Happy 9th Anniversary to US!

9 years

108 months

468 weeks

3287 days

78894 hours

4733640 minutes

284018400 seconds

of happily married bliss.

I love you, sweetheart. I love planning to spend the rest of our lives together. It's been a ride, and I don't want to be on it with anyone else! I love you!

My 30th Birthday!

For my 30th, we kept it low key.

I went out to a new (to everyone else) restaurant. It ended up being new to me, too. Their menus are different in the restaurant than from catering, apparently. It was yummy, though, and different from our regular fare.





The following weekend, J and I went north to Dallas to celebrate with the Dallas family. We had a good time, and got to enjoy a wonderful evening together with lots of cake and ice cream.




The next 3,654 days will be more fun than the previous decade, I hope. I can't wait to see what the 30's hold for me!

Tim says it best. Enjoy, and enjoy your next 30 years!

Thoughts on Life

Recently I have seen a few things that made me think...

When you pick up a dog to puppy-sit for a "little while" and they give you a 20 pound sack of dog food, what exactly does that mean? How long will we be keeping this dog?

I recently saw a television show in which the main character figured out the physician in the show was an imposter because she cared about her patients and she had readable handwriting. He called the FBI, she was arrested. I may be in trouble.

I recently saw a news article (okay, more tabloid-y than news-y) that asked if Someone Famous was pregnant because she just traded in her teeny-tiny purse for an extra large sized purse. Really?? I'm glad no one's commenting on the new extra large purse I just got. I'd hate for anyone to think that I'm pregnant just because my purse is big. My purse...I don't know why non-mommies can't have big purses. So far I've carred a Bible, wallet, lipstick, notebook (full sized), a stethescope, bottle of water, yogurt, a spoon, sunglasses, keys, cell phone, 3 pens, business card holder, and 20 hours of continuing education in my purse. And there's still room.

So there are my thoughts. Not really deep or noteworthy, but there they are.

What I did on my Memorial Day vacation...

Memorial Day was super busy for us. I had plans that included J working Friday, but earlier in the week J told me he was thinking about taking Friday off. Ooookay. And what would we do with the extra day, you ask? Something romantic for our 4 day weekend, you ask?



No.


J decided to use his 4 day weekend to add value to our house. He wanted to landscape. Major landscaping.

Here's the before pictures of the west side of my house:










First, we take up the grass from the side of the house. Can you tell whose job it was to stack the grass?













Second, we went to the nursery (nurseries, actually) and picked up the plants we were going to plant. All 45 of them.






Step three is to plant these plants in the ground.






Here's a secret - plant the plants, then have the dirt delivered. Then you don't have to dig through it when you're digging the holes for the plants. For our reference, one yard of dirt is as much as our truck can hold. Literally.











We got the dirt spread out and the sprinkler system installed and the mulch put out. It only took us three days to do all this. It looked GREAT!!


















There were a few rain delays - like 5 - but we didn't let it stop us. That's right, we worked in the rain. It's dedication, or maybe just getting tired of working and ready to be done with the project. Let's go with dedication.









And, while we're at it (he says) let's start on the east side of the house, too. Ya know, since we're working on the west side and all.


West side finished product.







Oh yeah, and adding a few gardenias to our front bed, too.








We (He) decided that a 3 day weekend was a great way to spend landscaping. I don't know if he got a memo that the weather is HOT that time of year. I do think that by the end of it, he remembered.



The new flower beds are very lovely and we can't wait a few years until they grow up and we can really enjoy them. J has already started asking about when we can finish the east side of the house. I did promise his mother that I would wait and have some gardening for her to help with when she came next, whenever that may be, so maybe she can help with that. The more the merrier!

Having a Mary Monday in a Martha World

Monday I drove to B, about 100 minutes from here. This was a special trip, a fun trip where I got to spend the whole day with a dear friend who had moved far away (but, thankfully, not too far). I got there about 10 in the morning.

That's when the fun began.

When I got there, she offered me water, which I gratefully accepted, and we headed out to her back porch. Where we stayed all day, leaving only to grab sustenance (which we ordered to-go and ate on her back porch) and grab her daughter after school. I love my friend, and I love her back porch. The weather was just right, even a little chilly initially, for a day in the shade.

Over the 10 hours I spent with this wise and wonderful friend, we touched on every subject you could think of. I left her house encouraged, refreshed, and energized. We had laughed, shared heartache, struggles, and victories.

What did I cross off my to-do list Monday? Nothing. Not one thing. I had also monopolized my friend's day, and she didn't get much done, either. Was it a wasted day? No! I know if I'd been at home, I would have had plenty to do. But instead, I was able to slow down and be still.

I need more days like that...

Weight Watchers, the bootlegged version

Weight Watchers, Week 1

Well, we decided to do it. Take the plunge. We're both ready to really watch what we eat and get rid of this extra poundage. We're just not ready to pay WW to do it with us.

Sooo, we got some help on line (you really can find ANYTHING on Ebay) and planned a menu. We were ready to jump into this WW thing full force. Except actually attend WW meetings.

So, by day 4, I had lost 3 pounds by conscienciously counting points. Wow. Not so hard to do. Then the weekend came. Lets just say things didn't go as planned. At least I was still down 0.6 pounds by the time Monday came. Down is the right direction. Homeboy lost 6 pounds. Eating the same foods, making the same bad decisions. Oh well. At least we were both down.

His snoring is better, which means I'm sleeping better :)

I am giving myself the same peptalks I give my patients - don't give up; you put it on slowly, it will come off slowly; if you fall off the wagon at lunch, don't wait until the next day to get back on, get on now; if you fall off the wagon, exercise 10 more minutes that day. Hmmm. They are much more motivating when I say them to other people than when I have to internalize them.

And also we signed up for a half-marathon in November. The training has not started. Which is a bad thing. I'm trying to remember (as I'm craving chocolate) that it's easier to do a half-marathon with less junk in my trunk.

Stay tuned for further updates. I'm looking for more weight loss than 0.6 lbs, but at least it's going down!!

Call me a cheater...

I realize I have been absent from blog-world for a few months. My friend and I have been caught up in a never ending project for the last three months. But, contrary to it's name, this project did have an ending. I will pass the project off this evening. So I have spent some time today to catch bloggy world up on what I've been up to. Since I know you're wondering.

So, please feel free to link to the following blog posts to catch up on the previous three months. I feel like I'm coming out of a hole... and there's sunshine!

Feburary: MasterFollies, Lubbock
March: Spring Break, LC
March: Teacher's Workshop, LC
April: Bible Bowl, Abilene
April: AB visits, LC
April: The weatherman said there would be some storms, LC

Enjoy! And hopefully I will be a more regular presence in bloggy world again!