that it IS worth the time and effort.  He has since realized the whole affair was stupid and he is so sorry that it happened. We continue to go see a therapist to help us with concepts such as validation and we have noticed a huge difference in the way we talk to each other and in the way we feel when we have these conversations. 

 

This week I will be posting more about validation. I hope that I can help any of you out there learn all you can about this concept that can improve any kind of relationship.  Whether with your spouse, your parents, your children, etc.  If you have any questions, please ask...I will try my best to help!!

For further reading:
 How To Validate Your Spouse's Feelings - Messy Marriage
What is Validation and Why Do I Need To Know? - Psych Central
The Art of Relating : Validation Starvation - The Healthy Planet

Who can I trust?

One of the hardest and most traumatizing parts of the affair is that the Other Woman was one of my good friends from the ward and neighborhood.  I TRUSTED HER.  I was only there to help her and be her friend and this is how she repaid me. I mean, I don't expect things in return for being someone's friend, but I do expect you to not betray me!!  Is that too hard to ask????? 

I want to share the events that happened the week that I found out.  It was a Sunday when I really KNEW something was off with my husband and I decided I might have to follow him the next time he goes out.  It was Monday when SHE told her husband everything.  It was Tuesday that I got an email from her canceling a big event that they were going to hold at their house in a couple weeks.  When I got that email, I knew something BIG had to have happened for her to cancel her event.  I started talking to my husband about how I think HER husband might have had an affair or something and that I was going to try to make her a treat and go over and see if she needs to talk.  I talked about this with my husband for days before he finally told me the truth about what had happened.   

I was going to take her freaking COOKIES!!!!!  And all the while she was sneaking around with my husband behind my back.  So where does that leave me?  Well, it certainly makes me question who I can trust.  I have several friends in the same ward and neighborhood and I've known them all for the same amount of time that I knew HER.  So this whole ordeal has put all of those relationships into question and made me think that I don't want to be friends with ANYONE in this damn neighborhood!!! No one is REALLY my friend, right???? 

I came across this quote:

And it's true.  I DO have some real friends.  Friends that I've had for many many years and I can know for certain that there is not one of them that would ever do something like this to me.  And so I should appreciate and nurture THOSE friendships and not think that I need to be friends with everyone in the neighborhood.

So my advice to all of you out there?  Have your handful of REAL friends and focus on those relationships.   You can wave and smile and make small talk with others, but never feel pressured into inviting them into your personal circle.  It's not worth it.

 

Downton Abbey

My husband and I have finally joined the Downton Abbey craze.  I'm actually quite surprised it took me this long, seeing how much I love Pride and Prejudice!  But I always seem to be a little late with new fads.  I don't think I started reading Harry Potter until the seventh book was written! I think it's my reluctance to join in just because everyone else is doing it!  But that's a story for another time.

 

Anyway, we just watched an episode of Downton Abbey where a visiting soldier slept with one of the house maids and got her pregnant and won't take responsibility for his child.  The maid begged the owners of the home to help her convince him to help, but what did they say? That SHE was in the wrong. "Men will always be men, but for any young woman to let her judgment so desert her...." 

 

I know that's sad, but isn't it so true?  I think most of us would expect a married man to have an affair more than a married woman.  I don't know if it's because there's a tendency to think that men just can't help themselves/have no control or they don't THINK about things as much as women or because most have more opportunities (being away from home with jobs, etc). Or maybe it's a mix of all of it.

 

Marriage and motherhood can be frustrating at times and it can feel good to have someone to talk to about it.  As married women, as LDS married women, we UNDERSTAND each other.  We want to be there for each other...sharing recipes, books, advice, etc.   We don't sneak around with each other's husbands. Seriously. That is just wrong.

 

HOW COULD SHE DO THIS TO ME???  We were friends for THREE years.  Of course I have other friends that I have had for 14+ years that I am much closer to, but they don't live nearby, so of course, I made friends with other ladies in the neighborhood.  I have 3 kids, and she has 3, and so we carpooled, babysat each other's kids, had girls night outs, celebrated birthdays, had family gatherings together, went on couple dates, and our families even went camping together!  Our kids liked to play with each other and our husbands even liked to hang out together.  It seemed like we couldn't find better friends!

But then one day, she decided it was OK to sneak around with my husband behind my back!! What the heck?!   She was in our Relief Society Presidency at the time for crying out loud!  (for those that don't know, in the LDS church, it is the leadership over the women and she has since been released)

  

So what I want to know, is what frame of mind does a married woman have to be in to BETRAY her friend and seduce her husband behind her back??!  I mean, this has to be a very flaky, unstable kind of woman, don't you think?

An Untold Story

The first post on a new blog is a little stressful.  It's like the opening number to a live show.  You know what I mean.  The loud music, bright lights, dancers doing flips across the stage.  You might even see some fire.  So you can see how I feel a lot of pressure to produce something awe-inspiring and thought provoking.

I'm not even sure a blog is a good idea.  I don't feel like I'm very good with articulating exactly what I want to get across.  I can never quite decide how I want to say things. 

 Despite my insecurities, I decided to start this blog when I came across the following quote :

And so, here I am, opening myself up to the world because really, I have an untold story.  And I HAVE felt the agony of keeping it inside  I'm just sorry that I have to be anonymous. It gets tricky because the things I'll blog about aren't ONLY mine to share.  You see, my husband had an emotional affair with one of my friends.  And as much as one might think he deserves to be left standing naked in the middle of the town square, it's not fair for me to expose him.  He's sorry for what he did and is trying hard to make up for it.  I still love him and I know that he loves me.  So you can understand that moving forward would be quite hard if our neighbors, friends and family knew the gory heavy details.

After the affair came to light, I disconnected from everything I had going on in my life.  I've even been off of facebook! I know...how could I do such a thing?!  I lost faith in a lot of things.  The biggest ones were probably friends and the way I spent my time.   How could I have been the best friend I could be to HER and she turns around and does this to me?  I am now unsure that ANYONE has been my friend.  And how could I have been so blind to see that my attention has been in the wrong places?  To quote one of my REAL friends, I used to be "someone who was very aware of other people, very creative, very excited about trying new things and meeting new people, and willing to put myself out there and be someone who people could count on".   But the way I see it right now, THAT person put my marriage and my happiness in danger. 

So now that I have so much time on my hands, I've decided to blog about REINVENTING myself.  A "rebirth" so to speak.  If I don't want to be the person I WAS, I've got to figure out who I want to be NOW or I am going to continue to feel LOST.  So be prepared to hear plenty of venting about what I've been through, but I also will share things I've learned about relationships with my husband, kids, family and friends as well as things that just make me happy!  I've had a hard time finding the happiness in life and so I'm hoping this blog will help revive me.  Thanks for listening!