Conservative family vs. liberal partner: How do you make it work?
It’s 2015, so a liberal Filipino woman dating a white conservative man isn’t so unusual. And our relationship is amazing. Except… while my family has welcomed the man I love with open arms, his family keeps their arms shut. Normally I wouldn’t be too concerned with whether or not people like me. But it’s different when you’re talking about the parents of the man you’re dating.
“I don’t think I’ll stop feeling scared and apprehensive”: pregnancy after multiple miscarriages
With the help of some recent high profile announcements we’re starting to get better at talking about miscarriage, but when you clock three in a row no one really knows what to say. I’ve got one healthy child, three consecutive miscarriages, and now a fifth pregnancy that has stuck around to the 20 week mark, and is still hanging in there. In the past two years I’ve been pregnant for a total of 11 months.
How do you know it’s the right time for kids when baby fever clouds your mind?
Okay, so baby fever is hitting me hard, and I don’t know how to deal with that. How do you know it’s the right time for kids when baby fever clouds your mind?
Scars, costs, and regrets?: My tubal ligation FAQs
A few women have asked me about my tubal ligation, including a couple media outlets like ABC News and Huffington Post. As sterilization with the goal of never reproducing now seems to be a hot topic, I thought I would discuss a few frequently-asked questions. I hope this information helps other women who are thinking of making this decision for themselves.
My divorce made me love my wedding video
Offbeat Bride readers might remember me from this post. That marriage ended two years after our wedding. It took two more years after that for me to revisit my wedding video. I expected to feel pain, but I felt so much joy instead. My wedding video means more to me now than I could ever have anticipated four years ago…
BDSM in mainstream media: Why I taught my kids about safe words
Kinky sex has made its way into mainstream culture in places other than poorly written erotica-gone-NYT-bestsellers-list. Music videos like Rihanna’s S&M, Christina Aguilera’s Not Myself Tonight, for instance. Our kids are seeing it, hearing and some of them are even reading the book. I anticipate that the majority of learning on the topic will not be from me but they’ll likely see videos and ads, or hear things from peers that could use some context, and I prefer to be the person who provides that context.
My pregnant battle with Body Image Demons
Like a lot of people, I have a complicated relationship with my body. My body is wonderful. But due to not unusual hang-ups and high school experiences, I don’t treat my body as a friend of any sort. My body and I are were getting to a good place though. And, then I got pregnant. Though I was (and am) very excited to be pregnant, I was also now in full combat with the Body Image Demons™.
This is what I wish someone would have told me about relationships when I was young
Here’s what I wish a loving older brother or sister figure would have told us (and what I’m passing on to you young Offbeat Homies out there): there is nothing wrong with wanting a casual relationship. Not in your late teens and early twenties, and not even in your late twenties, thirties, forties… you get the idea.