Five Years

On this day, five years ago, Andy and I said our "I do's." It was really a beautiful day. There were mistakes, but you know, it just makes the day memorable. Who am I kidding? It really started when Andy proposed to me while I crutched around the Botanical Gardens with my broken hip. Ha!

To celebrate our anniversary, we went out to Mike Shannon's last weekend. It was a lovely evening. Last night we hung out, ate fish for dinner, and had cocktails while we spent quality time together. I gave him my phone upgrade early since his was on its way out. So his iPhone was part of his present. The other part is on its way: new inserts for his Ugg slippers. He loves those things, but I'm sure he has no idea what my parents paid for them and therefore why I'm so insistent that he get new inserts instead of just replacing the shoes entirely.

He got me his best present yet: a gift card to Talbot's.

Normally I'm very opposed to gift cards, but the fact that he knew I rarely went to nice stores for myself really meant a lot to me. That and the fact that he made a trip to the mall especially to get the card. Wow!

I doubt we'll do anything tonight. I'm working out, and he has art meeting. The first five years have been good though, and I look forward to what the next five might bring.

So much yet nothing

• Mom and dad were here. That was fun. Mom and I went shopping and had a blast. I'm down a pant size! Woohoo! Also, The Limited is my new favorite store. Between their educator discount and sweet sales, I'm really not paying more than I do at Target.

• Saw Star Trek. Totally fun summer movie. My friend and I are going to see Harry Potter next week. I'm such a dork. Wanna come?

• My horse was Reserve Champion at the horse show last weekend. Go Lucas!

• Everyone has been posting nursery inspirations. I'm getting my photos together so I can share too. My ideas aren't as concrete as some, but they are there. Hopefully I'll post soon. :)

• PD at school tomorrow. It looks to be interesting, but I have a hard time sitting still for that long.

• Everyone I know is pregnant. That is totally adding to my baby fever.

• I'm enjoying So You Think You Can Dance. I've never watched it before but, despite a ridiculous judge, it is enjoyable. The dancing is really fun.

A Good Day

I just want to say that today was a very good day.

This post is brought to you by the letter...

I loved that part of Sesame Street.

Anyway, I saw this game on Angie's blog and asked to play. She has assigned me the letter G, and I will now list 10 of my favorite things that start with G.

If you want to play, just post a comment with a way to contact you (blog or e-mail,) and I will assign you a letter.

So, without further ado....

1. Grover

What can I say, thinking about the alphabet and all that made me think of Sesame Street. And so, here is one of my favorite characters.

2. Gelato

Mmmmm. Italian gelato is so amazing. Not only does it taste like heaven, but the stores always have such beautiful displays.

3. Google

Come on! This is only the best search algorithm ever! Plus, how can you not love the funny things they do to the home page for holidays and big events?

4. Geldings
Well, it can't be fun for the poor horse. Mares are just too moody for my tastes, and stallions are too volatile. All of my horses have always been geldings, and I suspect that is a trend that won't change any time soon.

5. Green Bananas

OK, not totally green, but like these in the picture. I really dislike when they get mushy and black.

6. Golden Retrievers

The last dog my parents had was a Golden. I named him Sigfried. He was so good. I miss him, and I know my parents do too. I actually love all dogs, but I needed a g, and DOG clearly doesn't fit the bill.

7. Girlfriends

Everybody needs friends, and there are just things that only other women will understand.

8. Green Vegetables

I LOVE veggies! In fact, when I was a kid, I would turn away hot dogs, hamburgers, and all that stuff in favor of broccoli. What can I say? I was a freak.

9. Gum

Seriously! I love gum. I am always popping in a piece, and I get mad at myself if I don't have any in my purse. There is no good reason for my love, but, it is what it is.

10. Gouda

What a delightful example of one of my absolute favorite foods. Cheese is the best! Gouda is fabulous because it has such a smokey flavor and it melts very smoothly. One of my favorite uses for Gouda is macaroni and cheese. Mmmmm.

If you want to play, just leave me a note and I will gladly give you a letter. I promise not to hand out Q, X, or Z. Unless you make me mad. :)

Life in General

I am feeling pretty positive about life right now. While sales at the store are slow, I feel like good things are happening. And I mean, come on, it IS January after all. I'm stressed about getting taxes done though. Ugh. I HAVE to do sales taxes this week.

On the personal front, my horse is sound again. Hooray! I felt so bad the entire time he was off. I feel like I'm making progress on the friend front too. I've gone to a couple of events with some women from a local online community and had a blast at both. In fact, one of the ladies invited me to join a supper club group later this week. Woohoo! I get to try a new restaurant too. Mmmmm.

I'm feeling connected in terms of my spirituality as well. I decided to go to a new church on Christmas Eve, and I was floored by the welcoming feeling. Even on that busy night, people went out of their way to make me feel welcomed. I've attended about half a dozen times since then, and every time I find new reasons to like the place. The sermons are thought provoking and in line with my beliefs. The community is also very accepting. One of my big problems with organized religion is how exclusive it can be. My belief has always been that we are all welcome in religion, and it makes me mad that people use it as a way to judge exclude people. Judging is not my anyone's job. I firmly believe that. I'm really excited about continuing to explore this community and become more involved.

In terms of fitness, I've joined a gym. Wow. I haven't done that in a lot of years. I really am doing it for myself, but I'm still getting myself in a program. So far, I've only lost two pounds, but, I've also had some food slip-ups. I find that I am much more likely to focus on my fitness than I am my food. That clearly needs to change. I must deal with both. I'm not a cow (I don't think,) but I really would like to slim down. My husband thinks I'm great the way I am, but I know I could be better. I actually saw one of the ladies from online at the gym last night. That community had helped me feel accountable. There is a section all about fitness/weight loss goals, and that helps me feel like I am answering to someone for my behaviors.

There are a couple other things I'm working on too, but they are still super secret. :) My fingers are crossed though that my life will continue in a positive direction. I hope that my positive attitude will help that happen. I am all too willing to fall into the negative spiral, so I have to keep reminding myself that how I approach life can really impact how things happen.

Here ends my sappy post for the day.