Try Something New

How long has it been since you tried something new together as a couple? Recently we decided to try something completely new to us, and we were surprised how much we enjoyed it.

Last fall, I (Mark) expressed interest in making our own butter at home.  For Christmas Mel bought me a hand churner and a how-to book.  I was delighted by her thoughtfulness and that she even remembered how I had expressed interest in this.

What fun this has been for the two of us! We take turns hand churning the heavy cream. The result is fresh butter and buttermilk, so we started making biscuits from scratch, too. Then, fresh out of the oven, we top them with our homemade cinnamon honey butter – yum!

While making butter may sound like work, it is enjoyable for us because we are together the whole time. We learn together and share our creativity as we decide what herbs or spices to add to each batch. Since we are together, we take the opportunity to talk about other things that we might like to try.

I really appreciate Mel’s willingness to take up an interest of mine.  I enjoy learning something new together as we try to figure things out.  The first time we churned our own butter, we laughed and questioned as we fumbled through a little bit.  As we got more comfortable, we also got more playful.  Our playful attitude extends into the rest of our day as we continue to joke and laugh throughout the day together.

I (Mel) could imagine us living on the frontier, churning butter the old-fashioned way.  And, I enjoyed discovering the silky texture and light flavor of butter that we’d just made together.  When we talk about what our senses are experiencing, it adds a sensuality to our relationship.  Feeding each other a finger-full of cinnamon honey butter definitely adds some spice to our interactions!

When we try new things together, it brings a freshness to our marriage. We experience the world together – and there is a great big world out there. This adventure has whetted our appetite to try something new again. We are currently talking about taking ballroom dancing classes together. Who knows where this may lead us next!