How It Started; How It’s Going
We sat in a booth at a local Chinese Buffet contentedly full of lo mien, dumplings, and sweet and sour chicken. There was a smirk that came across his face that was seemingly sweet but full of diabolical intentions. As he reached for the leftover sticky red sauce and rice, I knew I was in trouble.
A fistful of gooey, starchy goodness was launched across the table splattering on both my face and date night attire. Without hesitation, I grabbed for some noodles as retaliation ammunition and hurled them back at my opponent. It was on. Between our ceaseless giggling and raucous vegetable throwing, it was shocking we weren't asked to leave.
When the combat ended, we walked hand in rice covered hand to the restrooms to clean ourselves up and assess the damages. I wasn't sure exactly what was going through his head, but for me, that was quite possibly the best dinner experience I'd ever had.
As we walked to the car, he reached for my hand and softly said, “One day I’m going to marry you.” To which I replied, “I know.”
We had been dating for one month. In all honesty, I’m pretty sure we both knew after one week that this was it; the one person we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with. It was the stuff movies are made of.
It’s been about 22 years since that fateful day in the buffet parking lot and though every day has not always felt like a romantic comedy, we wouldn’t trade it for the world.
We’ve experienced moments of unexplainable joy, as well times of extreme heartache and pain and everything that falls in between. The one mantra we’ve held to through all the highs and lows; our marriage mission statement that keeps us going when chaos surrounds us is this: we are, and always will be . . .
BETTER TOGETHER
And it’s in that light that we decided to start this blog. To be honest, we really have no clue what we are doing. From creating a website and writing a blog to parenting kids and “adulting” it often feels that we are flying blind. Sometimes it seems that as soon as you finally negotiate one complicated and emotionally draining issue there’s another up ahead staring down at you with a whole new set of intricacies to navigate.
Well, let’s do this together!
What’s amazing though is that more often than not, the answer to our seemingly impossible problem or the solution to our crazy complicated situation is found in the simple and the basic. You want to improve a relationship? Drop a few pounds? Get a little healthier? Remove a bit of stress from your life? The answers are probably not as complicated as you might think. That’s why we decided to name this website “The Rudimentary Life”. In our experiences it’s been getting back to the basics (the rudimentary) that’s made all the difference.
Don’t misunderstand us though; while the answers may seem simple that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s always easy. Effort, sacrifice, and habit changes are always prerequisites to any new lasting endeavor; but the hope is found in the fact that if you put in the work on the basic principles then the change will come.
While we don’t have all the answers or know all the “right turns” to make; we do know that we’re far more equipped and far more likely to make it to the other side laughing and with our sanity when we are facing life together.
Just like those two crazy kids that left the Chinese restaurant that evening hand in hand, not knowing the multitudes of ups and downs that would one day face them; we today, are still absolutely certain of the same thing; we have a partner in crime that we are able to face it all with. When the going got tough in life (and let me tell you, sometimes it got real tough) they knew with 100% confidence that the other would be right there next to them facing it with gusto and determination.
Our goal with this website is that you find our blog posts as practical and helpful as you do entertaining and inspirational. We hope that by reading about the past stories and experiences of our lives and by getting a little peek into the current madness that is the Hall family; that you either learn something new you can try, are reminded of an important lesson you forgot and need to get back to, or at the very least are entertained for a fleeting moment where you can laugh at our mishaps and know that you are not alone in trying to make this world a better place.
Along with our own stories and experiences we will occasionally share a family favorite recipe, a simple but effective health tip, life-hacks that we have found helpful, products that we have incorporated into our daily lives, and whatever else we think that may be worth sharing with the world.
With that, we welcome you to our website and more importantly, into our lives. We look forward to hearing from you and learning together. And as this first blog post comes to an end, we have no idea where all this will take us or even if anybody whose last name isn’t “Hall” will ever read this . . . but we do know one thing for sure, we are beyond excited and honored to have you on this journey with us!
