Who Do Ya Love Wednesday - Guest Blogger #4 Kara

Happy Hump Day! I just want to tease you a little bit and tell you that I have a BIG surprise planned for tomorrow!!!! I'm so excited I can't stand it! I feel so lucky to have "met" all of you in the blogging world, and I can't believe that my little blog is about to hit 100 followers! That's probably not much to you mega bloggers who have 239347988 followers, but to me it's a lot. I appreciate each and every one of you who reads about my boring nonsense! {Love y'all!}This calls for a celebration surprise so stay tuned to find out allllll about it tomorrow!

And speaking of lovely ladies who I've met through the blogging world, let me introduce to you Kara who blogs over at Everyday in Stilettos. Kara is awesome! She is super crafty fashionista, which I am not. Seriously, she made her shirt from yesterday's post - and it's wearable and cute. And like myself, she loves the Real Housewives! And I think she takes a note from them on their footwear because this girl does it BIG with her heels! (Hence the name of her blog.) Also like many of us, Kara's husband works a very non-conventional schedule. I asked her to tell us a little bit about how she copes with this schedule because I definitely have moments where it gets me down sometimes. I actually got a little teary when I read her post, and when I emailed her to tell her about it she offered me such great support. It's good to know when we are suffering together sometimes - as weird as that sounds.

Photo taken by the lovely Vanessa Schrotenboer

I’m so excited to be guest blogging for Nikki today! Even though we have never officially met, I’ve gotten to know her through her blog and have realized we have one big thing in common…my hubby and her fiancé have crazy work schedules. This can be very frustrating at times, but I’m here to tell you it’s not all that bad.

My husband is co -owner of a baseball training facility. Owning a business alone can take you away from home, but add the grueling weekends and summer schedules and you have to make it work! I had a really difficult time with this at the beginning of our relationship. I just wasn’t used to it, and wanted him home for dinner, or wanted to simply go on a walk with our dog together. I admit, the crazy would come out in me and we would have some heated discussions about this. Now, as time went on and there was really nothing he or I could do about it, I made the decision to make the most of our time together and enjoy my time alone while he was working.

During the week, Kevin is rarely home before 9:00. So this is my routine…I get home from work, work out, blog/DIY/etc, catch up on some TV (that Kevin would never want to watch anyway like Real Housewives, or General Hospital), sometimes take a power nap, make dinner, eat dinner, and relax with our dog until he gets home. I really love the time I have alone. We all need it. I can certainly get things done that I wouldn’t if he were home. Once he gets home we hang out together until it’s time for me to go to bed. It works for us. He’s normally always working both Saturday and Sunday. Baseball games mostly happen on the weekends, and he travels a lot as well. Again, this is my time to shop, clean, watch Downtown Abbey, nap, work out, whatever. I’ll also tag along from time to time when he travels, or go watch him coach some games (which is super sexy to me). Oh, and I can make some of my favorite meals that he isn’t as crazy about like spaghetti squash!

The major downside to having a husband with a crazy schedule is we can never make plans. I can never make plans for us without checking with him first, as I never know his schedule. I also have to make a lot of trips home to see my family alone, as I make these trips on the weekends. That stinks, no way around it.

I know my situation is different from “the norm”, but I love it. Our time together is precious, I get to have some “me” time, and I look forward to the time we get together. If you’re going through some similar experiences with a crazy work schedule here are some basic tips that work for us.

1. Figure it out. Take 15 minutes and go grab coffee if he has a break. Laying eyes on each other does some good.

2. Take dinner or lunch to his work so you can eat together.

3. Learn to stay up late. This is a lot to ask I know, but when you have a hubby that gets home later than 9:00, there’s no going to bed at 10:00. (Um, especially if you ever want some, well, you know…)

4. Don’t get mad about the lack of texts or messages during the working hours. Kevin and I don’t text that often, he’s busy, and I don’t want a baseball to hit him in the head while he’s messaging me.

5. Plan some fun on those days or nights off. We always cook together, listen to music, and enjoy some drinks. We’re really able to catch up with each other.

Also, time helps everything, and we all know this. The same goes with scheduling issues. As time goes on you get used to it and truth be told, if he happens to be home when I get home from work, my routine is all messed up! But I love it…..

So, do you have any scheduling issues or tips on how you work through it? We would love to know!

Thank you Kara for taking the time to do this for me! Don't forget to check out Kara's blog over at Everyday in Stilettos - I promise you will learn a thing or two!